Cut Me Open

Chapter 5

He'd finally finished the weapon, the main part complete. There were a few holes in his clothes, as he'd spilled plenty of acidic plasma on himself that thankfully only burned his uniform and not him. Standing up from the spot he'd been sitting for two hours (It had taken a little longer than he'd hoped), he walked towards the door, his mind now racing. He could do it. All he had to do was hand Dempsey the gun and admit just how much he was in love with the Marine.

Oh God, he couldn't do it.

No, he had to.

Unwilling to argue with himself, he huffed and marched up the stairs in hopes to find his test subject. Though, what he hadn't anticipated, was that once he reached the top of the barricade, Dempsey was already there, sitting against the Mulekick machine with his notebook.

"Dempshey?" Richtofen called, making him look up from what he was doing, "what are you doing right there?"

The Marine shrugged, "Waiting."

"For what?" The doctor asked, stepping over the bags that lined the stairwell. Dempsey smiled sheepishly.

"For you to be done."

Don't swoon, Edward, don't swoon.

"Uhm..." Richtofen muttered, not knowing how to collect his thoughts properly, "Ja...Listen, I finished the gun."

Dempsey closed the textbook and set it on the ground, before standing, "Oh really?" He asked casually, though his eyes gave away his excitement, "you gonna go shoot it?"

Richtofen gave him a smile, "I was going to ask you to, actually."

The Marine lit up, "Kick ass!" He exclaimed, holding his hands out, "I wanna!"

Edward...no swooning .

Richtofen ignored the thought and handed his Marine the shotgun, "Alright, so you know what pumping it does, ja?" He questioned, earning him a hum 'yes', "okay, so now all you have to do is just shoot. Don't pump it."

Dempsey looked down at the gun, then at Richtofen, confusing the doctor for a moment, before he realized what he wanted. The Marine wanted Richtofen to hold him from behind like the first time, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to be near his test subject. He was too nervous...it was strange. Even though he had a clear invitation, he just...couldn't indulge.

Unable to hide the anxiety in his voice, Richtofen waved his hand at him, "Well, go on! It won't bite!"

Sighing, Dempsey pulled the trigger, aiming at the door. Just as the doctor had hoped, it shot the acidic bullet that split at the handle, not only punching a hole through the door in three different locations, but burning the wood around it, melting it as it expanded. After a brief moment, the holes in the door had grown to be four times larger, showing the success he'd hoped for. The Marine looked at the wood in awe, his eyes now wide and his lip pulling upwards into a lopsided smile of disbelief.

"Did that just...it seriously..." He stammered, before holding the weapon to his chest happily, "This's the best fuckin' thing! The best thing ever !"

Richtofen smiled, overjoyed at his Marine's reaction. Gaining back some of his lost confidence, he stepped towards Dempsey and grabbed the snout of the gun, "I'm sure you would like to know how to reload it?"

His test subject smiled at him, "Fuck yeah!"

The doctor hummed, motioning towards the opening on the topside of the glowing weapon, "Slide the ammunition into this little opening here. It carries 3 'magazine's' at a time," He explained, grabbing an extra 'magazine' from his pocket and pushing into the opening, loading it properly, "Each shell you put in has the ability to carry 6 bullets, meaning you have to reload every 18 shots, und in seconds!"