prologue

the story is almost always the same, a damsel or some innocent in distress, a hero appearing from nowhere in the blink of an eye to save them, with no regard for his or her own life. magic of one kind or another, power of every kind, seeming to kill but at the last second, lo and behold, there the hero stands, totally unharmed. vowing never to take a life, they seem the penultimate perfect human.

what if, for a moment, we take the heroes out of their settings, give them new names and new worlds to live in, even go so far as to take away the very powers they were given before. do they still fight for justice?
or vengeance?
or something else entirely?

will they even fight at all?









The Will Of The One

a tale of what if?





chapter 1: you can't run away forever, but there’s nothing wrong with getting a good head start.


one day prior to the start of tenth grade, September winters (ember to those who knew her) glanced nervously up and down the incontinence and feminine needs aisle in the local cvs, praying no one would come up behind her. she glanced at her watch. "six o'clock... better hurry this up, maman will be pissed if she finds out where I’ve been."

ember was a petit, almost wiry individual, tall for her fourteen years and (most times) unusually mature too. her jet black hair was shoulder length, pulled into a ponytail, and silver tipped at the ends, a testament to the father she never knew. she wore a pink sweater and khaki dress pants that 'almost' matched, would have preferred black clothing, but had little say so in the matter thanks to mother dearest.

she peered at the different brands, sighing as she spied the prices. "damn, looks like I’m wearing generic brand this ti... boo-yeah!" a sale on depends at the end of the isle caught her notice. "seven dollars, cheap and name brand! someone up there loves me!" she grabbed a pack of small sized and ran up to the front of the store. there were only two customers at the register, an elderly couple, jolly looking but at present arguing with the clerk. ember pulled the package under her right arm and nonchalantly hummed a few bars of bon jovi's 'dead or alive'. the elderly couple left and the clerk play-acted slamming his head into the counter.

"rough day?" said ember.
he looked up, lank hair covering an acne scarred face and replied, "if you value your sanity... don't ever work in retail." he chuckled a bit and then rang her up.
"sooo, grandparent again?" he asked.
"y-yeah. granny didn't want to leave the house."
"eesh, got a few aunts just like that myself. lazy bastards."
they both burst into laughter. ember paid and left, pulling off her back pack and forcing her package inside, then she started the long trek home, beat boxing another bon jovi song.

a few minutes later she was weaving between buildings, as the apartment she shared with her mother and little sisters was in the middle of a very cramped mixture of businesses and housing and several other unsavory things.
from behind her came a jeering voice, "what have we here boys? a bit o' cunt for the night eh?" the voice came from a rather large man dressed in camo fatigues and sporting a blue paisley bandanna round his pointy head. milling around him was his 'ex-posse' a decrepit band of thugs and other unmentionables.

"l-l-leave me alone!" ember shouted and ran between the next set of buildings. she ducked behind a dumpster and tried to catch her breath and think of a way to escape. she could hear their footsteps closing in and she despaired of ever leaving alive. two heavy, booted footsteps sounded out of the gloom, followed by the 'kashiiiin' of a sword from it's sheath, and then... the sound of screaming.
a mere two minutes later the click of the sword returning to it's sheathe echoed round the alley. "pardon me, ma petite, but this is hardly the place for a beautiful maiden like yourself to spend the night..." ember looked up. the young man who faced her wore a solid red bandanna around his mouth and a backwards gray driving cap covering his hair, however it was his open shirt that caught her eyes, his chest and neck bore four distinct intersecting loops of barbed wire shaped scars.

"b-basilisk?" she stuttered. basilisk was something of an enigma. he was a vigilante of sorts, having killed enough people that the news anchors liked to do specials on him, but only targeting gangs and their members. his only discernable features were the scar and his gray eyes, the few gang members he left alive always remembered those facts and almost nothing else. oddly enough, the local police let him be, considering his work to be a 'clean up' of sorts.

supposedly, his eyes brought such terror to his victims that they became paralyzed with fear, as the basilisk of English legend had been said to be able to induce. ember gazed into them and saw no reason why that should be so.

"got it in one." he grinned beneath his mask and held out a knuckle-gloved hand to pulled her up. "thaaaat should be all of 'em but they multiply like cockroaches..."
ember looked down at the remains of the carnage that had ensued, every one of the group had been cleanly beheaded, but the man in camo had been cut to ribbons from the waist down before he had lost his head. 'whoa' she mouthed amazed at how little blood there actually was. she blushed for a moment then spoke, "thank you Mr. basilisk." she said and kissed him on the cheek, and began walking towards her apartment. basilisk blushed and called out, "h-hey ma'am, you might be needing this..." and he threw her his shirt. em glanced down at the spreading wet spot on her khakis, a testament to her terror moments ago, "oh no... and right after I-" she clamped her mouth shut before she revealed her secret. ember wrapped the shirt around her waist and stood to face him. "thanks again!"
"mi shirt es you skirt. twas nothing." he bowed and turned, walking away, a limp just barely discernable in his footsteps.

ember managed to get to her apartment without further complications, she locked the door and leaned against it, before glancing at her watch. "SHIT!", she had only fifteen minutes before her mother and sisters were due home from the stylist's. she stripped off her khakis and panties and pulled the package from her backpack. glancing around crazily, she let out a high pitched giggle and ripped open the package, pulling out a pale green diaper. she hurriedly taped it on and began to clean up, running to put her soaked clothing in the washing machine, and attempting to find a pair of sweatpants. she dug a crumpled pair out of her drawer and then remembered basilisk's shirt. without a second thought, she balled it up and tossed it under her bed.

ember had been buying diapers for nearly four years, ever since her mother decided she was mature enough to stay home alone. now, she was a very dutiful child, never in trouble, never disobeying, so as you can imagine, her mother must have been a rather strict woman... and she was, but only with ember, because she was her first child, and as you know, the first is usually the test case. she had managed to keep straight A's from third grade all the way into ninth, and by this point was so far ahead of all the other students that the teachers had a hard time keeping up with her, but they still managed to keep the tests incredibly challenging, and that, on top of being the only person cleaning their apartment, had begun to take it's toll on her. she had had nightmares every night since her tenth birthday, but not a single bedwetting, and constantly feared doing anything wrong around her mother. of course, mommy dearest had accepted all this without even a second thought to her daughter's own well-being, expecting the perfect child, regardless.

more recently however, whilst ember had been at school, her sisters had snuck into her room and went digging for 'treasure'. they had accidentally uncovered her stash and freaked out, calling in her mother. after much thought she decided to let it go as long as it stayed as quiet as it had been. she told the twins to stick the pack back where they found it and never mention a word to ember 'or else'.

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"heeey moooom how much longer?" roebyn winters moaned from the backseat of the sedan.
her twin raevyn, the more realistic of the two, sitting up front, rolled her eyes, "five minutes less than the last time you asked."

"girls." their mother, nikole winters, said in a warning tone.

raevyn, (rae rae to the family), grinned malevolently and winking, said "I wonder if emmie is dancing in her diapers again." rae conveniently forgot to mention that she had snuck a few from emmie's packs every now and then to try for herself whilst everyone else was asleep

"rae, she doesn't know that we know, and it's not killing anyone, so just leave it alone."

"but moooom" roebyn (robbie) mewled, "it's so weird, she's fourteen and still in diapers! you can't think that's normal?!"

the girls looked to be mirror images of each other, eight years old, one a pale blonde that was almost white, the other dark, both had their hair pulled back into half done ponytails, and stood at four feet tall. nikole, on the other hand was around six, flaming red hair just longer than shoulder length.

"I said leave it be, she's not hurting you, and you wouldn't even know she wore them if you two hadn't been sneaking around in her room. it's not as if she'd really be standing in the living room dancing dressed like that."


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"let me sleep on it! baby, baby, let me sleep on it! I’ll give you an answer in the moooornin!" ember stood in the middle of the living room wearing a loose red t-shirt and her diaper, obviously wet, holding a broomstick like a microphone, crooning in a husky, almost dead center impression of the singer meatloaf. there came a honk from outside, the galante's 'all locked up' sign.

she dropped the broom and scrambled for her room, pulling on her sweatpants and snagging a textbook from her dresser. after a moment's hesitation, she brought her cd-player over too and cranked it up, AC/DC blaring through the headphones.

not even a minute after that, there came the clicking of the lock and in burst the twins, still giggling malevolenty. emmie sat on her bed, appearing to study, but truthfully just enjoying ac/dc's fast paced music.
her heart beat wildly as they came in, but she managed to steel her nerves until her mother stuck her head through the doorway. "boo."

ember's heart skipped a beat, and she accidentally wet herself again. "h-hi momma, how was the stylists?"
"crowded, hot, smelled terrible.. the usual. anything good happen while we were gone?"

"no, just the usual here too."

"alright, good night emmie. don't study too late."

"kay. g'night momma."

em turned off the music and her bed lamp and pulled the covers up, waiting until she heard the creaking of bedsprings and the tv turning on.

"finally," she whispered, and pulled off her sweatpants. her depends were soaked through, the line on the front completely yellow. she pressed her palm into the middle of it and felt the resounding squish of urine around her crotch. feeling a little bit guilty, she stuck her thumb in her mouth and suckled, slowly rubbing the front of her diaper. and she fell quickly to slumber just like that...

chapter 2: lost boys and golden girls


the next morning, in the local homeless shelter and soup kitchen, terry awoke from another nightmare, soaked with sweat and gasping for air, upon his small pallet. he shook himself and stood up, fumbling for the door handle, and stepped out a room no bigger than a broom closet. blinking the troubled sleep from his eyes, he headed for the showers.

terry was fifteen and about five foot nine. his ashen gray hair was beyond waist length, and was the color you only got from experiencing a severe trauma. his eyes were the same pale grey, heavy lidded at the moment but quite stunning when he opened them. across his nose was a faint pink scar, almost unnoticed because his skin was so pale and only made the ones on his neck stand out. the scars around his neck, were shaped most peculiarly, like barbed wire. his left arm though, was a mangled mess, old scars crisscrossing it, and twists that looked like old gunshot wounds, or knife art done by a madman.

with his demure expression and heart shaped face, he was often mistaken for a young woman, and, given that he spoke in a shy tone more often than not, and was almost emaciatedly thin, he could play the part easily.

he showered quickly and donned a pair of black jeans and a black button up shirt, making sure to button it all the way up, and then wrapped his left arm back in gauze so as not to freak anyone out if they happened to see. his hair, he pulled into ponytail that left most of it loose, but pulled it up so that it looked shorter than it really was, with enough to cover his face. his boots, cracked brown leather with a metal plate on the toe of each, were the only shoes he had, and were actually holding up pretty well. he went back to his closet and pulled on a white sweater, and, grabbing his back pack afterwards, a red bandanna and gray driving cap hidden in the bottom, he headed for the door, limping just slightly.

terry had been sleeping at the local shelter for a little over three years. the death of his adopted mother beth had lost him the apartment they had shared, but left him with a small trust fund. the owner of the shelter had known him since he was a kid running the streets, (before he and beth had met) and had offered him a room of his own and a small paycheck in return for working three days a week at the shelter. terry had gratefully agreed, but even with the trust fund and his paycheck, he knew he couldn't have even afforded a motel room for more than a week. he had discussed his situation with the school principal, who agreed to let him out early when he needed to work. and so, things were almost going well, during the daytime at least. the night was another story...

terry had an unnatural ability called a healing factor, which he'd discovered by accident several years before, compared to the average person he healed about eight times faster. meaning an ordinary cut would grow back in a matter of minutes, and bigger stuff in a few hours. but there was a limit to how much his body could handle in one day, anything beyond that limit put intense stress on his overtaxed body, causing it to heal almost humanly slow.

he had forced himself to learn martial arts for defense when he was younger, and as basilisk, had expanded that ability to such a degree that he could temporarily ignore his threshold for pain, and move at blinding speeds. unfortunately, this also put intense stress on his body, often causing internal damage, which just the same, healed almost humanly slow. after a few months of being the basilisk he found he could read almost anyone's moves, to a degree, and react to almost every situation that came up. occasionally he screwed up, as his left arm attested. but that was cool with him, because his pain reminded him he was still human. the bout last night, and some others a few hours before had forced him to move faster than normal though, overstressing him, which had in turn left him coughing up blood for hours afterwards.

he felt better though, as this was the first day of a new school year, at a new school (beth had home schooled him while they lived together, but he had been out for three years now and realized he was lacking a bit.) so as he left the shelter, jogging towards school at a liesurely pace, he felt almost merry as the sunlight hit him.

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ember woke to the beeping of her alarm clock, also shaking herself out of a vivid nightmare. her diaper had grown cold during the night and she shivered, before remembering what day it was and dashing round to get ready. she showered, dressed in a long skirt and conservative green sweater, and hurriedly pulled her hair back. after some contemplation, she pulled off the skirt and diapered herself again, she looked at the skirt,wondered whether or not it would hide her depends, and sighing, pulled on another pair of loose khaki slacks.

she changed the cd in her cd player and tossed it in the book bag and left the apartment, waddling a little bit.

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many students wondered at the new arrival, the young, silver haired girl who walked among them. an enterprising young man attempted to ask her out, but she merely looked at him and rolled her eyes. several of the other girls looked and whispered, such comments as: "wow, she's cute!" and "whats up with the wierd clothing?"

first and second period went by quickly, and then third came up, english class of course. the class was set up in terrace-like steps, four different levels, and carpeted thickly. due to this there were no chairs, and the students simply sat on the floor. the teacher began roll call, got through half the class with little trouble, but coming to the m's had to double check his clipboard.

"makoto, terciel halcie.. halcoom...harfe..." he stammered, wondering for the life of him why anyone would name their child halcyon.

"it's pronounced hal-SEE-on, just call me terry though" the silver haired girl spoke just loud enough to hear, and the fool who'd tried to ask her out experienced a sudden jawdrop upon realizing SHE was a HE.

the teacher shook his head and went back to roll call, "winters, september artemis."

"ember if you don't mind." she giggled, quite out of character for those in the class who had known her for years. the reason for the giggle was unapparent to the rest, but for her it was simple, it was her first time wearing diapers to school, and she had just wet.

the teacher glanced at the note next to her name, explaining her advanced level and chuckled to himself. he handed out a few papers for their parents to sign, and told them to feel free to talk amongst themselves.
ember pulled out her cd player and cranked it up, meatloaf's 'i'd do anything for love' audible through the head phones. she put them just behind her ears so she could still hear the classroom. someways into the song, she unconcously began to sing along to it.

"i know the territory, i've been around," her voice echoed accross the classroom, and unexpectedly, the silver haired youth looked dead at her and the words he said gave her a shock.

"it'll all turn to dust and we'll all fall down," he sang in a carbon copy of meatloaf's emotional rasp.

ember raised an eyebrow, and sang back, "sooner or later, you'll be screwin' around."

"no, i won't do that," terry rang out, and he and ember sang the last line together, each looking oddly at the other, "i would do anything for love, but i just won't do that!" their performance earned them a few wierd looks and one call for an encore.

ember stood and walked over to him, her diaper crinkling just lightly enough that she was the only one hearing it. "thank god, i thought i was the only one."

terry giggled and brushed his hair out of his eyes, "yeah, i swear this town must not like rock 'n roll. sooo, who do i have the pleasure of addressing? i'm afraid i wasn't quite paying attention to mr. phil earlier."

"september, but just call me ember. you're terry, right?"

"got it in one." he grinned the exact same grin that he had the night before behind his mask, and ember was struck with de ja`vu for a moment. he grabbed her hand, brought it to his mouth, and kissed it, "brilliant performance back there, you sounded so much better than his partner for that song."

she blushed and plopped down beside him. he glanced over, and noticed the inch worth of green plastic showing over her belt, as her shirt rode up just a little. he raised a mental eyebrow, but then ignored it. they talked for the rest of the class, and then the bell rang. he watched as she stood up, discreetly glancing at her crotch. the bulge of her diaper was small, but it was there. "very cute," he mouthed and got up, walking over to mr. phil who was resting in a much used office chair. "sir, i have a small problem..."

"what's up?" mr. phil said
"my parents won't be able to sign this," he held the papers out, "they're ... dead."
mr. phil was taken aback, but only for a moment, "then get your legal guardian to sign it."
"well, i don't have one of those either... it's complicated..."
"allright, just fill 'em out yourself. it was just reference stuff anyway." he shrugged.
"thanks, oh, and try and sleep a little, it looks like you need it."
"thanks, now hurry up, before you're late." phil chuckled as his student left. "nice kid, reaaaal nice."
he leaned back into the chair and was asleep within minutes.

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fourth period was gym, which had a sign posted over the door saying: "class is canceled for today. go party."
the teacher who had posted it was nowhere to be found

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fifth was chemistry, the room set up much the same way as in english, and the teacher was a nice man in his thirties, a few strands of gray in his unruly blonde hair, named shinji izumi. (terry and ember were together in this class as well.)
halfway in, shinji asked terry to see him after class, which perked a few ears up, after all, he couldn't be in trouble his first day could he?

the truth was, shinji and terry knew each other because terry had saved his life and accidentally lost his mask doing so, about three months back.

so, introductions were bandied all around, and he told his students, "just call me shinji, 'cuz mister izumi makes me feel ooooold." he did the crypt keeper face when he said oooold, and everyone laughed. after that he got an almost villianous look and began setting out test tubes filled with various liquids on his desk. with an air of expectancy, the whole class watched as he mixed two of them...

there was an explosion, a cloud of pink gas, and the sound of raucous giggling from the front row. "laughing gas? i don't remember putting laughing gas in that!" he walked through the middle of the cloud, looking puzzled, wearing a big red clown nose, and the rest of the class got the joke, roaring with laughter.

he wriggled his eyebrows and pulled the nose off, pouring another tube over it. it turned blue and then exploded into confetti. he glanced around, surreptitiously and, in a confidential stage whisper told them, "i think it's safe to say, you will learn nothing whatsoever about chemistry in this class, and everything about stage magic." he mixed two more tubes and another cloud enveloped him, when it cleared there was no one there.

"tonight's homework, lemme think... figure out a bit of magic you've always wanted to learn and write it down. i'll pick the best one and teach it to the class." he stood by the door, looking as if he'd been there the entire period, and just about everyone jumped. "now geeeeet out!" he said right as the bell rang, and exploded into confetti.

ember and the rest of the class filed out, but terry waited at shinji's desk, wondering how he'd pulled off the last explosion. he jumped as there was a smaller one right next to him, which shinji calmly walked out of. "yo!"

"i... am never gonna get used to that...." terry said.
"that's the whole point. so, how'd the kotetsu work for you?" asked shinji, referring to the temporary katana he'd loaned him while he tinkered with basilisk's original sword.

"a bit lighter than i was expecting, i kept over-balancing... other than that, it's really sturdy...," he answered truthfully.

"well, the good news is yours is finished, i tricked it out as best as i could, but it's your skill that'll make the grade." he pulled out a long package wrapped in newspaper and grocery bags, from under his desk. "the blade has been coated in a solidified alkaline solution i mixed up, so it'll spark with just about anything. i also coated a part of the bottom in steel mesh, so when it hits the flint in the case neck... kaboom! now, the inside of the case has a one way liner, which lets the sword in but keeps the fluid from leaking out unless it's on the blade, speaking of which, the stuff inside is sort of ummm... weeeell, modified lighter fluid. it'll burn slower but still has a limit of about seven minutes per ignition. also, the liner should instantly cut off any flames still on the blade if you choose to sheathe it while it's burning. i'm not sure how well the handle will stand up to the heat though, so test it tonight and tell me what you think."

"shinji, you are a life-saver!" terry hugged him tightly.

"well, i am a biiiig fan of your work, so it's the least i can do. and now i'll know that it's my handiwork you're using out there." he ruffled terry's hair, laughing to himself. "which reminds me, when are you planning to begin tonight?"

terry let go and backed up, "i was hoping immediately after school, but i was kind of freaking out that somone would see me change..."

"i didn't take you for the fearing type..."

"it's not really fear of being found out, it's just... convenient. the fewer people that know, the better," he seemed a bit embarassed about this.

"go ahead and swap out in here, school's over for the day."

"alright," he said, and dug the hat and bandanna out of his bag. he realized his mistake a moment later. "my shirt! shit! i loaned it to that girl last night... i... oh screw it, i'll go shirtless, not like it makes any difference..."

he tucked most of his hair under the hat, letting the rest hang free (usually he'd tuck the rest down his shirt) and was just about to tie on the bandanna when a familiar female voice sounded from the doorway...

"hey terr... oh my god! i knew i'd heard that voice before!" ember had come back (after running to her locker) to talk to him, and had seen the red mask from the night before. when terry suddenly flickered out of view, when she blinked a moment later, he was leaning out into the hall, making sure no one had heard. his right arm was ram-rod straight, two fingers pointed dead center at her forehead, the tension alone in just those two fingers was akin to having a gun pointed there.

"i'm sorry ma petite, but i have to ask you not to breathe a word of this to anyone. my mission must be carried out fully before i reveal myself..."

"it...it's fine, i was actually going to ask if you could come over this friday, but..."

terry visibly relaxed, his customary half grin back in place, "sure, uh... sorry about that..."

"it's fine, and... thanks again for last night, those guys literally scared the piss out of me!" she blushed and clamped a hand over her mouth.

terry laughed and came to her rescue, "i can't blame you, i probably would have done the exact same thing in your place. speaking of which, can you bring my shirt tomorrow, it's getting cold outside."

"of course, i didn't know you were a student here or i would've brought it with me."

"okay you two, i have gotta go! my daughter is waitin' for me! oy, terry, if you want you can keep kotetsu, just in case" shinji said and ushered the two of them outside.

"thanks shinji!" they walked through the exit and terry said goodbye to ember, slinging his bookbag accross his back and dropping into a crouch. his outline flickered for a second and he took off at blinding run. the sidewalk where he had stood moments ago was cracked, with an imprint of his right boot set deeply into it...

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on the news that night, there was another group of corpses discovered, each neatly beheaded, and each belonging to a well known gang member.

the news anchor said that the angle and force of the cuts matched basilisk's usual handiwork but were distinctly different at the same time, as if the very blade that had done the killing had cauterized the wound at the exact instant it cut...

basilisk heard the news and grinned malevolently beneath his mask. those murderers would pay dearly now, because this time it wasn't a child and his mother they would face, it was an adept with a grudge...

chapter 3: no one said it has to be real, but it's gotta be something you can reach out and feel




ember and terry became fast friends during their classes, almost inseperable, he took to calling her ma petite, and she simply called him terry, but usually hugged him when she said it.

the days passed quickly and friday came sooner than anyone expected. ember entered english class and looked around. terry, with his ostentatious silver hair was notably absent.

so, she worried about terry but went to her school work with a will, finishing it quickly enough that she could listen to meat loaf again, and wonder where he'd gone.


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meanwhile, back at the shelter, terry danced around the kitchen, an apron reading "kiss the cook" tied around his waist, and his hair pulled back into a very long and unruly braid. he juggled a pair of onions and the soup ladle, waiting for the soup to come to a boil. somewhere around the area of the fridge a banged up stereo played a rendition of AC/DC's 'mistress for christmas', and the shelter's patrons milled around talking to each other, or in the case of two older women by the door, discussing the local goings on with terry.

"i hear Don Leon is looking for basilisk," said liza, the shorter of the two.
the other, marie, looked at her funny, "so are corsica, and darrius"

they were referring to the trismagia, as the three 'mafia' Don's collectively called themselves. they were the ones responsible for most of the recent gang movements against basilisk and the city. terry had yet to actually find their base though... a fact which seriously irked him.

"no, i mean he's really out looking for him, he already has his 'dog' outside the city trying to find a good enough merc. i hear he's trying to keep it quiet from the other two." liza said

terry frowned at this, knowing it would not end easily, but that the merc would have to be eliminated regardless. "has he found anyone yet?"

liza knitted her brows, "i don't think just yet... i don't remember hearing anything in the past day or two, but i'll let you know if i do." she turned and left for the bathroom.

marie snorted, "i doubt basilisk would have any trouble, no matter how tough the merc is."

terry pointedly looked away, "marie... basilisk is still human, even he has limits."

"how are you so sure of that, kid?"

"just... trust me on this," terry said enigmatically.


at that moment the soup began to boil, he turned it to simmer and tossed the onions straight up in the air, and spinning the ladle around his finger, made a simple flick at them. the onions shattered into little pieces directly over the pot. "lunch is complete," he said and banged the side of the pot several times, "COME'N GET IT!"

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(a few hours later)


there was knock at the door of the winters' aparment, nikole opened it and stared, "can i help you?"
the silver haired young woman standing there spoke, and the voice held just enough masculinity for her to realize that it was indeed, a guy, "yes, my name is terry..."

"oh, sorry, emmie never said you looked like that... it was kind of a shock," she apologized quickly.

"i get that a lot. maybe i ought to keep my hair pulled back?" he joked

"nah, wouldn't make much difference, umm you're earlier than we expected, ember isn't even home yet."

he sighed, "the school lets me out during certain days, because of my job, i never thought to check the clock, ember is probably right in the middle of gym right now."

nikole relaxed, she had thought maybe he was some kind of delinquent at first, "well, come in then, you can wait for her in comfort." she backed up to let him in. he went to the living room and sat on his haunches next to the coffee table, toes meeting in a 'v'. his flinched a bit as he put pressure on his left leg.

"can i get you something to drink?" she asked.

"do you have tea by any chance?" he asked.

"green or peach?"

"g-green if it's not too much trouble." he said and cast his eyes back down, trying to be as small as possible, when all of a sudden...

"hey momma!" said roebyn, running into the room, followed by raevyn, "there's some strange woman in our house!"

"why me? dear god, why am i cursed with the face of a hot woman!?" he whispered to himself, still trying to be small.

"girls, meet terry, he's one of ember's friends."

the girls looked confused, "there's no boy here." "just some cute girl." they said, finishing each other's sentences.

terry blushed bright red and and muttered uninteligibly to himself. nikole came to his rescue by bringing him the tea, still boiling hot, which he sipped gratefully. "i know he looks like a girl, but this is terry." she said and pointed at him.

"oh!" said the twins, shocked.

"terry, dear, please sit up on the couch, you look like you're trying to act like a servant." she chided, he apologized and moved to the couch. "so, what kind of job is this that the school makes such an allowance?"

"three days a week, sometimes four, at the shelter and soup kitchen, on main street."

nikole covered her mouth with a hand, aghast that somone of his age would be so charitable.

he continued, "they make the allowance, because that's also where i live until i turn eighteen, i could not stand to see another orphanage, so i work to keep a room there."

now nikole felt even worse, "you poor dear, are you all right? can i get you any food?"

"no, the french onion soup i made will keep till i get back, i d-don't want to trouble you with another charity story so just forget i said any of that..." he blushed an even deeper shade of red, his hand trembling as he lifted the teacup.

"in it's own way, that's absolutely brilliant, it means that at your young age, you are very mature, and already know what the world has in store for you when you grow up." said nikole, now feeling a little less guilty.

"th-thank you, mrs. winters."

the twins chimed in and started asking all kinds of questions after that, many of which had terry guffawing in seconds.

somewhere after that they began talking about ember, and terry admitted that he loved her singing, and then roebyn said something that made everyone stare, "you do know she wears diapers don't you?" causing nikole to glare at her.

terry coughed on his tea, nearly blowing half of it out his nose. "a-actually, yeeees i did."

now it was the winters' turn to balk, nikole stuttered, "h-h-h-how?"

he rolled his eyes, "not the way you think." he coughed again, "actually, it was on accident when we first met, the signs are there if you know what to look for, and the crinkle, if you've heard it before."

"b-b-b-but how? how can you tell?" nikole almost looked terrified.

"well... when i was younger i used to wear them too, i had terrible nightmares... still have a few every now and then in fact." he drained the cup, trying to be nonchalant.

"maybe thats why ... no, she doesn't wet the bed, then..."

"please calm down, you'll give yourself a headache," terry pleaded, "it's probably just for comfort, or school is driving her nuts. i know the other students nearly gave me an aneurism in the first three days..."

"thats what i thought too, maybe thats all it is... ah well, as long as it doesn't affect her grades or safety." she sighed, and leaned back on the sofa, y'know terry, i think i really like you, you're incredibly honest..." at this, terry blushed deeply.

around that time, the door handle jiggled and a round of muffled mumbling could barely be made out, then the jingle of keys and the door opened.

terry stood wearing his usual half grin as ember walked in. "t-terry!" as she threw herself into his arms, her shirt rode up and the waistband of her diapers stood in plain view. "where were you? i was worried!"

"i'm sorry ma petite, i had work today, the school let me off so i could attend to it." he kissed her forehead and she hugged him tighter.

nikole watched and thought to herself, 'they would make a great couple...'

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ember and terry talked for a long while that evening, but around five, terry had to excuse himself, ember knew it was for his nightly patrol as the basilisk, but still, she would miss him.

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terry perched upon a fire escape ladder, eyes closed, ears perked to catch even the slightest sound. eventually heard a scream from a few hundred yards to his right. he tensed and faded from sight, leaving a large dent in the ladder, he was visible upon the ground a few seconds later, but took off again with a strained grunt, leaving two furrows in the dirt, obvious marks of his heavy boots. a speed radar conveniently placed nearby clocked him at twenty mph, a speed the human body shouldn't have been able to reach on it's own.

(20 mph = roughly 30 feet per second...)


he located the source of the scream and with an inward scream of his own pushed himself to go even faster, running up the side of a building and jumping into the fray to get the element of suprise.

the fracas consisted of roughly nine gangmen, almost all of them don leon's, and an elderly couple huddled under a light pole, suprisingly it was the exact same elderly couple who had been at the cvs when ember went to buy her diapers. terry landed in between the couple and the gangmen, the case of his sword in his right hand, the left grasping it's handle.

"ordinarily this is the part where i tell you to pick on someone your own size, but here it's more of a 'your own age case'," he rasped at them, then grinned from ear to ear beneath his mask, "either way... you're screwed!" he tore the sword from it's sheathe so fast that three of them fell without even realizing what had hit them, their heads rolling across the pavement, smoking at the necks. his katana shed a bright light, roaring orange flames ran up and down it's length, giving off a scent remniscent of hell itself. "six to go, why don't one of you give me a fucking challenge already!"

two more heads rolled, and finally one of them pulled two hefty mauser handguns from his coat, sneering at basilisk, "this one's from marcus!" the name stopped terry cold, and the mausers roared across the night.
terry's body hit the street splattering it with blood, but from beneath his mask a fierce bout of obscenities issued, he stood up and tossed the katana aside, his eyes now completely emotionless. he calmly removed the slugs from his body, tossing them aside almost casually, and just as casually ripped the heads off the other three gang members. the one armed with the mausers stared, dumbstruck, how could anyone have survived that?! terry pulled down his mask so his mouth was visible and grabbed the wrists of the gunman, issuing a fierce proclamation, "tell marcus to go fuck himself and i'll see him in hell very soon." his words were calm, but as he said hell, the outline of his hands flickered and he tore the man's hands completely off, he turned, leaving him to suffer, and spoke to the elderly couple, "go home, forget you ever saw this."

at that, he picked up his katana, turned on his heel and vanished.

that night several witnesses claim to have heard a wordless howl of grief long, and loud, as terry finally realized just how far he would go to acheive his ends.

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the next time terry saw ember, was monday, in english class. terry looked very despondent, shivering a little as well. she went to him and was about to hug him, when he spoke, "ma petite, please just go, i don' trust myself right now..."

"terry?"

"i killed eight men friday night... and i ripped the very hands from the ninth one..." he whispered, "i don't think i should be doing this any more..." and with those words, he fainted.


"mr phil! get the nurse, terry's hurt!" ember shouted.

sometime later terry awoke, feeling almost worse than when he'd fainted, on a cot in the nurse's office. he realized that he was lucky the nurse hadn't found out his secret now and he inwardly cursed himself for being weak enough to faint, he got off the cot and immediately coughed, blood flecked out from between his lips. some of it landing at his feet. he trudged toward the exit, coughing harder now, into a closed fist. he accidentally stepped in some of the blood on the floor and left a few bloody footprints on his way out. fortunately, he wasn't followed, and when he got outside, he dropped into the familiar crouch, and took off, again leaving deep furrows in the ground where had been.

he wasn't at school for several days after that, and the news anchors argued about whether or not the basilisk had finally given up...

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"basilisk fights like a demon. you sure you're up for it?" asked marcus, don leon's so called 'dog'.

the tall raven haired man accross the table from him yawned and said, "well, they don't call me the 'demon guillotine' for nothing."

marcus chuckled, pleased at his cockiness.

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for another week terry did not show up at school, and the basilisk also appeared to have totally vanished.


the owner of the shelter, anthony, was concerned, because terry hadn't even left the building for days, hadn't slept, hadn't eaten, in fact, all he'd done was clean, up and down the halls, accross the tile and concrete, scrubbing as if he were trying to wash away a bad memory.

after the sixth day of this, anthony confronted him, "terry, i appreciate the hard work, but you need to rest, you'll end up killing yourself if you don't."

"it doesn't matter, my life isn't worth that much anyway. i'm just a waste of space..."

"terry, what are you talking about?"

"do you remember what i told you when you offered me the room here?"

"about your night job, yeah."

"i can live with the killing, i have to do it until i find the man who murdered her... that will be the same one that gave me the scars across my neck, the man named marcus... but, still, i never inteded to torture anyone like that... my god i'm no better than they are..." he sobbed uncontrollably.

"the man you did it to... he mentioned marcus, didn't he?"

"y-yeah he did."

"then it was his fault, if he knew to say that, then he knew what it would make you do. well, he still has his life, that's more than most of those you've faced could claim."

terry stood up, tears dryed across his face, "i'm taking a few days of leave. i need to decide whether or not i can handle this anymore..."

chapter 4: when the wind is howling through your window pane it's not the only pain of the night...


terry came back to school the next monday, but there was a distinct difference to him now, his eyes were lined, as if he still hadn't slept in days, his silver hair was disheveled and pulled into a tight but ornate ponytail, and the scar across his nose was more visible now.

his limp was very pronounced, because sometime during the slaughterfest in which he had killed the eight men, he had extended his body past the limit of his healing factor, spraining his already injured left leg, he was sore all over, and really not looking forward to much of anything.

however, his attitude changed when he saw ember, "ma petite?" he said with a shadow of his usual grin.

"i missed you terry, where have you been?"

"i'm really sorry, i just needed some time to think..."

"then allow me to help with that," she said, and kissed him. tears sprang anew from his eyes, and he embraced her tightly, returning the kiss with equal fervor.

she had been despondent as well but for several different reasons, one of which terry understood as soon as he embraced her... because she wasn't wearing her diapers.


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a day after terry's dissapearance, but before anyone noticed basilisk's had gone missing too, ember had snuck out of her apartment around eleven thirty. she had went to the cvs, bought her diapers and joked with the cashier, as usual, and came back. nothing out of the ordinary had happened on the trip, which in total, took little more than twenty five minutes.

she had opened the door as quietly as possible and locked it behind her. when she went to turn on the light, lo and behold, there stood nikole, legs akimbo, glaring at her.

"where the hell have you been? do you even know what time it is?"

"I-I-I went to the cvs."

"for?"

ember had started to talk several times, but failed to find the right words.
so nikole found them for her, "i have overlooked this habit of yours for long enough, i told myself i would as long as it didn't jeopardise your safety. and now this!"

"mom, nothing even happened, no one ever saw me. besides, i had someone protecting me."

"who? the basilisk? he doesn't care for anyone but himself, just like all the rest of those fucking vigilantes! now, throw those diapers in the garbage, you are forbidden from them permanently! go to bed and consider yourself lucky your not being beat. oh, and one more thing, that rock music of yours, it's gone too." she turned and slammed the door to her room, leaving emmie dumbstruck and hurt.



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"you poor thing," he whispered into her ear, "she took them didn't she?"

emmie stiffened, "took what?"

"you know what," came terry's reply.

"how the hell does everyone else know that!?"

"not everyone, just me, you, and her... and maybe your sisters...," she buried her face in his chest and sobbed.

"h-h-h-how did you know?"

"because, ma petite," he whispered back, "i used to wear them too. and maybe, just maybe, i can help you get them back."

And so, they progressed through the rest of the day. finding reason to hold tight to each other, even if it was just holding hands, eliciting a couple stares from the populace, but not caring at all. some time during the middle of chemistry, (during a stage demonstration between two students involving a rubber chicken, a bottle of grape soda, and a dart board...), shinji popped up next to them, and slid a package under terry's arm. he whispered to him, "compliments of the house, fireproof, be veeeeery careful." and walked back to his desk. "impressive! i wonder if the next act can top that!" he said, and moonwalked accross the stage, eliciting several giggles, then he did a sort of elvis twist and pointed into the crowd, "eeee-you! thank you very much!" and exploded.

the rest of the class went hilariously well, the last several acts bringing smiles to even ember and terry's somber faces. once the bell rang, terry nodded to shinji (who grinned mischeviously) and left with ember.

"need a payphone and then we can get to work," terry told ember, very confident now.

they found one, just outside of the school.
a few rings in and the phone was picked up, nikole's voice sounded as if she'd just woken up, "whazzat?"

"fraulein nikole, i wonder if i might borrow ember for a while?"

"terry? y-yeah, just have her back by seven, and be careful."

"thank you very much." he said and hung up.


"so, diapers first? my treat."

she stared at him, "you're serious?"

"of course ma petite. i rarely joke, you know that. speaking of which... you ever want to fly when you were a kid?"

"y-yeah... why?"

he grinned from ear to ear and picked her up, his out line flickering, he slammed his right foot into the ground and took off straight up, leaving another deep bootprint in the dirt. his outline still flickering, he ran up the wall and kicked off, continuing his crazy method of travel by using telephone poles and adjacent buildings, until they reached the cvs. he took off from another phone pole and hissed between his teeth, "airbrake!" and hit the ground on his right boot, pivoting into a spinning crouch to slow down the inertia.
ember stuttered for a moment, "t-t-t-t-t-t-that was fucking AWESOME! can we do it again?!"

"of course, but we're here, so it'll be a few minutes."

they went inside, terry browsed the hair dye aisle for a little while, gazed at his own and thought 'screw it.' then he followed ember to the incontinence aisle, he smiled and said, "any one you want, money is no problem."

so after some browsing, ember found a brand that looked almost babyish, with little designs on the tape landing strip, and just her size too.

they bought them, ember joked with the cashier for a few minutes, the cashier busted out laughing when he found out terry was a guy though.

once outside, terry picked up ember and said, "hold on tight, i'm goin high!" the asphalt fractured under the force of his kick, and he launched nearly thirty feet into the air, using the light poles as propulsion afterwards.

sometime later they were walking along the roof of another apartment chain, chatting, when ember asked terry how he could do what he did as basilisk.

"well, it's complicated, you see i have something called a healing factor, meaning if i get hurt then i heal almost immediately, problem is, i have to eat a lot to keep it up,(which i don't get to do often) and theres limits to how much i can handle at once. what i did earlier, is simply ignore the pain and extend the force of my body's movement, like a marathon runner puts on that extra kick at the end of the race, 'cept i can keep doing it, and yes, it does hurt quite a bit simply because of the strain, but that'll heal if i mess it up. and because of it i can move faster than most people can even see."

"so it takes a healing factor?"

"hell no, anyone could do it, but there are very few body types that can handle it for an extended time."

"can you..."

"teach you? sure, i thought you'd never ask."

she laughed at that.

and right as she did, terry looked up. sitting barely ten feet away, was a tall man with waist length black hair. in his hands was a playboy magazine. "hold up a minute, i wanna finish this page." he said, in a voice akin to silk. the katana beside him was incredibly long, and terry hoped for a minute that the aura this man put off even while resting wouldn't be directed at him. his hopes were dashed, when the man folded up the magazine, placing it in his blue kimono robe, "judging by your little conversation earlier, i'm guessing you're the basilisk. am i right?"

terry glared at him, and the raspy monotone of the basilisk clawed its way from his throat, "what of it."

"i was hired to kill you, now be a good little shit, and live up to your rumors!" the raven haired swordsman whipped his katana from it's sheathe, in a style which terry barely registered as iaido while he ducked.

he twisted into his own duck and stood up, landing a punch to his opponents sternum. the stranger laughed as if he hadn't even felt it, and stabbed at several points on terry's neck with his fingers. terry dropped like a rock. "tchah! not even worth my time" the stranger said and turned, studying ember.
"heeeello gorgeous!," he noticed the package of diapers in her hands and laughed, not maliciously but suprisedly, "just like me... where'd you find that brand?"

"ummm, cvs."

"funny, my town doesn't carry those.... must look into the problem..." while he had been speaking, terry had opened the package shinji had given him. inside was a long black leather glove, all of the fingers tipped with five inch long metal claws. as he slid it on his left hand and tightened the straps, he felt the metal plating in the palm and knuckles, and inwardly grinned. this thing was probably even bullet proof!

he stood up just as his opponent turned around, the self same opponent nearly had a heart attack when he saw him upright, "what the hell! those were paralysis hits, how're you standing!?"

"healing factor, learn to listen." terry moved at normal speed for once, parrying the strokes of the massive blade with his claws, often simply slapping it away if it got too close.

"so, who the hell are you?" he said, sidestepping the blade again.

"ocoa the demon guillotine!" replied the swordsman, dashing forward and landing a knee in terry's gut.

"oof, never heard of you."

ocoa's face twitched, "yeah, well fuck you!" he said and slashed hard at terry.

who caught the blow, "i'm so sorry, fuck what? i said, fuck WHAT? oh... wait a minute, fuck you up? glad to oblige!" and wrenched ocoa's sword sideways and out, loosening his grip, hefore slamming the hilt into his stomach. "i'm not gonna kill you ocoa, but i'm not averse to roughing you up a bit either. i'm only interested in the mafia. they deeply wronged me..."

"then you'll be happy to know it was them who sent me, all i wanted was a good fight, and that exactly what they promised."

"who in the gang sent you?"

"he called himself marcus." as he said it the vein's in terry's body stood out suddenly, the ones in his eyes bulging and turning his pupils blood red. a wordless howl of rage burst from his lips and he heaved ocoa (who was nearly twice his size) high into the air with his right hand, positioning the blades on his left into a spearish shape. ember suddenly realized what was going to happen, even though she hadn't been privy to it the last time.

"terry!" she screamed, "control it, don't kill him!"

"sorry, doll, terry's not here anymore!" the raspy tones of the basilisk were preeminent, but terry's usual undertone wasn't there at all. it chilled her to the bone, and she did the only thing she could. she dropped everything she was holding, ran to him and kissed him, hard.

he dropped ocoa, and then he too fell. when he opened his eyes, the blood had receded from them and he simply looked tired. he stood, removing and folding the glove, and ocoa spoke to him, "three days from now, meet me here, i'm dropping the contract against you, if you need an assassin to help with your quest then you have my blade and my word." ocoa then jumped off the side of the building, vanishing from sight.

terry shivered and shook, until ember embraced him. "em, i'm scared... i can't control the killer instinct anymore, i-i-i had an urge to just tear him apart...," he buried his face in her hair, and sobbed.

"then i'll just have to be there to bring you out of it. simple as that."

he smiled through his tears, "really?"

"for you? a thousand times."

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a few hours later, they descended from another apartments roof, and landed on the stairwell to ember's, as it was on the third floor.

"terry, mom told me about why you had to leave school last friday, and i know the shelter is your only home, but i want you to stay with us."

"m-ma petite..."

"i talked to her about this a few days ago, we have a room we only use for storage, i can get it cleaned out and find a bed for you."

"i......i can't take charity offerings," he said, sniffling, "it means a lot that you'd ask but..."

"it's a pride thing. let it go."

"i-i'll think on it."

they reached the door and terry told ember, "let me do the talking, i'm going to be a bit drastic here so bear with me.."

"will do," she kissed him on the cheek, eliciting a blush.

ember opened the door and the two walked in. nikole looked up from the stove, still in her sweats from the night before, and smiled, until she noticed the package under ember's arm, which made her furious.

"emmie! what the hell are you doing with diapers? you know i told you you weren't alowed to wear them ever again."

terry broke in, "s-sorry nikole, that was my fault, i bought them."

"and now, forcing your boyfriend to buy them, tch, disrespect!"

terry blushed at 'boyfriend' and stammered, "s-s-she looked really sad so i felt i had to do something to make her happy, and i'm afraid i never r-really gave her the chance to say no... whatever punishment you planned for her, please lay it on m-me instead...," he dropped to the floor and bowed so low that his forehead touched the ground.

nikole immediately felt guilty. "i...i....... you may have them back on one condition... if terry will wear them then you can."

terry's breath caught in his throat, "ember... think carefully about this... if i do this for you, my sword skills will be compromised, i'm not sure if i can afford that..."

nikole raised an eyebrow, "sword skills? what do you mean?"

terry stood, hanging his head in shame, "perhaps it's time for you to see what kind of garbage your daughter hangs out with..," and he slowly unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt, revealing four lines of crisscrossing barbed wire scars.

"basilisk?" nikole was awestruck.

"i told you he was watching out for me, didn't i?" em didn't look happy with his choice to tell her, but went with it, "he's not as heartless as you think, mom. and terry, i know you want your past back but since that's impossible, you can always take the next best thing, besides, you're so good at swords that a diaper really isnt gonna hold you back at all."

nikole sighed and made a decision she knew she'd remember for years to come, "welcome home terry."

"w-what?" he said, eyes wide.

"ember and i had a discussion after i took her diapers, we confided in each other a lot, trying to decide how best to help you. the fact that you're basilisk and she didn't tell me changes a lot, but my decision remains the same."

"i couldn't tell you, i'm sworn to silence over it." said ember.

"oh. then i'm sorry for doubting you."

terry's demure voice cut in, "you would accept a murderer here? i.... had planned to finish my work and then turn myself in to the judgement of the people, probably die in some rotten prison cell, or leave town entirely... so many things are changing....," he bowed from the waist, "madame nikole, i accept your offer, as of this moment i am entirely at your mercy. do with me what you will..."

"my terms are that as long as my daughter is diapered, so are you, that you follow our rules, and... loosen up a little, have fun." she turned to ember, "as long as you are living in this house, you are to remain diapered, use them for all their intended purposes, and continue to keep your grades up. oh, and by the way.... the music is yours again, go party."

tears coursed down terry's face and he murmered to himself, "dear god, i do want this, all of it, but the cost, it's always too great later on... what will i end up paying for this happiness?"

"you two stay here, i need to go pick up some diapers in terry's size, among other things." nikole said, sounding a little amused at the goings on, "terry honey, what's your pants size?"

terry blushed crimson, "women's size two....it's the only size small enough, and i usually add on to the legs so they'll fit."

"seriously?" ember said, lifting terry's shirt to check, "you're smaller than me!"

nikole let out a very girlish giggle, waaaay out of character for her, thinking about putting terry in girl's clothing just to see the effects, "alright you two, be good and watch the twins till i get back."

the door shut behind her and ember's eyes went wide, "oh god! the twins!"

robbie stood in the hallway giggling madly, and rae-rae looked like she just wanted to hit her.

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don leon glared at marcus, "i thought you said he was going to kill him..."

"it seems the demon guillotine wasn't as up to par as the records showed."

"do not fail me again marcus..."

"oh trust me, when i'm done with him, he will beg for your mercy, beg to serve you... it's just gonna take a little while to whittle him down" marcus smirked, unfazed by leon's implied threats.

"see to it then!"

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when nikole came back, it was nine o'clock, the twins were in their room, asleep. terry and ember were on the couch playing a game of chess, and ember was winning, much to terry's consternation.

nikole whistled and they both looked up. "both of you on the floor now, pants off."

ember complied immediately, revealing a cute pair of pale blue panties, but terry stayed on the couch, blushing almost russet in color.

"terry, down, you don't have anything i havn't seen before." this merely served to make him blush even more, but he dropped to the floor, and took off his boots before removing his pants, revealing thin, shapely legs, and clean, but threadbare, boxers.

nikole pulled off ember's panties, pulling a diaper from the pack terry had bought earlier and told her to lift up. she did and nikole unfolded and positioned the diaper under her. she then pulled a bottle of lotion and another of powder from the bag, making ember wriggle in silent joy. she put both on her, rubbing them in slowly, before taping it shut. as a last little suprise, she took a pacifier from the bag and popped it into ember's mouth, making ember grin behind it, looking like a mischevious toddler.

she gave the same treatment (but with blue hued, babyish print diapers) to terry, who had gone beyond blushing and started silently crying.

"cheer up, this should be a trip down memory lane for you." said nikole, taking terry's hair out of it's ponytail. fully undone of all the catches and rubber bands he normally used, it cascaded over his shoulders, and accross his face, and if he'd stood up, would have reached his ankles. when he looked up at her from beneath it, his eyes wide and fearful, she had a strong motherly urge and hugged him tightly, and he looked a little calmer.

"ember, can you find a t-shirt for terry to sleep in?" nikole asked, and ember gushed behind the pacifier, running off to find one. while she did that, nikole unbuttoned terry's shirt and pulled it off. aside from the barbed-wire scars, there were faded stitch marks going accross his lower abdomen, and a few older, smaller scars. his left arm was a wreck, scuffed up and covered in burns, slash marks and pockmarks from god knew what. but all the injuries there looked years old. on his left leg, encircling the shin, was an uneven tear scar that looked as if the very bones in that leg had exploded, it was the oldest looking by far.

ember came back into the room holding a longish pink t-shirt and swinging a pair of socks, "thank you emmie, that was very thoughtful of you." said nikole, and ember's grin grew even bigger. they both helped terry pull on the shirt, and let him cover the scar on his shin with the socks. everything changed out like that, and he also looked like a toddler, albeit a tall one. nikole inwardly gushed at this, having not realized before how cute the both of them would look in diapers.

"alright you two, time for bed. ember, do you mind sharing tonight?"

ember removed the pacifier for a moment, "not at all." she said, still grinning.

terry bowed his head to the floor, in silent thanks to nikole. "terry, please, stop acting like a servant, you're part of the family now." she helped him stand up, and he looked at her, nearly ready to cry again. this time it was ember and nikole both who hugged him.

eventually, nikole got both of them in ember's bed and tucked them in, kissing both of them good night, and turned out the light.

after nikole too had gone to bed, ember took the pacifier out of her mouth, and asked terry, "so, feel better?"
terry replied around his pacifier, "like a wittle terry."
ember giggled at that, "true 'dat."

she accidentally put a hand on terry's diaper as she went to turn over, and glanced up at him in the darkness, "you already wet?"

"when she finished diapering me... i was afraid that maybe something would happen, and well..."

"i understand. quit blushing by the way, an erection is nothing to get embarassed over." she said giggling, eventually terry joined in, partly because she knew him well enough to gauge his expressions in the dark and also, because in all honesty, it was true.

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for the first night in many, many long years, neither of them had a nightmare.

more to come soon

chapter 5: out of the frying pan, and into the fire



terry awoke first, at five o'clock, just as the sun was coming up. he crawled off the bed and yawned softly, stretching. rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he continued to crawl until he reached the living room, there was a large sliding glass door there, leading to the balcony, and he opened it.

nikole and emmie found him there an hour later, sitting sieza style, closed fists pressed together at the knuckles, face upturned to the morning sun, with his eyes closed. he looked so at peace, that they 'almost' didn't want to disturb him.

without opening his eyes, terry began to sing, "good mornin' beautiful, how was your niiight?"

ember giggled for a moment before answering, "mine was wonderful with you by my side!"

"when i open my eyes to see your sweet face..." terry started, his eyes still closed.

"it's a 'good morning beautiful' day." she finished, grinning.

finally he opened his eyes, and the grey irises were startling framed by that sweet face, "you chased my nightmares away, emmie." his voice was higher pitched, with a slight lisp, just like a toddler. this served to startle emmie even more.

"terry, are you okay?" she asked

"nevva betta!" he said, still childish, but flashing a huge devil-may-care grin.

nikole figured it out, "it's a coping mechanism, ember, he's a bit uncomfortable about wearing them but willing to do it for you, so i guess he made a different personality to deal with it."

ember gasped, "yesterday, with that ocoa guy, he kinda flipped and didn't even sound like himself anymore, maybe that was coping too?"

in truth, this new personality was a coping mechanism, but not for his diapers, but was instead, terry's unconcious effort to create a mental balance for the violent basilisk he had become the day before.

"got it in one." terry lisped said and hugged her.

"alright, remember you two still have school today." nikole said.

ember and terry looked at each other, ember mouthing 'oh shit' and terry just grinning even more widely.

nikole changed them, suprised that terry was nearly leaking, whereas ember had only gone a little bit. they dressed hurriedly, ember in the usual khakis and a dark blue sweater, and terry in solid black, leaving off his usual sweatshirt. as he wrapped a roll of gauze (he kept spares in his bag just in case) around his left arm, his demeanor changed, "ma petite, can i ask a favor of you?"

she jumped, not expecting his demure, almost whisper, "y-yes, what is it?"

"i don't think i can get my hair braided right..." she quickly braided it, while he finished the gauze, and had to do a double take. he still looked like a girl, but with the braid now pulling most of his hair back it made his appearance even more pronounced, not to mention the fact that the braid dangled around his ankles in a long rope of silver. around his middle the bulge of a diaper stood out, and the waist band stood a few inches above his pants, clearly visible even to untrained eyes, as if he didn't care who knew. and in truth, he didn't, it was a good thing from his past come back to life, he felt almost proud to be diapered. ember adjusted her pants to match terry's, thinking *'no fear!'*, and combed her hair straight out, for the first time in years.


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the change in the two shocked everyone who saw them, the brainy girl and the girly guy, it was as if terry just didnt care that he looked like alittle kid. and ember... half the people there were used to seeing her in a ponytail, nose buried in a textbook.

they walked in laughing, mainly over a joke terry had just told, and partially over ember's initial reaction to it. diapers bulges completely visible, everyone just stared, aghast.

they split up for first and second block, and terry, sitting in math-concepts-101 was instantly surrounded by a group of girls, who just had to know why he looked so different. he ignored it for the most part, until one of them grabbed his waistband and asked the question of the hour...

"why are you wearing a diaper?" she asked.
terry replied, in his usual almost whisper, "because i felt like it. it's convenient and comfortable. got a problem with it?"
another girl did, "your not a baby. take it off!"
terry turned very slowly, grey eyes glaring, and then grinned, spoiling the effect, "in here? i'm no stripper!" he said with mock seriousness.
his voice carried, and everyone, including the girl who had told him to take it off, ended up laughing.



ember was not so lucky (or maybe she was, depending on how you look at it). she was in calculus-2. and ended up needing her diaper badly, as she continued to flood it again and again in reaction to the test she was working on.

(authors note: not sure if thats a real class... humor me.)

someone got the balls to ask her what she thought she was doing wearing one, and she ignored it.

bad move.

"i'm talkin to you bitch, answer me!" he yelled

unfortunately for the poor fool, ember was so high strung over her current work and the last nights events that she turned and backhanded him hard enough to move him back a few feet. a vein throbbed at her temple, and as she stood up, her diaper's drenched size made it obvious that she was wearing one. she didn't care though, and glared down her nose at him, "call me that again and i'll crush your fucking balls next, dipshit!"
no one else in the class even looked up, she had shook them so badly. however, as they filed out after the bell, one of them turned around and with a grin of his own said, "i am so jealous right now." and left.


second block rolled around and then third, where terry and ember met up once more.

they shared a kiss as a hello, and sat next to each other. eventually each told the other what had happened during their previous classes, and ember laughed at terry's save line, while terry laughed at ember's outburst.

of course, a few people here too asked why, and ember told them, "it's a comfort thing."
this would cause several of them to buy a pack that night to try.

fourth was gym, and this time, the teacher had a little suprise for the class, (a suprise other than actually BEING THERE for once that is.) as kendo gear was layed out...

terry unconsciously grinned.

"everybody grab a set, and change into 'em," the gym teacher, tai, was a tall, husky, haggard man with a stubbled face and a long ponytail of incredibly pale blonde hair, funnily enough his bangs were red. his eyes were mismatched, the left being red and the right a rich blue, down the left eye though, was a shallow scar. he claimed it was from a street fight when he was a kid, and considering the area's troubles, it was believeable enough. he wore a dark blue hakama loosely over his staff regulation button-up.

terry left his shirt on when everyone else stripped to switch into their gear, afraid that his neck scar would be seen. he did remove his pants however, and aside from the diaper which earned a few catcalls, the ring of scar on his left leg was fully visible. he pulled on the split skirt but left off the chest armor and everything else. this had quite a few of the others giving him wierd glances, as leaving off the armor just seemed stupid to them.

in the girls locker room, ember stripped fully, and for the first time her class mates saw her body. thin yet muscular, and very shapely for her age. divested of the ponytail, her black and silver hair cascaded down to her shoulders. on top of all that, the diaper simply made her look years younger. several of the other girls simply stared openmouthed or whispered to the others, but one walked over and asked the question of the hour.

"why are you wearing that?"

"it's hard to explain really, i suppose it's because it makes me feel safe, and it's comfy." ember replied, with a slight blush.

"but it's wet."

she blushed again, "did i mention convenience? the bathrooms here are rather nasty." and in truth, they were!

the other girl left it at that, with a shrug that seemed to say 'suit yourself'.
ember pulled on the gear and tied on her headband, holding the helmet under her arm.

once they were back in the gym, the teacher began to divide them into pairs to practice. terry ended up the odd one out, and tai offered to spar with him.

"alright go at it!" he said and the others began to fly at eachother or circle warily.

"now then kid, where's the rest of your armor?"

"i won't be needing it." terry said, in the usual whisper, and spun the shinai he'd picked up, "hmmm, too light in general, off balanced due to a slightly forshortened handle, half speed i think, to get the feel..."

he looked back at tai, "ummm, sorry old habit. ready?"

tai had also neglected to put on armor, but he'd almost never done that anyway. he hefted his own shinai, and barked a single word, "GO!"

tai came at terry with a two handed blow, but terry, using only his right hand, slapped it sideways easily.

"OOORAH!" tai came at him again, but terry sidestepped and spun his shinai, knocking tai's blade from his hands at the same instant.

he came at him with a powerful thrust, and this time, terry reacted by ducking under the blow and slamming a flurry of thrusts back at tai, who bore them with a slight grunt.

"kid, that ain't kendo, 's too... damn i don't even know what to call that, i didn't even see you move... where the hell did you learn to fight?"

terry flipped his shinai to null position, handle toward tai, gripping it with his left on the blade, behind the hand guard. "my father, was sixth dan in kendo at one point, before he started drinking. until i was five i watched him and learned all i could, then everything went down the crapper, and everything since then is all my own. kendo is childs play now."

tai eaised an eyebrow, and motioned for another shinai, one of the other students brought it to him, "prove yourself. prove that those very obvious diapers aren't hindering you. prove to me that that girly face isn't your only vice. prove that you are better than me!"

terry flinched at those words, and suddenly the veins stood out on his face, eyes just barely turning red, his voice shifting into a very familiar raspy monotone, "lets party!"

tai's blades moved in two side-by-side swirling figure eights, (this is hard as hell to do, trust me) and he moved slowly toward terry. terry just grinned, "try another stance, your legs are open, and you have a two second lapse on your right blade." he said and stabbed tai's right flank to prove it, following up with a slash at his legs.

tai switched the right hand side downward in an obvious kutaba-ryu style stance. terry nodded and said, "much better. now MOVE!"

they both moved at full speed, bamboo meeting bamboo with a crack, and a muffled whump as terry slammed his hilt into tai's chest, knocking him back a few feet, he sneezed unexpectedly and then switched to his left hand, sword held downward. "hope you don't mind if i end this quick."

ember called from the throng of students who had stopped sparring to watch, "terry, don't kill him, rein it in!"

he nodded to her and dropped into a crouch, "rail!"

twisted a little to the left as if he were going to hit a baseball, "gun!"

and then shot forward so fast that he flickered out of view, braid flying, "signature burst!"


by the time anyone figured out what happened, tai was flat on his back, gripping two slightly smoking, bladeless shinai hilts.

terry was walking back, eyes hooded, a half grin on his face, "proof enough?" he said and held out a hand to pull up tai, which he gratefully accepted.

"i concede, but you have gotta gotta show me how you did that!" he looked a bit shaken when he said it, but really happy at the same time, "your sword aura, i didn't feel it until right before you did that..."

"just remaining calm, all it takes." he said, and demonstrated the movements for the R.G.S.B., he had to do it several times so the class could duplicate it too, and had a bit of trouble reproducing the footwork, as most of them couldn't match the sheer speed and angles.

eventually tai suitably caught his breath and wanted a rematch. to make a long story short, he ended up in the exact same position with a shinai pointed at his throat, with terry on the other end wearing his usual half smile.

terry's blade spun in a tight arc back to null position and he posed saying, "absolute... BAD-ASS!"
tai and ember both burst out laughing at that.

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fifth period was kind of odd compared to the rest of the day...

"terry? need i even ask?" said shinji

"i..." terry bit his lip, flushing red.
eh, forget about it, it's alright, see that girl over there?" shinji pointed at a gothy looking teenager with her sweater's hood pulled most of the way over her head, "that's my daughter sable. go speak with her, you may be suprised..."

and so they did. sable looked up from a complex formula in one of her notebooks, "oyo?" she blinked owlishly, "whazzup?"

"um, shinji sent us." terry said.

"well then, nice to meet you basilisk."

terry's jaw dropped, "eh wha?"

"he told me he'd send you, we need to speak anyway, daddy might be a genius with with the hammer and tongs, but i'm the master of the gimmicks."

ember looked confused, "what do you mean?"

sable flipped a page of the notebook, showing them a sketch of a wrist attachment that had several small balls attached to it. "this is how he does the explosions, my design. 'tis incredibly simple for effects so flashy."

"this is interesting, but i'm not quite following you." terry said, looking as confused as ember.

sable blushed and looked down, biting back a smile, "sorry, got ahead of myself there, i guess what i'm trying to say is, your sword and claws... are my design."

terry's jaw dropped again, "damn."

"and... oh god forgive me but i gotta let this out..." she burst out laughing, which died down to snickers a few minutes later, completely out of character for her, "oh man! you two are so obvious it's not even funny but it is, it's hilarious!"

"huh?" terry and ember looked at eachother, completely confused. finally, sable calmed down, and unbuttoned her pants enough to show them, beneath was a white, abena diaper. it was obviously wet, and had a strip of masking tape accross the front, holding on a strip of paper with cartoon characters on it, so it looked like a baby's diaper. she buttoned back up and told them, "the brand you two are in leaks a lot, they're mostly just for looks, they'll work for light wettings but after that... and you," she said, looking at ember, "need to change soon, yours is about to leak in a few minutes.

"i thought we were the only ones..." said ember, "why do you wear them?"

sable blushed and glanced to the side, "i'm actually a ...... teen baby." and ember noticed a pacifier on a silver chain peeking out from inside the sweater.

"but that is a story for another day, for the moment i need you to look these over, they are designs for a prototype sword." she said, and handed terry another notebook.

he scanned through, flipping pages back and forth to compare, "if you can make this work... my god, thats brilliant..."

"thanks," she said with a grin, which changed to a frown, "and... good luck, i hear tell that leon is baying for blood."

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the next two days flew by, and before they knew it, they were meeting with ocoa upon the roof once more.

"leon knows i split, so officially, he wants me dead too." ocoa looked downcast.

"do you know where to find him," asked terry, "because i think all we can do now is to attempt a frontal assault and try to kill him off now."

"...i don't know right off, but i know he's a metahuman and i can track him that way..."

"what?!"

"you're a meta too basilisk, your healing factor, what did you think that was? any way, my 'ability' is to track metahumans, kind of by smell and 'feeling', it's hard to explain."

terry spoke in his half whisper once more, "so i am a freak..."

ember smacked him accross the back of the head, "no you're not, you're terry and thats all there is to it."

ocoa waited until the two stopped laughing and began to speak, "i suppose i have a bit of explaining to do... there are two reasons for my being in this city, one was the job i accepted from leon, and the second was because this city has the highest concentration of mtahumans that i have ever come across."

"..." terry raised an eyebrow.

"and since you apparently have no idea what i'm talking about... a metahuman is a normal person who has been gifted with a jacked up ability in a certain skill set. for example, your friends the izumi's (yes i have met them) are both meta's, shinji is a forge, basically a person who can work control metal, his daughter is fabricator meaning that she understands mechanical things on a level so high that most of us can't even comprehend it. now, all metahumans have a healing factor, but every now and then one comes along who heals as fast as you do, thats called serei-class. no one is really sure what causes a meta to go serei."

"let me guess, silver hair is the indicator?" he glanced at the silver streaks in ember's hair as he said this.

"exactly! what i wonder though, is what your other ability is..."

"my speed, of course."

"wrong, when i met you i was using my tracking to it's fullest, and that monstrous strength and speed were entirely you, and not your meta ability."


-CLICK!- the sound of a gun being cocked, drew everyone's attention to the edge of the roof...


"well isn't this just sweet?" the speaker was a teenaged male, wearing a long green trenchcoat whose edges were frayed by what appeared to be bullet holes. long black hair framed a face half hidden by large sunglasses and bandages.

terry recognized him at once, "mARcUs!!!!!!!!!!!" his entire outline flickered, and he walked toward marcus, the veins standing out on every possible inch of his body, the basilisk's raspy monotone burst forth from his lips, "you son of a bitch!"

his outline continued to flicker, and he aimed a kick at marcus.

however marcus just grinned, and then threw back his head and laughed. he focused his gaze once again upon terry, and pointed the gun at his chest, the barrel glowed an ominous red and a heat haze surrounded the gun, "poor little serpent, where ARE your fangs?" he pulled the trigger just as he said fangs, and the bullet took terry through the lung, dropping him immediately to the ground, in a pool of his own blood.

terry coughed up blood, and managed to stand again, he glared at marcus and spat out several sentences in a harsh gutteral tone.

ocoa and ember looked at eachother, and ember asked, "was that german?"

ocoa nodded, "i doubt our attacker even speaks german."


marcus on the other hand scowled, "what the fuck are you saying?"

"just this." terry said and lunged forward, slamming a punch that would have floored a cow.

he spit out another mouthful of blood, and glanced at his chest, there was a twist of scar tissue, already looking weeks old where the bullet had hit him, and a little bit of blood, but nothing else, "wast ist?"

marcus stood back up and smiled from ear to ear. he aimed his gun and pulled the trigger, terry stiffened praying the bullet wouldn't hit any vitals, but he felt nothing. all of sudden it made sense, he turned around and saw ember, hand over her chest where the bullet had gone in.

"NO!" he ran to her, praying it wasn't as bad as it looked. it was. "ocoa?"

"on it!"

terry picked up ember and slammed his right boot into the tile below him, the impact shattering it into so much dust.

whereas ocoa charged marcus, performing a perfect battojutsu strike. marcus growled and spat at him, then turned and slammed his foot against the tile, in an imitation of terry, and vanished into the street below.

chapter six: on a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?


several days after the incident, ember awoke in a white room, feeling just a little sore. in a chair beside her sat terry, his usually pale skin now a striking alabaster. "t-terry?"

his lips barely moved, and she could tell he was exhausted, "yes, ma petite?"

"oh, nothing. love you."

"and i you."

she drifted back to sleep after that and would remain that way for several hours.


nikole popped in and out, as the hospital didn't allow children in the i.c.u. she was only able to visit when the twins were at school. she was worried sick, obviously, but there isn't much a middle aged work from home mom can do for a gunshot victim.

when ember awoke again, terry was dozing, still deathly pale.

"terry?"

after a moment he said, "mich liebchen, was ist?" and clapped a hand over his mouth, muttering a few choice words under his breath, "sorry, ma petite?"

"what happened?"

"swear you won't hate me?" he said, cowering slightly.

she chuckled, "of course i won't hate you."

"my blood. i made a gamble, the doctors said you weren't going to make it, i..... convinced one of them to do a transfusion, thought maybe my healing factor was transferrable. apparently it is."

ember's eyes went wide, and she pulled at the hospital gown, unconciously noting the fact that the staff had put her in a diaper, she tugged at the bandages on her chest, ripping them apart. there was no longer a hole, just a small spiral of pink scar tissue, looking several months old.

"terry i..."

"i'm sorry... i couldn't stand to see you hurt..."

she sighed and then burst into laughter, "now i can help you!"

terry's stomach growled and a thought struck ember, "you said your healing factor drew it's energy from food. when did you eat last?"

"ummm i give up?" he said with a grin.

"oh, thank god! i thought for a minute you were pulling a dracula on me! white skin does not suit you." they both burst into laughter again.

"sooooo, how bout a steak?" asked terry, when he had managed to pull himself together.

"screw the steak, bring the whole damn cow!" ember was dead serious...

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ember was released that night, leaving the doctors scratching their heads...

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shortly afterwards, ocoa dropped in on them again. as terry taught ember how to bypass her limits, ocoa tested her to see if she had any meta human abilities.


"any power you may have is accessed by a focus state," ocoa said acting mock professory, "for the moment we'll concentrate on just entering that state. afterwards, we will release it during combat."

"first, be seated and clear your mind."

ember did so, sitting peacefully. terry, concerned over the fact that his abilities were still untapped, did the same.

"second, picture a wave of energy about where your heart is." ocoa's voice was now calm and charismatic, much like your average guru, "reach in and release it."

within seconds ocoa was nearly blown off his roof perch by what can only be described as a sonic wall. ember covered her mouth, her eyes were wide, "w-w-was that me?"

ocoa, back upright once more, murmered, "just as i thought, a latent talent. i wonder..."

he and ember looked at terry, expecting something. all of a sudden terry fell over backward, legs still crossed, a pungent odor wafted towards the waiting teens, and terry coughed in embarrasment, "no jokes okay?"




"i guess... all i've got is a healing factor," terry addessed the other two feeling a little dowcast, as nikole changed him.

ocoa sighed, frustrated, "well how are we going to take down leon then?"

"that all depends, you said he's a metahuman, what's his power?" terry asked, nikole left his pants off and went back to work in her room.

ocoa's eyes closed, and his tracking went into effect, "...smells like charcoal... very stuffy... " his eyes snapped open, "pyrokinesis."

terry's head dropped, "sheisse..."

ember looked back and forth between the two, "pyro... latin, fire? he can control fire? that doesn't sound too bad."

terry bit his lip, "most people take months to recover from a third degree burn, if i get hit even once, i think... it may be too much for my healing factor... this also means that neither of you will be coming with me."

"WHAT!?" ember and ocoa cried in unison, "you can't do this to us!"

terry continued, his stressed voice back at an almost whisper again, "for the next two, fine, but i'm probably the only one who'll be able to live through this."

"terry," ember paused for effect, "i'm coming regardless. and ocoa has to come or you won't be able to even find leon."

terry inhaled sharply as if he were about to yell and then let it out, "you know, that point completely slipped my mind..."

nikole stood in the hall way, leaning against the wall, "dress warm, theres supposed to be a storm. and terry, if she gets hurt again, you will die. i'm overlooking this last time because you saved her and because technically you had no control over what happened."

terry's diaper turned yellow as if on cue, and he stammered, "i um, yes ma'am," he bowed to the ground again, once more making her feel guilty, and giving ember a clear view of his diapered rear, to which she let out a wolf whistle, making him blush.

"alright, tommorrow is a saturday, and the basilisk is officially making a comeback in the flashiest way possible. so everybody sleep well, we're gonna have our hands full." he said.

"hey momma? can ocoa stay here tonight?" asked ember, "we'll call it a slumber party."

"sure." she replied, and ocoa was immediately tackled and dragged away laughing by the twins...

ember walked over to her mother and whispered, "you're so accepting of all this, what brought all that about?"

nikole just smiled and said, "that's a story for another day, the short version is this, you really are your father's daughter. and he would be very proud of you."

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ember went into the bathroom and turned on the shower, digesting what nikole had said. she stripped slowly out of her khaki's and stared at herself in the mirror.

the silver streaks in her hair made the black look even darker, contrasting with her fair skin. skin just a shade darker than peach. her body was thin compared to most her age, yet muscular enough to be sexy in some ways. in fact, her breasts weren't large, and she almost didn't need the bra beneath her t-shirt, but chose to wear it out of pride.

she glanced down at her diaper, soaked through of course, and placed a palm on the front. she wet some more and squished it shivering as it pooled around her crotch. she giggled and dropped to the floor, laying down and spreading her legs. she rubbed slowly, savoring the squishy feeling, and wetting a little bit more. her hand moved up and down, the diaper crinkling softly. she felt a tingling sensation around her clit, trying to dispell it, she rubbed the area with both hands. suddenly her stomach and clit tightened at the same instant, and without warning she wet her diaper violently. she sat up an untaped it slowly, letting the front fall forward. the urine from before had soaked into the padding, yellowing it, but above that was an opaque, sticky white liquid. she froze for a moment then understood what had happened. after which, she pulled it back up and squished a few times, before taking it off and stepping into the shower.


ocoa went in a few minutes later, having finally gotten free from the twins, and sat down on the floor. he glanced around shiftily eyed, a pointless gesture, but still funny, and stripped off his pants. beneath was a large depends adult diaper. the crotch was yellowed, not much, but enough to feel squishy, and from within his his kimono top he pulled a rolled up playboy magazine, a lazy grin upon his face, he began to peruse...

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while the other two showered and so on, terry quietly pulled on his basilisk disguise, and grabbing his sword, opened the balcony door.

"terry?" said nikole.

"i'll be back shortly, they'll need armor, and theres only one man i trust when it comes to metal work."

"alright, godspeed terry," he was gone as the words left her mouth, leaving a tiny dent in the balcony railing.


terry kicked off of several lamp posts and buildings, gaining altitude. as the wind lashed his face, a wild, reckless cry left his lips, and he shot higher still.

finally, he dropped, his body spinning...


as he fell, he caught sight of a shadow following behind him, more clumsily, as if it's body didnt work quite right. terry let it follow him for a ways, not going directly toward his intended destination, but zigzagging to confuse his pursuer. after about ten minutes, his legs flickered rapidly mid-jump and he vanished from sight. the shadow's face showed in the lamplight, marcus, haggard and red eyed, his shaggy hair disheveled and his face bruised and bloodied...

a grin and a flash of silver flickered in the darkness and then were gone once more.

marcus glanced around, his eyes wild.

"mack the..." a cased sword appeared as if from thin air and pressed against the back of marcus's neck, "KNIFE!"
terry's thrust was powerful, and to a normal person would have caused a concussion, but it didnt seem to faze marcus. his arms raised, straight toward terry, the joints bending at an impossible angle, marcus's eyes opened wide behind his cracked sunglasses and he seemed to be trying to say something. within his hands were two colt .45 revolvers, each glowing an eerie red and dancing with livid, angry sparks.

he coughed and suddenly screamed, "goddamn it MAKO DODGE IT!"

the guns tore a red hole in the night but terry managed to duck away from the blast and turned to see a terrifying sight, marcus hovered a foot off the ground, bent over backwards also at an impossible angle, grasping futilely at his own neck.

terry made to help him when suddenly... he vanished in an explosion of red. no blood... but an eerie lightshow...


terry bit his lip and looked away, mouthing what could have been a prayer.

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a thud from the balcony alerted everyone of terry's return. he carried a large bundle on his back and collapsed into a sitting position as soon as it was off. ember made to ask a question, but he beat her to it, "armor, fire proof armor. it's from the izumi's."

he got back up and stepped out onto the balcony, closing the door behind him. the balcony was dark, but everyone could see him tensed, and though the glass door was thick his cursing was audible, if only just. he spoke in solid german, devoid of an accent, stomping a foot now and then or turning and yelling at the sky, then slumping over the guard rail, pounding a fist into it. much the same way a grieving person is wont to do over the casket of the deceased.

ember quietly slid the door open, and walked out. she wore a long blue t-shirt but her diaper still poked out beneath it. "terry?"

he did not immediately respond, but when he did it was still in solid german, harsh and gutteral. his eyes were red from tears uncried, and the pupils were completely red again. she grabbed him and kissed him, hard. he closed his eyes and cried silently. when he spoke again, he was quieter, and it was in english with a few german words whose meanings were quite clear, but he had a slight accent, as most who are multilingual tend to have while switching between languages.

"mich liebchen... i am afraid."

"what for" she asked

"marcus... is no longer my enemy. he didn't kill her..."

"kill who? terry what are you talking about?" her head cocked to the side, like an inquisitive dog.

"meiner mutti...and my savior. the gun may have been his, but no man can look that pained... leon's done something to him."

ember just stared, not quite getting it.

"we fought while i was gone... he's innocent. it wasn't him pulling the trigger."

"are you saying he's a puppet?"

"ja. close enough, a marionette."

"but he shot me..."

"and he shot me too, but i don't think it's him in there anymore, and if he is, then he's definitely not in control of his own body."

the air went dead silent and ember unintentionally unloaded in her diapers right there.

"i know... i was intense, i reacted so.... violently about him before... he became my anathema, i hated him more than anything. but now, i'm convinced, he had that same look when he pulled the trigger on her... pain and fear... as if he wanted to die rather than do as he did."

he looked over at her and bowed very low, his accent gone, "go ahead and get some sleep, i have some things to think about..."

"alright, good night terry. i hope it comes clear for you," she hugged him and went back in.

terry faced out over the balcony and mulled for a long time.

as the sun rose again, he stepped back in, his expression carefully neutral...

more next week.

chapter 7: in the land of the pigs, the butcher is king


ember and ocoa stumbled into the living room, still rubbing the sleep from their eyes, around eight thirty the next morning. terry stood in the kitchen, sipping a large mug of still boiling green tea. he was shirtless, so his scars were plainly visible, and since his hair was pulled into a pony tail, one that hadn't been visible on his back before was now blatantly obvious: hundreds of long striating diagonal marks, some light, some deep, all very old.
the red bandanna was tied around his neck, ready to be pulled up and the plastic lip of a diaper was visible over the waistband of his jeans. terry's eyes were closed and he hummed an old tune.

he turned then and opened his eyes, "are you ready?"

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the sky was a bleak gray over head, threatening rain, but as of yet, failing to deliver.

they traveled over the rooftops, ocoa pointing the way his tracking sense told him to go, and terry scouting ahead, just within sight range, prepared for the worst.

the other two wore suits of a gloss black material under their clothes; it moved easily, but smelled of some chemical neither could identify. ember carried kotetsu, the loner sword that shinji had given to terry 'just in case', and ocoa carried his long katana. terry still wore no shirt, and from his original uniform, only wore the mask. his long silver hair trailed behind him, looking like starlight in the prevailing headwind; his katana was stuffed through his belt, and gave off a slight scent of lighter fluid, making him giddy.

all too soon ocoa called a halt and pointed toward an old office building, "he's there but... there are a lot of other people there too."

"jaggers, soon to be 'toten jaggers'." terry blew out a mothful of air, grabbed the arms of the other two and kicked off. for a few moments, they seemed to be floating in mid air, the building drawing slowly closer, until terry tensed once more, making his leg flicker and placed a midair axe kick dead center into the window closest to them. it shattered to dust and ocoa raised an eyebrow (as if he, like a radar, had gotten 'pinged').


the three fell through the window into a seventeenth floor lobby. chairs halphazardly placed, and people, lots of people, every one of them armed. their guns had been at rest mere moments ago, but now were all aimed at the newcomers.

the warning click of a trigger was all it took, and terry dashed in front of the other two, his katana out, metal and flame swirling in a hard widdershins arc. nearly seventy guns roared a report and bullets zinged across the room, everyone that came near terry made a loud ping.

their ammo spent, the massive crowd were about to move when terry suddenly stopped, and whipped his blade toward the ground, a long line of bullets stood where his katana passed. he grinned beneath his mask, and whipped the sword back outward smacking into the line, and the bullets flew back toward their owners. he waited until the first began to fall and then pointed a clawed finger into the crowd intoning, "toten sie!"

within seconds ember joined the fray, doing her best at copying terry's intimidating front, she wounded certainly, but none of her strikes were fatal.
ocoa let out a snort of laughter, and jumping onto a table made a proclamation, "the demon guillotine is in the hizzouse!"

.
..
...

the room ran red and it was ember who held the other two back from killing the last one, "so what if he's got reinforcements, we can't just show up to fight the big boss unannounced."

"ja, that would be rude." terry chuckled behind his mask, hiding very well the sinister gut feeling he was getting.

"yeah, run along you little fucker," ocoa was in his element, blood splashed over his kimono top, he just wished they'd show some initiative and fight better!


they waited a few minutes and then made their way to the elevator, terry checked to make sure there weren't any traps and then laughed out loud, "he-ey, guess what!"

"what is it?" ember asked

"there's only one more floor, i should have just taken us in higher, this is kind of emberassing."

"what, three psychos taking the elevator?" said ocoa, snickering.

"speak for yourself, 'bloodbath'," ember thunked him with her scabbard.

"can't help being--"

'ding!' the elevator cut him off, and the doors opened, revealing an enormous room covered in red velvet.

"ah, visitors, finally!" came a voice from a chaise lounge, the only piece of furniture in the room, and sitting upon that chaise lounge was a lanky gorgeously tanned man in his twenties with thick, shaggy golden blonde hair, "don't mind if i smoke do you?" he asked and placed a ciggarette between his lips, but he did not light it.

instead, he stood up and raised his right hand and along his forearm was a thin clockwork device. with an honest to god smile he snapped his fingers, "when the outside temperature rises, and the meaning is, oh, so clear..." a handful of sparks shot from the device, "one thousand and one yellow daffodils start to dance in front of you. oh dear, are they trying to tell you something? you're missing that one final screw?"

the sparks expanded, forming into a handful of flames, and looking at ember he laughed, "you're simply not in the pink my dear, to be honest you haven't even got a clue."

but something else aflame diverted his attention away from ember, and as terry finally unsheathed his katana, biting back a laugh he phrased a reply, "i'm one card short of a full deck, i'm not quite the shilling. one wave short of a shipwreck, im not my usual toppity, im coming down with a fever, im really out to sea. this kettle is boiling over, i think i'm a bananna tree..."

and the man, leon, let out a laugh of his own, one of real joy, "it finally happened, i'm slightly mad! i'm knitting with only one needle, unraveling fast it's true, i'm driving only three wheels these days, my dear how about you?" he extended a hand toward terry, much like a circus impressario introducing the next act.

"it finally happened, i'm slightly mad, only very slightly, and there you have it."

"well played basilisk, i do believe i'm going to enjoy this. a fight the death to be sure, but a fan of mr. badguy, and a song almost forgotten by the world, color me impressed! this is going to be the most fun i've had in years, merely a tango away from the next life, and yet all for the sport."

terry blew out a breath and flexed his left hand, considering the best way to go for a kill, leon noticed and made a pouting face, "you want it over fast? awww, hmmmmm, i promise i won't touch the other two, and my promise is one thing i will not break. please can we have a little fun with this?"

"what. the. hell?" terry pulled off his mask and fixed leon with an openmouthed questioning stare, complete with twitching eyebrow.

who looked to the side, acting innocent, "i can't help it. fights aren't some proving ground for me, they're playtime, regardless of which side is winning. it's my thing, and i'm absolutely crazy about it!" the flames floating around him blazed at his excitement, spurring him on more, "and you, you're the basilisk, you have the highest kill rate of any singular person in history, you can't tell me you don't relish that. i'm so excited my blood is boiling! errr.... wow that came out wrong... " he grinned, "so, are you ready?"


"one question first, regarding marcus. are you the puppetmaster?" it was leon's turn to look dumbfounded. "no idea what you're talking about. i havn't seen him since last night around umm four i think, i assumed it was another mark on your kill record. and i..... demon guillotine?"

ocoa pointedly looked around, trying to act innocent. "yeeees?"

"i really wish you'd attempted to carry out that contract, i still have yet to see what basilisk is capable of... oh well, all the better for the suprise!"

"then in that case," said terry, tapping out a very familiar beat with the toe of his boot, the beat to a song that no one can forget, "buddy you're a boy make a big noise playing in the street, gonna be a big man someday, you got mud on your face, you big disgrace, kickin your can all over the place, singin... WE WILL, WE WILL, ROCK YOU!" on rock you, his right leg flickered and sent cracks spiderwebbing accross the floor. leon wore a grin from ear to ear, as if this were christmas for him.

there was a sputtering crackle as burning katana met barehanded tomfoolery. the sword simply ceased to flame, and leon stepped back, frowning at the hand that held it's stolen flickers. "lighter fluid?" he sniffed it, "really strong lighter fluid."

terry sheathed it and swung the case at him, leon wiggled his eyebrows, dodged it and then posed saying, "look i'm a bananna tree!" of course terry immediately suppressed a snort of laughter, and ducked out of the way of a fire ball.

ember and ocoa cheered from the doorway, somehow they'd dragged the chaiselounge over there and ocoa even had popcorn, though it was anyones guess how he'd gotten it.

leon clapped his hands and did a few steps of a flamenco dance, stepping out of the way of another slash, and then snapping his fingers, formed his flames into a reasonable semblance of a sword, a romanesque one but a sword nontheless. and so steel met flame, an over head strike blocked by a sideswipe that belched out gouts of flame, or a smoldering stab sidestepped and buried into the ground. finally, terry grasped leon's blade with his gauntlet, "i do believe this descending into farce, where's our tango with death?"

"took you long enough to ask," said leon with a lilt in his voice, and he released his sword, letting it dissolve into smoke. he raised his left arm to reveal a small silver bracelet, with two red circle on it, he tapped them and grimaced, because from within the seemingly solid bracelet, spikes were emerging and gouging into his wrist. his heart began to pound, faster and faster, he snapped his fingers and his usually small flames blossomed into an inferno. he charged at terry, whose outline flickered a moment before the attack landed, leon looked around, confused because terry was nowhere to be found.

"toten mannlein? ist gut!" terry's voice was suddenly cold, coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. he flickered into view in front of leon, a half smile on his face, "that little trinket... you're a junkie, no better than the druggies under you."

leon shrugged under his inferno, grinning himself, "true that, andrenaline junkie! this metal makes the heart speed up, and the heart is where our power comes from. it just puts you an' me on even footing. after all, a serei is only one step away... from a god."

"you blaspheme. not a good idea." terry's right leg flickered and he aimed a roundhouse kick at leon.

leon just laughed and let the blow hit him, staggering a bit to regain his footing, "oh, really? like i give a shit, im an atheist."

terry flickered out of view, regretting what he was about to do. he flickered back into view and whipped his katana out, his stance distinctly different. he was hunched slightly, his katana back a bit, as if it were an overlong limb, and his hair now out of the ponytail, covered his face like an steel curtain, leaving only a single red pupiled eye visible.

"oh, getting testy are we," asked leon, still grinning. he charged, and terry, by now completely in his basilisk mindset slashed wildly, then sheathed his katana with a loud bang, throwing a wide circle of fire around him as the case extinguished it. the veins stood out all over his body and he sneered. "if serei is one step from god...." he paused for effect, "then what does that make you?"

leon threw back his head and laughed, long and loud, "alt schmeid! surely even you can appreciate that!" his flames expanded and took the shape of man from the waist up, as if a burning giant were stuck halfway on that floor. around where it's head should be, the flames were denser and blue, like a single smoldering eye.

"alt schmeid, the one eyed master o' fire, you're not the only man with an immortal avatar!"

terry's eyes began to redden over, the veins appearing to rupture, and he stormed into the monster, each footfall like a thunder clap. the velvet covering the room vanished into acrid smoke and terry began to burn as well, his skin blackening and his hair sizzling away. he continued to move forward, as if he felt no pain. he grabbed leon by the neck and spoke in a bone chilling whisper, "falschem gott, they mean nothing," and slammed him into the ground, stunning him. the fire dissipated immediately, as if leon had run out of gas.

terry paused for a moment, his skin slowly beginning to heal over, the pulse in his neck beating wildly, obviously even faster than leon's had been. his sword came out of it's scabbard in an instant, meeting with a long skein of metal: the barrel of colt .45 six shot revolver.

marcus's eyes were wild and he was bloodier than before, he shook involuntarily and it looked as if an invisible hand were holding his mouth shut. terry took all this in as their weapons met, and within the blink of an eye, he had sheathed the sword, kicked marcus's knee to make him drop to the ground, and flipped him onto his stomach, his claws pointed at the back of marcus's neck. three inches beneath a tattoo of a winged crescent moon inside of a pentagram, (his heart skipped a beat, because he had one at the base of his neck as well...) was a strip of metal, with a spike going from it into marcus's spine.

"this is going to hurt like hell, so bear with me," his left hand flickered and ripped the contraption out. marcus gasped, "mako? danke gott." and then passed out.

terry's eyes drained back to gentle grey and he whispered, "i'm here, baby brother."

ember shrieked from the doorway and terry whirled around. leon had a sadistic look on his face, and was only a few feet from ember, "so i lied, so sorry. but you were fun to fight. either way, hell is too good for you, i want to fight something stronger! so, if i kill the lady maybe you'll flip just enough..."

terry grasped his katana's handle and his left leg sunk into the cement floor, sending out a rippling fracture for ten feet around, and he pulled his katana harder than he'd ever pulled it before. both he and the metal screamed at the effort. the case shattered and a roaring sound, like a jet engine passing by, shot accross the room. leon's eyes opened wide, and blood dribbled from his mouth. with a wet splotch, his torso hit the ground, his lower half stumbled a few seconds as the nerves danced their last, and then fell atop the rest of him, "bravo", he mouthed, smirking as he died.

"that's called 'drive'." terry gasped and collapsed into a sitting position, his right arm bruised all the way up and down it's length. he breathed heavily, forcing his heart to continue at it's current speed, and heaved himself back upright. he walked toward ember, limping, just slightly. "i'm sorry about that, are you alright?" he asked, his voice back to it's customary almost-whisper, yet clearly audible.

"i-i'm fine, just a little shocked, what was that?"

"something i stole from my father..." he crouched down in front of leon's corpse, and removed the bangle and igniter from it's arms. noticing that his pants no longer had pockets, he sighed.

"here, i'll hold onto them." ember said and took them, he nodded his thanks, and then limped back to the prone figure of marcus.

he heaved marcus onto his shoulders as best as he could, "i'm taking him to the shelter, tony will understand."

"terry, just bring him home."

"i can't ask you all to bear another charity case. besides..."

she rolled her eyes, "you said he wasn't in control, i won't hold it against him."

the three walked out the door, and the sky opened up, a torrent of rain heralding their return home.

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"the total number of bodies so far is over eighty, including the body of don leon, whose exact cause of death is being with held at the moment. as far as we can discern, there were three killers, ages unknown. the basilisk is rumored to have been among them, but as of yet there is no certainty. the chief of police has refused to comment."

the news went over to a commercial for some local eatery and kin whistled, "well that certainly tells me absolutely nothing... could they at least try to pry something out of him?"

the red headed teen stretched out on his bed, a diaper encircleing his waist, and yawned.

"mmmmmm, time to get busy then." he rolled off his bed, and stood in front of his closed door. he inhaled sharply and then walked right through it, the wood rippling as he passed.

from the other side, there came a laugh, "hey, my clothes stayed on this time!"

chapter 8: like a sinner before the gates of heaven, i'll come crawling on back to you


terry slept deeply, his small body curled up beside marcus, where he'd finally passed out moments ago. the two were nearly identical, heart shaped faces framed by silken hair. terry's was about seven inches long, growing back swiftly thanks to a quirk of his healing factor.

marcus bore many scars, like his big brother, bruises, knife marks, and the long striating marks of a whip accross his back. he lay beneath a blanket, cleaned up and bandaged as well as nikole and terry could manage, nikole had also diapered him 'just in case' she said.

marcus mumbled and opened his eyes, a stunning shade of verdant green, with a sliver of crimson in the lower part of both. "m-mako? wo ist..."

"i'm here. don't worry, i won't leave you again."


"reeeh! you're both on, i mean... awake!" said ember, grinning at the the brothers.

"emmie!" terry was all smiles as he jumped up and hugged her. his grey eyes were wide open and innocent once more, as if the previous night's carnage were just a dream. the diaper around his waist was just wet enough to merit notice, but was slightly covered up by a way too large long sleeved pink tee, the sleeves of which hung several inches below his hands. with his silver hair sticking out at all angles, he appeared to be nothing more than a rather tall toddler.

marcus yawned, making his eyes water and sat up. the pastel green tee he wore just drew even more attention to his diaper, which was a solid yellow. he blinked a few times and then, cocking his head, queried the other two in german.

"marcus, emmie doesn't talk like us. auf english bitte?" terry pleaded.

"i said i'm reeeeeally hungry." ember jumped, she had been expecting a growl or rasp, but marcus's english was light and had a very slight country twang.

"let's get you some grub then." terry giggled and then hefted him off the floor, carrying him to the kitchen, marcus protesting all the while, "i can walk, put me down!"

he dropped marcus into a chair, and dashed back to the room to get something. nikole, who was in front of the stove, turned sharply, and pointed a steak knife an inch away from marcus's nose, the glare she fixed him with made him flood his diaper instantly.

"you shot my daughter." marcus bowed his head, as the impact of what his tormentor had made him do hit home.

"y-y-y-yes m-ma'am..." he stuttered.

"fraulein nikole, don't hold it against him, this is the cause of our troubles," terry interjected, dropping a thin strip of metal onto the table. it had a long spike coming out of it, with hundreds of tiny branching wires on the end, "this 'piece of garbage' completely overrides the mind, allowing whoever is on the other end to control his victim's body."

"and?" nikole's voice was dangerous, but it didn't faze terry.

"this particular one has been buried in my brothers neck for over four years." he stated calmly.

"oh my god..." she looked aghast, her demeanor doing a complete 360, "no control all that time?"

"nothing more than a screaming passenger in my own body. it took everything i had to speak to mako that one time... and 'he' punished me for it." marcus looked pained as he said it.

"'he', would be corsica i presume?" terry sighed, wondering if there'd ever be an end to his work.

"yeah, and i'm not the only one he used."

nikole let the matter go and fixed several plates, putting them at the table and calling everyone to eat.

"oyo, save mine for later, i have some business to attend to," said ocoa as he came out of the bathroom and bent over next to terry, the two whispered for a moment and then ocoa left.

from the twins room came a raucous giggle and a yell of 'shut up! do i pester you over your choice of underwear?!' within seconds raevyn stormed out, one of emmie's diapers taped around her waist as tight as she could get it. roebyn followed still giggling uncontrolably. nikole hid a smile, thinking along the lines of: 'a house full of toddlers!'. emmie and terry looked at one another and though they tried to hold it in, they both burst out laughing.


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somewhere downtown a cellphone was ringing, or more specifically playing a rendition of ac/dc's thunderstruck.

"aaaayo!" a man with a head of spiky white hair picked it up.

the voice on the other end was cold, heartless to the extreme, "mister freed, we have need of your services."

the man grinned, showing a set of designer fangs, "what's the sitch, boss?"

"basilisk will visit visit the dwelling of the late don leon, i want you to carry out the following instructions to the letter..."
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elsewhere, ocoa knocked on the door of a penthouse apartment.

the door opened and sable stood blinking owlishly, as if she'd been working with the lights off.

upon seeing ocoa, her face broke into a grin, and she pounced on him, forcing him to the floor and kissing him.

"it's been a while. where ya been?" she asked, and ocoa couldn't help himself, he returned her kisses with equal vigor.

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terry sat atop the roof of the apartment, watching the greying sky as it prepared to rain again, and thinking. he relaxed his body and breathed deeply, trying to meditate.

"y'know, that's never gonna work," a familiar silver haired form to his right rasped at him, the red bandanna over it's mouth rippling as it spoke, "you want us? all you gotta do is ask."

to his left, the same body with a pink shirt, and long unbound hair, "yeah, all ya gotsta to do is say 'where are you?'"

"erste...," he sighed, "the plain fact that i'm visualizing all three of us is a bad sign..."
"it's means," said basilisk
"that i'm losing my mind," kawaii terry finished.
"i'm missing something, some vital fact," he huffed, "i'm hoping one of you may remember something i don't"
"we are you, and you are making no sense," kawaii terry peered at him.
"hmph," basilisk snorted, "i'm not part of anyone, i am death personified."
"shut up!" terry and kawaii terry both yelled at him.


terry shook his head and looked back at the sky, wondering where the hell all that had come from.
he stood up, surveying the city around him, and let out a depressed sigh. "what link do we have to corsica?" he whispered, and the wind began to rise.

after some time, a thought struck him and he dropped down to the balcony, and opened the door.
he gathered his gear, holding up the charred remains of his bandanna with a bemused expression.

ember, marcus, and the kids were seated in the living room, talking and laughing. terry dropped down next to ember, "i'm going out for a little while, i think i may have a small lead..."

"you want me to come?"

"no, stay here and relax, i won't be long." he kissed her cheek and walked back out onto the balcony. he coughed into his fist and glanced down. there was blood. "damn... healing factor's still dealing with the burns..." he whispered, and the door opened behind him.

"mako, we're coming too." marcus stated. his eyes were half closed, giving him a lazy confident look. his green trench coat was pulled on, showing a few of it's ragged holes had been patched. ember nodded beside him.


"might i ask why?" terry said, supressing another cough.

"because we felt like it," ember giggled.

"good enough," terry replied and crouched down, ember understood and climbed on, locking her legs around his stomach. terry glanced over at marcus, "think you can keep up?"

marcus's grin spread, "i do believe it's you who'll be needing to keep up."

they both slammed a foot into the floor, marcus's shoes flashing a glaring red glow as they met cement, and both rocketed off the balcony.

terry's speed was noticably slower, as if he was in pain, and ember noted that he always landed on his right leg as if his left hurt him.

after some time he landed with a clattering thump in front of the office building that leon had used as a base. the entire building was cordoned off with caution tape, but there wasn't a soul around... terry crouched down to let ember off and then ducked under the caution tape, following the hair raising feeling on the back of his neck, marcus and ember following cautiously.

he opened the elevator, and glanced at the buttons, "sheisse..." and with a roar, he slammed his left hand into the floor. "marcus!"

"sup?"

"i need your bullets, as much of a charge as you can--" ember clapped her hands over terry's ears and inhaled sharply, releasing a yell that shook the building to it's foundations.

marcus slowly put his hands down, "some warning would have been great." terry peered into the elevator shaft, just above the wreckage "...heh, two extra floors, whaddaya know." he looked at ember, "good job." and held out a hand, she took it and he swept her up in his arms, jumping down to the next floor.

whatever had been there though, had been ransacked, the floor was littered with shrapnel, and there was nothing recognizable. from the next floor down marcus shouted, "i think you should take a look at this terry!"

it took him a minute to pick his way back to the shaft, but when he and ember dropped down...

upon the wall, written aparently in blood, was a message:


"dear basilisk, i hope this reaches you, and if it doesn't then your stupider than i thought.
you and i have met before, you won't remember it, but you do have the scars...
check your chest, three inches down from the heart, and of course, the back of your neck.
you cannot run from me,

now that i have your attention: kill don darrius or i'll disembowel your whore,
and use her as a hood ornament for my limo.

loves and kisses,
corsica"

below the signature was a bloody sketch of a winged crescent moon inside a pentagram.


terry slowly rolled up his shirt, lo and behold, three inches below his heart was a jagged scar, one that he'd never been able to recall exactly how he got it.

ember read the message, and her fist tightened, turning white at the knuckles, "just how much sound does it take to skin someone?" she whispered.

"well... darrius was next on my list anyway... either of you notice he hadn't hired anyone to take me out?"

"y-yeah, corsica used me..." marcus started.

"and leon hired ocoa..." ember finished.

"wierd." terry shrugged and started climbing back up the shaft.


the hair raising feeling hadn't dissipated though, on the contrary, it seemed to be growing!
and the closer they got to the exit, the worse it got, until finally they stepped outside.

leaning against the wall was the white haired man, dressed in blue jeans and a hawaiian button up, a slim pair of purple wraparound shades covered his eyes.
"basilisk, my name is freed, i have been asked to deliver a -- HOLY SHIT! I KNOW YOU!"

without his mask, basilisk was distinctly recognizable as terry, but the neck scars doubly cemented his vigilante identity.

the man, freed, slammed a fist into the wall, muttering, "fine, the money is half paid, may as well earn the rest of it!" he drew a circle in the air with two fingers, and the air began to reek of burnt ozone, the skin of his hands danced with cyan sparks.

"you've been... THUNDERSTRUCK!," he slammed a fist into terry's stomach, and terry could feel the imprint of the brass knuckes that freed wore. freed stepped back, wondering if it would be enough.

terry's eyes bled to red in a matter of seconds, and with his arms wide and inviting he rasped, "leck meine schweinstucker arshele!" and as he spoke his face split into a sadistic grin. (marcus blushed red as terry said this, and when ember asked him later what it meant, he refused to translate)

ember dashed around behind freed and made a downstroke with kotetsu. unfortunately, when the sword hit him he sent a tendril of sparks back through it, ember dropped her blade and shook her arm until it stopped tingling from the shock.

marcus grimaced and raised both of his pistols, forcing them to burn red. "HA!" he shouted and pulled the triggers as quickly as he could, twelve near instantaneous shots flew true. freed laughed, and twelve shots melted against him in a frenzy of lightning, "guns won't work boy, try something more direct."

"will this work?" terry slashed with as much strength as he could muster, as it hit freed, the electricity jumped from him to the sword, and then to terry. terry's muscles contracted and his eyes drained partially back to grey. his sword pressed deeper anyway, as if he felt nothing, and freed shouted as the blade dug into him, "what the hell are you?"

"driven," terry replied, panting.

"god forgive me," freed whispered, and ducked down, priming his hand until it glowed all over, then he flattened his fingers stood up and slammed them into, and then through terry's abdomen, lifting him off the ground. lightning coursed through terry entire body, and he screamed, blood gushing from the wound and between his lips. freed dropped him, and turned, beginning to walk away.

ember looked at marcus, who nodded, she began to shriek, and the windows for several yards around shattered into dust. at the same time, marcus pulled the triggers so fast that his fingers blurred, and the barrels of his guns melted into slag as the last bullets left their chambers. freed shook off the disorienting sonic assault, and his lightning crackled, around him like a shield deflecting marcus's bullets, he looked back, "i was told, 'injure, severely, and make it painful.' this isn't personal, it's business. take care of the kid, i don't think he's gonna die, corsica just wanted to make his request difficult to fulfill." he walked off, leaving terry bleeding in the street.

"ember, can you keep up with me?" marcus asked, carefully keeping his emotions in check. ember nodded, trying not to cry, she picked up terry's sword and waited.

"we can't take him to a hospital, they can't deal with something this bad... i think broth and stitches might work. something to hold him together until his healing factor kicks in."

"broth?"

"calories, meta power needs something to burn, like a car needs gas," marcus gently picked terry up, holding him so that his blood stayed mostly in him. his shoes began to glow red and both he and ember slammed a foot into the ground, imitating terry's old takeoff trick. they weren't as quick as him, and found that after about three minutes that it hurt like hell, making their muscles feel as if they were ripping apart. they slowed in front of ember's apartment building, both cringing. "h-h-how the hell does he keep that up?" ember whimpered.

they made their way up, and opened the door...

"oh my god!" nikole screamed, "what are-- he should be in a hospital!"

"no can do, they won't be able to help him. all we can do is wait for him to heal... do you have any thread?"

nikole went off to find some and marcus laid terry down, "mako, can you hear me? stay with me, stay alive."

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halfway across town, the man called freed stepped into his hotel room and with a shout, dispersed his lightning. he pulled off his sunglasses and then slid his fingers under his white hair, pulling off the wig to reveal thinning brown.

he lifted his cell from the dresser and dialed a string of numbers, "message delivered." he said

"good." came the voice from the other end, this time sounding smug.

freed phil, aka. mr. phil, snapped it shut and cried out of shame.

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terry opened his eyes, seeing a world of stark gray emptiness. the horizon was but a red smear and there was no sky.

"the deadzone, not pretty, but it doesn't need to be." he jumped as a stranger spoke, and spun around.

the man who spoke to him wasn't much older than he was, and wore a white business suit, with a leather glove over his left arm, his hair was long and silver as well, but his eyes were kind, behind the green lensed spectacles he wore. looking closer, you might have just noticed that his pupils were blood red...

"i'm dead then?" terry asked.

"clinically? most likely. i'd been wondering what it was on this world that had caused so many ripples, makes me wonder if it was because i already brought you back once..."

"who are you?"

"i have had many names," the stranger smiled, as if sharing a joke, "for now don't worry about it. when you die for real, i'll personally ferry your soul to the other side, and i'll tell you my name then. at the moment though, i'm giving you another chance, your world needs you."

terry's eyes opened wide, confused.

"no more questions, i have to send you back." the man removed his glove, and began to chant, "the left hand of god, is my name. bearing his cross, to atone for my shame. balance is all, and misplaced power. in the name of the one... this is your final hour!" a small circle on his palm began to glow, and he slowly let out a breath, "don't be afraid, and... good luck."

he pressed his palm to terry's forhead, and terry vanished, returning to his body.

the man murmered a few words in what could have been german, slipping his glove back on.

"i know that i may never be politically correct, and i don't give a damn about my lack of etiquette... if the thrill is gone then it's time to take it back, if it really is gone then it's time to take it back!" he began a song that had been long forgotten where he had come from, and moseyed across the dark expanse toward another world that needed HIM...

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terry drew a ragged breath, his first in about six minutes, and shouted in his hoarse voice, "HEAL!"
his eyes opened a fraction, they were blood red all the way through, and every vein on his body stood out in harsh red relief against his pale skin. his teeth gritted, and he shouted again, "HEAL!"

a flash of red danced across his body and the wound in his gut began to tighten up beneath the stitches that marcus had meticulously placed. after about five minutes it pulled completely together, and his eyes slowly drained back to grey.

(halfway accross the city, ocoa looked straight up with glazed eyes and his breath caught in his throat, as his own senses picked up the huge burst of energy coming from terry.)

"dear god..." nikole watched from the hall, keeping the twins in their room.

"what's going on!" they called from behind the door.
"d-don't come out... you don't need to see this!"

terry grimaced, and spoke in a whisper, "em...ber." he swallowed and grimaced again.

"i'm here." she gently wrapped her arms around him and he snuggled close to her.

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within three and a half hours, terry was upright and moving, waiting for ocoa to return so that the hunt for don darrius could begin. his breath was ragged and he shook every now and then, as if some phantom shock still flickered through him. nikole had managed to get him to down a bowl of broth, and his color returned a little bit, but he was still jittery and on edge.

"terry, you need to relax, or you'll open your wounds back up and bleed to death." nikole pleaded.

"death is the least of my worries," he whispered, and then flushed bright red, "was die sheisse?"

"language brother dear, there are children present." marcus chided from the couch, "what's the problem?"

terry's head drooped, "no more than a warning tingle... "

"what do you mean?" ember asked, her arms still wrapped around him.

"i just soaked myself, and had no idea... now i know what freed meant by difficult..." he had felt a slight tingle just before his diaper had swelled, but nothing more.

-KNOCK!-

ocoa let himself in, a small figure following behind him.

"hey terry!... whoa......... what happened while i was gone?"

"i got my rear handed to me."

ocoa snorted back a laugh, "that seems like an understatement."

the small figure behind him stepped into the light, revealing the face of sable izumi. she was toting a long package wrapped in plastic bags, and walked with a slight waddle. "we just finished this last night, i'm sorry it took so long."

"it's fine, limelight well exceeded my expectations." terry took it and the corners of his mouth rose in a small smile.

"limelight?" sable raised an eyebrow.

"a song by rush and the best fitting name i could think of," he began to unwrap the sword, ember helping so he didn't strain himself again. beneath the wrapping was an enmeshing of motorcycle, scythe, and claymore. long and wide like a broadsword, the tip curving back into a thinner blade remniscent of death's scythe, and at the handle, what appeared to be a brake lever... terry twisted the top half of the handle, and the hum of a motor made him smile like a child at christmas.

sable chuckled and began, "izumi-craft EX-seed prototype number one..." she paused, waiting for a name.

"killer queen!" terry finished, laughing.