Multifandom Oneshots

jthm ~ i have nothing to fear (canon divergence) ~ johnny/edgar

A/N : A rewrite of my favorite scene. Basically Edgar doesn't get killed. Yeah. Tw for talks of suicide and murder (because it's Johnny the Homicidal Maniac). Also I AM NOT TRYING TO DISPLAY THIS AS A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP. LIKE AT ALL. BECAUSE IT'S NOT.

"I don't suppose your um... Current reality would allow you to let me go, would it?"

The way he spoke was without fear. It perplexed the one man he would have good reason to be afraid of. Johnny wondered if perhaps he wasn't actually threatening. He was just so used to hearing the frantic, panicked screams of his victims that he believed he was a vessel to be feared, but Edgar looked at him with a dull expression. Maybe a little bit sad or hopeful, but not afraid. He wasn't afraid of him.

"No. I don't think so" Johnny replied, keeping a flat tone of speaking that he had picked up for his less chaotic murders. Sure, he could easily slip into a more manic state while torturing his victims, but other times he just came across as lifeless. It really just depended on the situation and the circumstances leading to their murder.

"I see" Edgar gave a resigned sigh. "Well, could you at least loosen these restraints some?" he requested of his murderer-to-be. "This hurts quite a bit. Very painful" he added, and he almost sounded sarcastic in saying it. At least he isn't a masochist Johnny thought to himself with a small chuckle. That's always more trouble than it's worth, and the cleanup is immense. I don't understand these people and their sexual desires...

"Think of the sensation as reassurance that you are not dead yet" Johnny reasoned. "What you are feeling is life in you!" he exclaimed as he frantically began to bite his nails from an anxiety slowly forming in the pit of his stomach. Edgar almost felt bad for the man. "I would hate to lessen that for you" the serial killer continued. "I will take you from one extreme to the other. I would never deprive you of this; Your final awareness"

"That's very nice of you" Edgar said calmly, genuinely. Johnny felt proud of himself for this. A small victory. A victim understood a part of his insanity and was sort of thanking him for what he perceived as a mercy. "Could you tell me what it was exactly that I did to you? What I said?" the victim asked. "I mean- Up until I awoke here, I've never met you" he elaborated. "It's one of those nagging questions a person gets before being torn apart by um..." he looked down at the mechanisms holding him. "Whatever this thing is"

"Mmm... What did you do..." Johnny brought a finger up to his mouth in contemplation. He had so many victims, it could be hard to keep track of them. The only weird part about this instance was that usually their indiscretions came to mind when he was in the process of torturing (and subsequently murdering) them. But, nothing came to mind as he looked on the man. "You know, I can't really say. Nothing, I guess"

Edgar frowned. As unafraid as he might've been, he still wasn't exactly happy about the situation.

"But you are a person" Johnny continued, shoving away the confusion and guilt that had briefly formed in his mind upon realizing that Edgar had not actually done anything remotely shitty. "And I can't say I'm fond of that. My days are less than enjoyable because of people" he explained. "You will be the effigy I burn- Infused with all the traits that make them the detestable little goblins they are. You won't really burn though" he clarified with a careful expression. "Ripped to strips is more accurate"

"But, you're a person" Edgar countered, causing Johnny to momentarily freeze in his incessant pacing. "Why don't you kill you yourself?" he asked, genuinely curious. You think I haven't tried that? Johnny thought to himself, but he didn't voice this. Edgar didn't need to know about his more self inflicted tendencies, or his history of suicide attempts. It didn't concern him, and the killer had no reason to put that mental strain on a victim who hadn't actually done anything wrong.