"If you kill a killer, the number of killers in the world remain the same," Cross contemplated, gazing thoughtfully down at the chocolate he was eating.
Dust shrugged. "Just kill two."
Killer popped his head into the room, grinning. "Uh, guys? I'm really uncomfortable with all this talk of killing me –"
That was the memory that ran through Dust's head when he first heard the news. No shock, no sadness, nothing except that single conversation, as if his mind couldn't handle anything else. Those words had been said in jest, another one of Cross's attempts to be deep that Dust and Killer had turned into a joke. None of them had ever expected anything like that to happen – they were Nightmare's gang, ruthless murderers with a bad reputation and the EXP to go with it. Sure, maybe they weren't immortal like their boss, but they were invincible, right?
Then Killer had gone out on a mission with Nightmare.
Nothing but his dust-stained jacket had returned.
Nightmare's voice was flat and final, his face carved of stone. His tentacles thrashed behind him, betraying the fury he would never let his expression or tone reveal. "Killer is dead."
Horror was staring blankly at the ground. Cross's sockets had widened in surprise. Dust could barely hear Nightmare's explanation of what had happened over the words echoing in his mind, louder than they should have been. "If you kill a killer..."
Nightmare was saying something about chores now, rescheduling, the practical adjustments they'd have to make until they could find a replacement. A replacement? Chores? And Cross and Horror were just nodding along. How could none of them see that none of that mattered anymore?
Killer is dead.
A replacement.
"Just kill two."
Dust snatched the jacket out of Nightmare's hand, not caring about the dust that even Horror had stopped trying to wash out of Killer and Dust's clothes. He shoved it on over his own jacket, ignoring the others as he stepped through the still-open portal that Nightmare had come through. It closed just as he came out the other side.
There was still a pile of dust on the ground amid the destruction, along with a human. A single human with a gun had been Killer's demise.
The human glanced over, spotted Dust, and raised the gun.
Dust took a long, long time to take the human apart with a knife, leaving a lump of mangled, bloody pieces behind.
It didn't help at all. Not with Killer's dust slowly scattering to the wind behind him.
Nightmare found him amid the human's remains, laughing maniacally as tears streamed down his face. The next thing Dust knew, he was waking up in his own room, clutching Killer's jacket around himself like he was afraid someone would take it from him.
The door creaked open, and Horror poked his head inside. "Dinner's... ready. The boss... wants you to come down and eat."
Dust didn't respond.
Horror waited for a few moments, then quietly walked away, closing the door behind him.
"LOOK AT WHAT'S HAPPENED. YOU LET YOURSELF CARE, AND NOW HE'S DEAD. THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT." His brother's red eyes gleamed down at Dust as Papyrus hovered above him. "YOU SHOULD HAVE KILLED HIM YOURSELF WHEN YOU GOT THE CHANCE. AFTER ALL, IT'S BETTER TO BE KILLED BY YOU THEN BY A HUMAN. RIGHT? JUST LIKE YOU DID WITH ME."
Dust pulled the jacket tighter around him, huddling into his hood. "Shut up, Paps."
"YOU'VE BECOME WEAK, SANS. YOU'VE –"
YOU ARE READING
To Kill A Killer
FanfictionNightmare's gang always knew that their job was risky, but they never expected to actually die. Then Killer was killed. Nightmare found a replacement quickly enough, but this new Killer isn't the same as the old one, and the gang are having a hard...
