Six months ago continued from previous chapter . . .

Antisepticeye blinked his one eye, obviously not caring at all about what this woman was saying.

"Gabriella. . . ." his voice was silky, though, "Lovely name, sweetheart. And yeah, I lost this eye here in a fight. Maybe I'll tell you all about it some other time. You wanna maybe come to my place? A little crowded in here, don't ya think?"

Gabriella tilted her head at him but smiled mischievously. The diner was damn near empty but she wouldn't call him out on it, "Oooo. . . . A little bold there, aren't you? Who says I'm the kind of girl that's into one night stands?"

Antisepticeye wasn't sure what that meant but he knew he was losing her, "Go bold or go home. Just don't wanna lose such a lovely woman such as yourself is all. I'd ask for your number but I forgot my phone at home"

"Riiiight" she sipped on her tea again, "You know, if it wasn't for your looks, I would have slapped you in the face for suggesting to go home with you so quickly. I literally saw you on your phone before I called you over here. You're lucky you're cute"

'Cute?' Antisepticeye wanted to snarl but kept his cool. Being in this other universe for so long had taught him to keep his emotions more in check since he no longer had his powers.

He sighed deeply, "Apologies. Sometimes I just can't contain myself." he sipped on the coffee she had paid for, "I've met a lot of pretty women but you are something special" he's had to use that line more often than he cared to count.

"Boy" she giggled with a knowing glint in her eyes, "You have no idea" she finished her tea and started to put her jacket on, "You know what? Sure. I'll give you a shot. Take me to you place, Andy. I wanna see if there really is more to you than meets the eye."

Antisepticeye, thinking he had won her over, grinned and made his way out of the booth, following her outside. He was excited. He couldn't wait to shove a blade in her skin. To hear her screams. The begging. The final breaths of air before death.

After a few blocks of leading the way, Antisepticeye nodded his head towards a dark and secluded alley, "Down here is the door to my apartment."

She followed him down the alley like a little lost puppy or so he thought, 'So fucking pathetic. She thinks she won a date when she really won a one way ticket to hell'

His heart pounded in his chest. He couldn't wait any longer. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears.

They were a far enough distance away from the street so nobody could hear her scream.

Antisepticeye whipped around to grab her and to reach for his knife.

Only to find that she wasn't behind him?

Antisepticeye's eyebrows creased in his confusion, 'Did  .. . did she grow some sense and run away and I just didn't hear her?'

He looked around but couldn't find any trace of her.

Suddenly something heavy landed on top of him and shoved him down onto the cement, his face splashing in a small puddle!

"Oof! Guh . . ." he spat out the disgusting rainwater that mixed with the dumpster trash, "What the fuck!?" he glanced up to see the woman on top of him grinning ear to ear.

"What? Is that all you got?" she teased him.

Antisepticeye used all the strength he had and shoved her off of him, pushing her away. He jumped to his feet and yanked out his knife from his jeans, "I'm gonna fucking kill you, bitch!"

He lunged at her but she dodged it gracefully and just laughed at him.

'She's LAUGHING!?'

He didn't understand. None of this make any sense! Where did she even come from that she was able to fall on top of him before?!

He tried to swing a punch at her but she just grabbed his elbow and twirled around, slamming his chest into the alley wall with his other arm behind his back. She effectively pinned him to the wall and he couldn't escape  but made it so his one eye was able to see her.

'Glitching would really come in handy right about now' but he had grown so used to people not being able to fight back, he misjudged her skills.

He still struggled in vain but the woman just sighed with a light chuckle, "Easy there, tiger. It's not like I'm going to kill you", she leaned close to him and whispered in his ear, "You're like me, aren't you?"

Antisepticeye snarled like a wild animal, glaring daggers at her as his face was smooshed against the wall, "The fuck you talking about, bitch?! What kind of drugs are you fucking on?!"

"I'm surprised you couldn't feel it. You're a virus, too, right? You go along the chain to kill your alters? Isn't that your programming, too?"

Antisepticeye froze, staring back at her, his eye wide.

Gabriella knew she was right, but didn't let him go just yet. She knew if she did, he'd still attack unless he gave her his word. . . . not that his word meant a lot.

"You're a long way from home, you know." she continued, "Perhaps you wanna tell me your story now?"

Antisepticeye relaxed, deep in thought, but finally nodded, dropping his knife onto the ground as well, "Let me go. I won't attack you for now"

Gabriella, sensing he was telling the truth, let him go and stepped away from him a good deal before giving him a cute smile, "I've never met another like me before. What's your REAL name?"

Antisepticeye was still very wary of her but he knew for some reason she wasn't a threat to him anymore for the moment, ". . . . . Antisepticeye."

She snorted, "And you chose ANDY as your pseudo name? You could do better. What about Anthony? Or even just shorten your name to Anti?"

"Shut up. Fuck no. Names aren't important anyway. Who the fuck ARE you? You're like ME, you said? A  . . . virus? Can you hop from one universe to the next? Have you killed any alters yourself?"

Gabriella leaned against the other wall on the opposite side with her arms crossed, noting his enthusiastic curiosity he'd never admit to.

It was still dark in the alley because of the rainy clouds up above but he could see a glint in her eyes, "My name IS Gabriella. Or at least that's what I CHOSE for myself a long time ago. Yes, I used to go through other universes but I haven't in a very long time. I've killed many alters but I also haven't done that in a long time, either"

He was far too curious now, "Why not? Can . . . can you not do it? Did yours trap you here, too, or something?"

"No . . . . I just decided not to kill any more"

This perplexed him but hatred started to brew in his heart again.

He snorted at her, "I get it . . . you're one that's gone soft . . . like HIM . . . the other version of me, you two are just the same. He stopped killing, too and then I came to take over his cycle. Why isn't there another version of YOU taking over?"

"And then let me guess. . . . he took your eye?" she snapped back at him, ignoring his last question.

Antisepticeye flinched a little, the memory still burned in his mind, "Not exactly . . . . Answer me"

She ran her fingers on her arm subconsciously, "You know . . . once you've killed as many as I have . . . it just . . .it just isn't the same anymore. Boredom kicks in and then you start to question your life and who you really are. WHAT you are."

Antisepticeye rolled his eye, "You're just faulty. How many could you possibly have killed? I've killed fourteen, myself."

Gabriella was silent for just a moment before busting out in a hearty laugh, "pFT AhahahahahahHAHAHAHAHahahah!!!! ONLY fourteen?! Wow, what a NEWBIE"

Antisepticeye had never been humiliated like this before, he didn't know what to say to that but he recovered quickly, "Wh . . . Well then how many have YOU killed if you're SO great?!"

Her laughs died down to small chuckles but upon his question, her smile turned to a frown. She didn't like recounting the horrors of her past but she knew she had to give him an answer.

"1,116,824."

Antisepticeye stood there stunned. He didn't know what to make of it.

'Over . . . Over a MILLION!? B-But HOW? She HAS to be lying!'

"Wh-what?"

Gabriella tried to smile again, "However, maybe with my universes it was different. My chain only consisted of two alters before going to the next bubble. Their names were always Evelyn and Gabby, with Gabby being the strongest and Evelyn being the end of the chain. How many alters did YOU have?"

Antisepticeye shook his head a little to bring himself out of his shock, "Uh . . ..  s-six. There was Sean who was at the end. . . then Chase, Jameson, Henrik, Jackie and Marvin. And then I tried to kill my other version. He just called himself Anti"

"Ah, so that's why you don't like the name Anti." she nodded, "Makes sense now. But you lost and he sent you here then, right?"

"It's  . . it's more complicated than that" he wanted it to sound better than it really was especially after that number bomb.

"Well then" she smiled genuinely again, "How about we REALLY go somewhere and actually talk then, huh? I'd love to hear your story. And in return . . . I'll tell you some of mine"

He couldn't walk away now.

No, there was no way.

He had to know.

Why would she just stop after so long? Just . . .. WHY?

They were at a nearby park sitting together on a bench. The sky was still cloudy and rainy and it sprinkled a little but neither cared. It just made it more convenient for less people to be walking around while they talked.

Gabriella had a leg resting on top of her other leg, relaxed as she listened to him.

Antisepticeye didn't know why he was telling her everything. He didn't have to. He didn't really WANT to.

But for some reason, he felt like he trusted her. He . . . respected her?

No, let's not go THAT far.

Gabriella nodded, "I understand now. Good for him. I'm glad Anti won"

Antisepticeye snapped his head to glare at her, "Excuse me!?"

"Well if he had lost then I wouldn't have been able to meet YOU"

He relaxed a little at that but only a little. He was still very much offended at her remark.

But after his story, he took a deep breathe, "So since I've been here . .  I've just been trying to satisfy that itch. I've lost count of how many normal people I've killed here. Maybe nearing the hundred mark soon. Of course it'd be more if I had my powers. It's a little harder without them here since I have to evade police, too, now."

"You're still killing people? Even after six MONTHS?" She rolled her eyes at him, "Would have thought you'd find something ELSE to do by then"

"The fuck you talking about? Killing is all I LIVE for. I don't do anything else. Anything else is just dumb. . . . . . .  So what about you, then? If you've killed so many of your alters then why quit at all? It's your LIFE. Why you were CREATED."

She shook her head, "You don't get it. After so many . . . I used to be like you, you know. Full of rage. Full of blood lust. Nothing could stop me. Of course some of them managed to put up a little bit of a fight but I always won. Always."

"Nothing wrong with that. Sounds nice"

"It was boring. Over and over again. The same thing. Hundreds of thousands of times. After a million, it just started to seem so . . . redundant. That's when I realized . . ."

Antisepticeye waited for her to finish her sentence with bated breath.

She sighed heavily, "It was never going to end. No matter how many I killed, it was just the same thing over and over again. Endless. Useless. I . .. I just couldn't do it anymore. The routine of it all. It suddenly felt like I was in chains. Like I was the one missing out on everything and I was a slave to my own programming."

He had never thought of it like that before. Of course, he still didn't really understand. He had never been in that situation before so he couldn't quite grasp it. Then why did he feel something?

'Is this . . is this how Anti had felt?' He didn't like thinking about him because screw the bastard. But talking about it, he couldn't help but think about him, too.

Gabriella looked off at the pond in front of them, "One day . . . I found myself watching an alter of mine, Evelien. I was going to kill her. But with everything else going on in my head and watching her live out her days doing all sorts of different and new things . . . I found myself jealous. I wanted that, too. So I left. I always liked this universe best and since I had already killed the alter that lived here, I decided to take their place. I learned new things. Did new things. And I knew then that's what I was missing. A life."

"That all sounds stupid and cheesy as fuck" he snorted bluntly.

She just laughed at him, though, "I suppose you're right. It was hard to stop killing, mind you but after discovering all these new things, the itch went away. I'm sure if you tried, it could go away for you, too"

"Hey, who the FUCK said I wanted to be like you?!" Antisepticeye stood up off the bench, "I never said I was unhappy! I LOVE killing people and I'm not about to stop and you can't make me, either! You may have bested me in that alley but if you even TRY to fight me, I'm ready to kick your ass now, bitch!"

"Oh really?"

Gabriella waved her hand and brought it down and suddenly, Antisepticeye found himself slammed against the dirt. On the ground once again.

She smiled that stupid smile he hated so much now, "I never said I didn't have my powers still, dear Antisepticeye. But I can tell you've had enough humiliation for today."

She reached in her purse and pulled out a notepad, writing something down on it.

"Here. If you want to talk again or just hang out or even spar a little, give me a call. If you feel that itch, I can recommend a lot of different things to try that might be better than killing"

Antisepticeye picked himself up off the ground and dusted off the mud, "Oh yeah? We're fucking created for murder! What the FUCK could possibly be better than killing?"

Gabriella grasped his bearded chin in her fingers. He was so stunned, he couldn't move away until it was too late.

She whispered seductively, "Sex, for starters."

And then she vanished, teleporting without a trace.

' . . . .  So that's how so was able to get the jump on me in the alley'

Antisepticeye was left more confused than ever. And that pissed him off.

He had never thought about it before. There was never no need. He never wanted anything else but killing. There didn't NEED to be anything else!

He shook his head and scoffed, stomping his way down the park trail angrily, making his way 'home'.

For weeks, he thought about what she said.

He never tried to get in contact with her again.

He still killed people like it was normal for him because it WAS normal for him.

But her words were burned in his head.

The piece of paper with her phone number on it stayed in his pocket but he'd deny everything and just say he forgot to get rid of it.

And yet almost every night, though, he found himself taking it out of his pocket and staring at it.

Thoughts raced in his mind, everything she had said to him.

'Things better than killing? There's nothing.'

Her words she had whispered to him before leaving burned in his head, 'Viruses like us have no use for procreating. I don't understand why she'd ever suggest such a primitive thing. It goes against everything we know.'

But then it started to make him think . . . and he didn't like that.

Questions started to arise from him that he never bothered with figuring out.

WHO created them? Why? And it's not like there was any real punishment for stopping their programming. Gabriella and Anti were prime examples of that.

He shook his head roughly, 'It doesn't matter! The itch is there and it always will be and nothing she has to show me will take that away. I LOVE killing! I love taking away another life, no matter WHOSE it is!' he took a deep breathe, laying down on a stranger's bed who he had just killed in their home.

Yes, Antisepticeye was now squatting at his latest victim's house.

He tapped the flat side of his knife on the sheets, thinking, staring up at the ceiling.

'I still never got an answer to that one question. After Anti stopped killing his alters, I was next in line to take his place. So does SHE not have another to take HER place? Or does she?'

It was good enough for him. He took his phone out and texted her that he had a question. He texted her this so he didn't have to see her smug fucking face.

He sent the message and waited for what seemed like hours until she finally responded!

'Wait, Is this an address?' he looked it up on his phone, 'It's not all that far away.'

He kept telling himself he was just doing this because he never got an answer to that particular question. That was the only reason he was going.

But as he came to the front of her home, he started to get nervous for some reason.

'It's because I know she's formidable. That's all'. Clearly she COULD kill me if she wanted but she's too weak minded and soft to do so anymore' he shook the feeling off, remembering the last time they 'fought' but before he could knock on the door, it whipped open, revealing her stupid smiling face.

"So you gonna fucking tell me now or what?!" he hissed.

She didn't seen perturbed and just invited him inside, "Come on. Come sit and relax and we can talk"

'Why does she look so fucking excited?' he growled but walked inside.

He normally didn't care about decor or what anyone else was into but her home was strangely decorated.

"The fuck is up with all this Japanese shit? You don't LOOK Japanese"

Gabriella was in the kitchen getting, he assumed, some drinks for them, "I'm not! I just like the stuff!"

He waited for her to come back out, sitting on her couch with his feet up on her coffee table. If he was going to be there, he was going to be comfortable.

She came out with two glasses of wine, "Have you had dinner yet?"

He shook his head, "Just came from my latest vic's house. Not hungry. Answer my question and I'll go"

"Aw, so soon?" she sat next to him, taking a sip of wine, "But sure, I'll answer your question . . .  if you do something for ME"

Antisepticeye rolled his eye, already fed up with her, "Fuck that. If you won't tell me, then I'm leaving"

"Oh come on, it's just one little thing. I'm sure you can handle it" she knew just what button to press.

He bit his lip, sensing the challenge in her voice, " . . .. Fine. What is it?"

"Humor me. If we can't find something else you like besides killing, then I'll leave you alone and you'll never see me again"

He was very tempted but also the thought of not seeing her again irritated him, 'No, I should LOVE not being in her presence. This is so fucking stupid. Stupid bitch, you wanna try and con me? I'll con YOU'

"Fine. We both know you'll fail anyway. Now answer the fucking question"

Gabriella seemed very happy now, "I killed them a few years ago"

He blinked, not quite grasping the weight of her words. She said it so nonchalantly. Here he had an all out WAR with his own alters and she talks about hers like it was a regular Tuesday!

"You wanna elaborate?" he huffed.

"Well . .. the other version of me, the virus, went after Evelien, the last girl I stopped at and refused to kill. I got in their way, there was a fight and I killed her. Oddly enough, there haven't been any others. I THINK there's just one backup for each virus. Don't ask why. I have no idea how any of it really works."

Antisepticeye nodded, pretending as if he had any clue on what she said at all.

"Alright! So about your new hobbies~" she changed the subject.

Antisepticeye had a feeling he was going to regret this deal.

"So I figured maybe we could start out how I did and go from there." she took another sip of wine, "Try drinking some of the wine. It might just loosen you up out of that tight ball of angry"

He rolled his eye yet again but tried a sip. It was fruity and sweet and after a few moments, he started to feel a little light-headed, "The fuck? Is this drugged or something? DID YOU DRUG ME!?"

She just laughed, "No, silly. Have you never had alcohol before?"

"Of course not! I have other things on my mind."

"But you've had to learn to eat and drink since you became human. You've seriously never thought about getting drunk?"

It HAD crossed his mind. He knew people got drunk to escape their pain and their own fucked up lives or to just have fun but he never knew it felt like THIS.

"I guess I KIND of like it. But I still wanna kill something."

"Okay. That's alright. Now what about . . . ."

That night,  Antisepticeye was subjected to many things. He felt like a guinea pig and his patience was wearing thin.

Music, Video Games, Sparring, Board Games and even Cooking and he had to admit, some of them he didn't hate. But that itch was still there clawing on the back of his skull and in his chest, begging for blood.

Gabriella found that he liked rock music the best. He preferred a video game where you can kill things, of course. He got very excited playing Doom Eternal.

Sparring was fun for a few minutes until he almost took it too far and she had to put him in his place once again.

He hated Board Games. He flipped over the board when she tried to get him to play checkers with her. And then cooking . . .well he WAS good with a knife. She coaxed him into chopping up some veggies for a stir fry. He WAS starting to get hungry after all . . .

All in all, Antisepticeye wasn't having the WORST night of his life. It was tolerable.

"Well I guess that just leaves one more thing we can try tonight. Then maybe tomorrow we can try some other things if you're willing"

"It's fucking 2am!" he screeched, "Can't your bullshit wait until morning? Or better yet, you can just admit you're wrong already and- wait, what are you doing?"

Antisepticeye was silenced IMMEDIATELY when Gabriella moved her hand upwards on his thigh. He didn't stop her but he admitted he was morbidly curious. Maybe the alcohol was affecting him.

Maybe SHE was affecting him.

He didn't know which one worried him more. Not that he was WORRIED!

"Just relax" she whispered and teased him, "You're about to discover a whole new world tonight . . .  Anthony"

A strange shiver crawled up his back.

She quickly pounced on top of his lap and moved her hand downward below his belly button.

He was unprepared for the feeling and gasped for air slightly. . .  but he didn't move away or shove her off.

To distract him before he could say anything to ruin the moment, she kissed him, palming his cheek with her other hand, lightly caressing his eye patch with her thumb.

Antisepticeye  . . . well, he didn't know what to do. He knew what she was doing but this was completely different for him.

But as she touched and kissed him, something amazing happened.

The itch was going away.

He found himself reciprocating, kissing her back, learning on the spot.

He closed his eye and moved his own hands up and to hold her in his arms to bring her closer.

She parted from his lips for a moment, "Let's go upstairs"

The next morning, Antisepticeye laid still awake. Every once in a while, he'd glance to the woman sleeping peacefully next to him, laying her head on his chest.

He hadn't slept a wink.

He couldn't believe it.

Antisepticeye, the Septic killer, a murderer who had only known torture and killing all his life . . . . had finally found something else that quelled his bloodlust.

And yet he couldn't bring himself to be happy about it.  He was confused. Horrified.

He watched as Gabriella mumbled something in her sleep and hugged him tighter.

It made him want her again.

And that terrified him.

'Am I .  . . Am I faulty now?' he wondered, 'Am I damaged just like her and Anti? Did she just corrupt me?'

But he found as she hugged him naked under the sheets . . . . he couldn't fucking care less anymore. . . . not that he'd ever give her the satisfaction of knowing that.

Six months later

Antisepticeye found that he couldn't stay away from Gabriella after that night. He never admitted to anything but she knew better.

They had learned many things about each other since. He'd pretend not to care but on the inside, he was getting more and more curious about her. What her powers were, what kind of things she liked, her favorite things to do in bed . . . . . .

He found his thoughts wandering to night-time activities quite often anymore. He couldn't help it. He figured he was probably addicted.

To either her or sex, though, he wasn't sure.

But he found out that just as his own weapon of choice was a butcher's knife, she preferred a sword and was damn good with it, too.

Her powers were similar to that of the Japanese sun goddess, Amaterasu and he figured that was probably why she loved Japanese things and culture so much. She related to it. She could teleport, use gravity to her will and project a light from her body that burned like the sun.

It wasn't too weird to him since his old powers were the use of lightning, teleporting and glitching through technology.

After all this time, he'd admit it now. He respected her.

Maybe he KIND of liked her. He hadn't tried to have sex with anyone else but he found that he didn't really care to. He liked her in bed and he wasn't about to change a good thing.

Her favorite music was pop. She liked chill video games the complete opposite of the ones he liked. Although here and there, she'd play some Japanese horror games and he liked to watch her play them, hoping for a jump scare to make her flinch a little.

She loved board games and sometimes, she could get him to play one here and there with her if she begged nicely enough. Oh, and her favorite food was either sushi or tacos. It depended on the day.

He didn't CARE about her likes or dislikes! Why would he!? That'd be admitting that he cared about HER and he didn't!

He just happened to notice these things . . . .

Currently, he was relaxing on the couch, his back on a pillow that leaned on the arm of the furniture. Gabriella laid on her stomach on top of him with the remote in her hands trying to search for something good to watch. Antisepticeye didn't give a shit WHAT she chose as long as she chose quickly. He tolerated TV but he had to admit he was a fan of horror. Of course he would be.

"I've noticed you haven't been out killing anyone for a long while" she suddenly brought up as she was switching over to a different streaming service.

Antisepticeye rolled his eye and she lightly pinched him for it.

But he knew this was going to be brought up eventually, "Don't get excited about it. I've had my hands full lately. You have the libido of a fucking rabbit"

"You love it and you know it"

He had nothing to say to that and she didn't press further. She knew she was right.

Like always.

Feeling exasperated, he wanted to roll his eye again but refrained in case she noticed and pinched him again.

Suddenly, he froze. Something like a moving shadow caught his eye in his peripheral vision and he was immediately alerted.

Something didn't feel right.

Obviously, Gabriella felt the same uneasiness and sat up, picking herself up off of him, "Do you feel that?"

Antisepticeye sat up all the way and unconsciously brought her closer to him, looking around.

Whatever it was, it was dangerous and pissed off.

"Well isn't this an uncanny coincidence?"

They shot up off the couch together and Gabriella stood in between them. Her sword had been on the coffee table and she grabbed it, stancing at the ready to defend herself.

The man sneered but stood tall.

Antisepticeye didn't like the look of this guy. Dressed all proper, standing around like he owned the place, that fucking look in his eyes as if he had already won against them.

"What do you want?!" he shouted at him, not perturbed in the slightest.

This man laughed, a strange power reverbing in the room from him, "Now that's funny. . .. that's the same question Anti asked me, too, before I wiped the floor with him and outed his secret about you to all his little friends."

Antisepticeye gaped at him, thinking maybe he heard him wrong, ". . . wh-what?"

"You must be Antisepticeye." the man continued, "I'd say it's a pleasure but it's not. My name is Darkiplier. And I'm here for you . . .. Gabriella"