*Inside Kaede's mind*

'Mnnngghh.'

Kaede slowly came to, wondering if her eyes were really opened or shut.

Of course, there wasn't anything but darkness, so if she opened them, she probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference if she had closed eyes or not.

'If you're listening, open your eyes.'

Lucy's voice was right in front of her, but she couldn't see her. Her eyes were definitely closed.

The second she opened them, she met the pale skin and red eyes of her doppelganger.

'I'd...like to make a deal with you' Lucy said.

'Really?' Kaede sarcastically raised an eyebrow. 'Look at where your last deal got us. I'm arguing with you, countless people are dead, My family doesn't trust me, and we're still wading through the blood you spilled.' Kaede spit back. 'To sum it up, I'm still suffering from the effects of your first one, so why should I make another with you?'

'Because' Lucy said, flicking her wrist. 'I'm willing to give you a place in my goal. I will not hurt any of the humans, or that other runt we live with, but I will allow you to control this body alongside me if you promise to work with me.'

'Another lie?' Kaede slowly got up. 'The last time I gave you control, you slaughtered those children. You made me kill Kouta's little sister and father. I refuse to do anything else with you. You couldn't even fool Kurama or Kouta.'

'Once you help me, it'll be impossible to tell.'

'You didn't even use his name once while you were out there. Kouta knows I would call his name. Not you.'

Lucy put on a fake expression. 'I need you for this to work. I already promised that no harm will come to your 'family' if you do this. Face it, 'Kaede', I'm going to win this battle. '

'And if I don't want to?'

'Well, you can sit back and watch as I erase this planet of it's viruses. Your choice, Kaede. Save them and merge with me, or stay in this darkness like I did and watch me do everything. Maybe I'll let you kill a person here or there.'

'If I really am a part of your mind that you made to mask yourself' Kaede got on one elbow. 'Then why can't you do your job yourself? Aren't you the original personality?'

'That's why' Lucy spun around, facing away from Kaede. 'I need you. You have the looks. I have the brains to fool everyone else. With this new body I put together, we don't have to worry about dying anymore, hmm?'

'What do you mean 'put together' this body?'

'Kaede' the specter's voice dripped with temptation. 'You don't know everything, you know. I do since I'm the one that made you. You only melted on that pillar because you were in control. If I was the one up there, I would've gotten the job done in one piece without you letting my arm drip off' she waited for Kaede to get over her surprise.

'That healing ability that Kurama went off about? Wrong. That was me making sure I had a vessel to take over once the facility was gone, but you woke up first. You know, honestly, those facility people did get on my nerves - I wanted to see you kill that bastard of a fake more than anything. To think he thought he himself was a diclonius? Ha. I believe he's the most pitiful human on this rock out of all of them. I figured the anger would take you over and make you do my job for me, but you ended up at the mercy of Kouta'

Kaede snapped her head around at the mention of his name. 'You said Kouta.'

'Yes, I did. I admit now, that I really have taken a liking to him - do I want anything else to do with the people on this dirty rock? No. That one is the only human I want alive. So if you give up, I'll let you see him now and then. Remember Kaede. I'm going to win this body over in the end - I just want to give you the chance to be a part of the cleansing of this world.' she smiled. 'To do what your instinct tells you to do.'

Kaede wanted to laugh. Did Lucy really think she was going to take her new chance at a life with Kouta and use it to rack up a mountain of death?

Well, she'd have to add hers to the killcount before that happened.

'No thanks. I'll watch.'

Lucy kept a cold look down upon her. 'Fair enough.' she extended her own vector into Kaede's mind and took information from it, before disappearing into a corner of her mind Kaede couldn't see.

'Yeah, let's see how long you last without me' Kaede smiled.

Ever since Nyuu became a part of her, there were many things she felt changing within her - she didn't feel the urge to be so cold with anyone, even against Lucy. If anything, she felt calmer and took everything with slightly more ease.

Slowly, a light in the corner began to fade in. Kaede knew that Lucy was headed out, and this time, she'd have the knowledge to disguise herself.

'Good luck' Kaede laid back. 'At getting yourself destroyed by my family again.'

(*Outside Kaede's Mind)

Mayu peered into the room. There, the person she knew for killing many but bringing together her family was still tied to the remains of the table. Her eyes were moving around, albeit closed, and she was mumbling something to herself. Whatever she was doing, Mayu didn't like it.

As the diclonius pursed lips and rambled in her sleep, the raven haired girl moved along the edges of the walls, grabbing clothing that Yuka had asked her for. As she quietly made her way out, the pink haired girl slowly opened her eyes.

"Nyu"

Mayu turned instantly once she'd heard the sound. There, strapped to the fragmented table, was Kaede, but she looked as if she'd allowed Nyuu to come back into her eyes.

"Nyuu" Mayu put the clothes down. "Nyuu?"

"Hi Mayu!" the girl quipped "What are you doing?"

"Um, getting the laundry. That's all" Mayu said quickly. Although the look in Kaede's eyes told her it was Nyuu, the recent fight that Yuka and Kouta had gotten into with her hadn't left her mind. The straps holding her to the table weren't easy to ignore either.

"C..Can I go? I've gotta use the bathroom!" Nyuu pleaded. The aura and look she was giving off was authentic enough, and Mayu checked around for Kouta before she advanced towards the captive girl. "Alright. But hurry before you turn back into Lucy...or before Kouta returns."

"I will!" she squirmed in place. Mayu looked around for a scissor, anything that could cut the restraints. Finally, she found a small blade, one that Nana's 'Papa' or Kouta had probably left lying around from before. She picked it up, and walked over to the strapped girl, who eyed the knife as she walked with it.

"Nyu!" she said half-heartedly, hoping it would refresh the image Mayu had of the one named Nyuu.

Mayu began to slice the fibers, cutting Nyuu free. As she looked down at Mayu, Lucy thought about what she was going to do once she was in the clear.

'I don't have my vectors anymore...' Lucy thought. 'So if I come across Kouta or that other girl, this look better work on them...I can't be downed by such a primate in front of Kouta.'

As Mayu removed the final pieces, Nyuu hopped away from the table, happy to stretch herself out again. "Ahhhhh..."

Quickly, before she took too long, she made her way over to the bathroom and played along with her plan. That way, Mayu really would have faith it was Nyuu.

"I'll be right back Nyuu - I'm gonna give Yuka her clothing!" and with that, she was gone.

'Stupid pest...' Lucy smiled, examining herself in the bathroom mirror. The wounds from earlier were completely gone, and when she saw her horns again, she smiled. 'I don't need a crown...the horns will tell everyone who I am.'

"A..are you done, Nyuu?" Mayu called from behind the door. "Coming!" Lucy barked, silently cursing the little girl as she opened the door. Mayu had a relaxed look on her face, smiling at Lucy.

"Nyuu, I really thought we lost you when, well...you know. With Lucy." Mayu shifted her gaze somewhere else. Inside, Lucy was feeling disgusted that these humans managed to make 'friends' with her alter ego - the dimwitted one.

'And why doesn't anyone care for me?' Lucy wondered. 'I should get attention too.'

'Wait...am I becoming Jealous!?'

When she realized what she was thinking, she shook her head vigorously, noting that she had a slight annoyance on the side of her head. "Are you okay?" the raven haired girl asked as she moved closer to 'Nyuu.'

"I'm fine. Where's Kouta?"

"Ah, huh, well, he's in the living room with Yuka."

"YUKA!" Lucy snapped. Mayu jumped back a little, and Lucy began to question herself as she wondered where the surge of jealousy came from all of a sudden. "Sorry." her heart burned at having to even 'fake' apologize to human pests like Mayu.

"Y...Yeah, I guess you're excited to see her again, huh?" Mayu nervously asked. If anything, she believed couldn't wait to see everyone again, and once she had a chance, she'd probably grope the brunette...this time, without bruising her.

"Please take me to them." 'Nyuu' huffed out. Mayu nodded and walked out of the room with Lucy following under the guise of Nyuu.

'Once I'm close enough...I'll snap that virus's neck and take Kouta out. I'll get rid of the cripple, and this one along with it's race, and I'll live happily with Kouta.' she thought as her head asked to satisfy that itch.

'Good luck with that.' Kaede's voice shuffled in her head.

"Shut up." Lucy said loudly. Mayu twisted around, worry written on her face. Lucy tried to recompose herself, but added a little scratch at the end to get rid of that itch.

"Uh, just jealous, Nyu!" Lucy attempted to look cute, but she couldn't even smile. Mayu was feeling unease, but she continued on with the pinkette in tow.

"Mayu!" Kouta's annoyed voice echoed up the stairs as she walked down with Lucy. "Is everything okay?"

'Huh.' Lucy wondered. 'He must be fighting with that bitch of a parasite...he already sounds angry...I like angry.'

"Yeah, I'm just bringing Nyuu down!" she called back. She looked back at Lucy, who managed to cast a smile at her, albeit a small one this time. Mayu shook her thoughts off and smiled back, if not forcefully. Lucy noticed this and her disdain for the human came back.

"Lucy."

Kouta emerged from the doorway, wearing what seemed to be a mixture of anger and impassiveness. Yuka peeked her head from the opening and stayed there as Kouta advanced towards Lucy.

"You realize" Kouta glared intensely. "That you're surrounded now, right?"

'So he had figured out already...well, time to play stupid.' Lucy sighed mentally. "Nyu."

"Bad try. Nyuu didn't say 'Nyuu' that quickly. You did a better job with the eyes, but I can still tell it's you, Lucy."

"How?" was all she could utter out. In response to that, Nana emerged from behind Yuka.

Suddenly, it dawned on her that the 'itch' she was feeling earlier was really Nana's presence in the house.

She'd just been too busy playing 'Nyuu' to really pay attention to it.

"You think I'd let you hurt another person, Lucy?" Nana's voice was soaked with disgust, something that baffled even Lucy as it didn't match her sweet appearance. "I saw you coming before you even woke up."

'I guess she can read thoughts too.' Lucy kept her stare between Kouta and Nana. Suddenly, she also noticed that, from the way Yuka was positioned, she was hiding something behind the doorframe. 'Probably a knife maybe...too bad for her, I'll survive.'

"What do you want?" Kouta's question sounded more like a demand and a cold statement as Lucy dropped her eyes at him. Mayu edged up the stairs slowly, unbeknownst to Lucy.

"I'm here for Kouta" she said quietly. "The rest of you can die with the rest of the humans, sooner or later."

"What happened to Kaede?" Kouta's stance and voice didn't waver. Lucy gave him the slightest raise of an eyebrow.

"Oh her? She's sitting in here." Lucy tapped the area of her head closest to her horns. "Losing the fight to me as we speak."

Kouta lunged at Lucy, slamming his fist into her cheek. Lucy took it with a smile, trying not to show any weakness to the punch. Kouta grabbed her by the head and attempted to slam her into the wall, but she twisted and he was the one who went into the wall first. As he groaned, Nana shot a vector into Lucy's head, tweaking the pineal gland.

"Too bad for you" Lucy dropped Kouta. "The other bitch took my vectors away already."

Before Nana could attack, Yuka flew at Lucy with the knife. With Yuka in the way, Nana couldn't slice at Lucy with a vector, as the risk of killing Yuka was too high already.

"N..MMURDERER!"

Lucy stood still, welcoming her with a smile.

"A terrible decision."

Kaede let the brunette stab her in the upper chest with the knife, barely wincing as Yuka realized Lucy's hand was on her own that held the knife, before she disarmed Yuka with her other arm and took the knife away.

"You know" Lucy rubbed the blood away from the wound as it healed. "I might not be able to use my vectors, but I can still slice you with this thing." she jabbed at Yuka, who barely got marked by the sharp point on the blade as she jumped backwards in fear, colliding with Nana as they both dropped to the floor.

"Hm. Two for one, I suppose" Lucy brought the knife down on the two girls.

"NO!" Nana rolled Yuka off of her, and in that split second, Lucy drove the knife deep into Nana's stomach, barely missing Yuka.

"AAHHHGGG!" Yuka took the opportunity to kick Lucy into the wall, releasing her grip on the knife, still stuck in Nana's chest. In her rage, she rammed the diclonius into the wall several times, drawing blood by the fifth slam.

But Lucy was stronger than that. She got back up and clawed at Yuka's eyes, scratching the side of her face and eyelids as Yuka blinked in reflex. As she screamed, Lucy heard footsteps coming from the top of the stairs and turned just in time to receive the leg of the table she'd been tied to straight to her face.

In the pain that she was suffering, Nana took the opportunity and sent out two vectors and sliced Lucy's legs off at the knees, sending the diclonius to the ground with a cry of pain.

"HHHGGGGHH!"

For the first time in a long one, Nana felt the bloodlust curdle inside her, and she tore off Lucy's right arm and sent it flying under the stairs. As she began to audibly express her suffering, Nana tore her left arm off, further covering Lucy's side in her own blood. Unable to stop the bleeding, Lucy began to yell in pain.

"Revenge...finally..." Nana said, feeling woozy.

As she lost consciousness, she enjoyed listening to Lucy's screams of pain, wondering happily if Lucy was suffering as much as she would. Yes, she would recover and grow back her arms and legs, but at least she'd finally gotten to do to her what was done in the graveyard a year ago.

'Well' Nana smiled sadistically as the world began to dissapear. 'At least I wasn't screaming like her when she took my arms and legs.'.

And with that, Everything went black for Nana.