XXII - If You Want A Maniac, I Will Show You A Maniac

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"What are you looking at?" Young Number Five yelled at a civilian who passed by him. "Mind your business or I'll give you something to stare at!" He and Number Eight walked behind Luther and old Five, watching them closely.

"Five, will you stop yelling at people? They will think you're a 'troubled teen'." Number Eight scolded, slapping Number Five on the arm. "This must be the worst case of paradox psychosis known to man."

Number Five chose to ignore her. "You wish you could pull off these shorts!" He continued to shout as he scratched the back of his neck tirelessly. Number Eight rolled her eyes at his erratic behaviour, praying that it would soon disappear. She wasn't used to him being so...well, nuts.

"Hey guys! How are you doing?" Luther asked, dropping back from old Five and walking beside Number Five and Number Eight

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"Hey guys! How are you doing?" Luther asked, dropping back from old Five and walking beside Number Five and Number Eight.

Number Five let out a deep sigh. "He's going to kill me, isn't he?"

Number Eight darted her head in his direction, her eyes wide and her eyebrows frowning. "What?! Over my dead body. I prefer little Five."

"What? What him?" Luther chuckled awkwardly, pointing to old Five who walked a few metres in front of them. "He's going to kill you? Yeah, right. That's ridiculous." He laughed softly.

"You know, you're a terrible liar, Luther. You're a worse liar than you are a spotter." Number Five retorted, glaring at Luther.

Luther scoffed. "Yeah, and whose fault is that? What good is having a spotter if you won't even listen to him?"

"So you admit you're conspiring against me?" Number Five challenged, seeing through Luther's demeanour.

"Do...do you admit that you're suffering from paradox psychosis?" Luther held his arms out in front of him, as though the answer was clearly in front of them.

"All I'm suffering from is a bracing clarity about you and your murderous intentions!" Number Five exclaimed, his body writhing and his facial features twitching.

Luther sighed deeply through his nose, preparing to protest. "Look, it's not like he's going to 'kill you' kill you. He just wants to kill a, um... version of you."

Number Eight gasped in disbelief. "But he is that version of him!"

"Hey, I don't love it either, but he's actually got a pretty good plan." Luther shrugged, earning a look of daggers from both Number Five and Number Eight.

"What? The one where you guys off Five and then jump back to 2019 to save the world?" Number Eight sneered, her frustration brewing.

Number Five chuckled. "I'm him. I know that that is exactly what he would do." He hissed, glaring at Luther as though he was insane, though, he was starting to wonder if he truly was.

"Look, all I know is that we've got one Five too many, and you're the one acting like a maniac!" Luther pointed at Number Five, who was twitching.

"Maniac? Luther, you have seen nothing." Number Five scowled at the man. "If you want a maniac, I will show you a maniac." He leant closer to Luther, his facial expression psychotic and menacing. 

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