#netverse

it's a pretty uneventful job all in all. the guy killer managed to lure into an alleyway behind a bar wasn't exactly a screamer. he struggled for a mere two minutes before giving up and resigning to his fate. it was honestly sad to witness, and here killer has thought that the human's indomitable will was an actual thing that he might be able to scare this guy into.

whatever. killer figures he shouldn't care about some prick who regularly terrorized monsters in the neighborhood anyway. at least this universe is marginally better now.

but to be honest, killer is starting to get bored with the killings. it was the most fun in the beginning, but over time he's started to predict what his victims are going to do, what they're going to say. trying to run away, pleading with him to no avail, threatening to call the cops. meh, it's so rote. the surprises he got were far and few between, but his boos were the most fun. they are also the few who escaped his homicidal intents intact. compared to them, his other victims are just not up to standards, sadly.

killer walks into the bar's kitchen and rummages through the cupboard to find any baking soda and vinegar. check and check. he washes the blood of his favorite knife in the sink then mixes the baking soda and vinegar together. after putting his knife into the mixture to let it wash off any blood stains, killer sits on a countertop and starts scrolling through his phone. first, quick message to his boo number one.

knife guy finished last: heya cinnabunny, gonna come over your place tonight (･ω<) evil toast: k. ill get cleaning supplies knife guy finished last: omg thanks so much babe <3

grinning, killer waits for a few minutes to see if he gets any reply back before opening his message to his boo number two, all the while cleaning his knife with water and soap again.

rattling raccoon: will be at murder's place tonight. wanna come, honey boo? power ranger: stop calling me that power ranger: wtf did you change my name power ranger: nvm power ranger: yeah i'm coming rattling raccoon: haha sure u will ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) power ranger: i'm blocking you rattling raccoon: noooo i'm just joking (>_<) rattling raccoon: ... maybe power ranger: fine. i'm not inviting you to the cookout rattling raccoon: wait what cookout rattling raccoon: babe what cookout???

as killer gets out of the bar and into the alleyway, all the while texting on his phone, he senses it - the too-familiar feeling of someone watching him. casually putting away his phone, he leans against the wall, waiting for his secret admirer to come out of the shadows.

"come on. i know you're there. don't be shy now," he calls out, idly spinning his knife like a fidget toy.

the shadows shift as someone steps out, and killer forces his shoulders to be relaxed as he sees who it is. oh great, it's that guy. color, or whatever name he goes by nowadays. they're all sanses to him anyway.

"you again, huh?" killer muses, his eyesocket giving an involuntary twitch. "do you even know when to give up?"

"i'm just passing by," color smiles hesitantly. "you don't look busy. i just want to say hello."

"hmm no. not interested," killer tosses back and starts walking out of the alleyway. he's got to about five steps when color shortcuts in front of him, making him stop in his track.

"killer-" color starts, but killer cuts him off quickly.

"listen, whatever you're gonna evangelize about, i don't want to hear it," he puts his hands along side his knife inside his pockets. "how many times do i have to tell you? i'm not him."

"i know," color says forlornly. killer would almost feel bad for the guy, if it wasn't for the fact that he's standing in his way right now, dragging around that baggage of his that killer doesn't want to touch with a ten-foot pole.

"then why are you here?" he asks, trying to look as unconcerned as he can. his unwanted visitor looks at him with an undecipherable expression on his face before replying.

"things are... happening - big things. i just want to warn you beforehand, as a courtesy. no strings attached, i promise."

that's the thing about color. he's infuriatingly attuned to killer's wants and needs, almost to a creepy degree. he knows what to say to killer, and he knows what to do with him. killer can see why any other version of him would be interested in the guy, but he won't. even when his script is telling him to. even when his entire being is forcibly drawn to the alluring prospect of completing his happy ending.

(no. never again.

he will carve his own path. his own happy ending.

no one controls him. no one.)

"spill then. quickly. i have other things to tend to."

killer can tell color is curious, but he remains tight-lipped about his private life as always. let color guess what the serial killer does in his free time - that'll keep him busy for a bit.

"something is brewing across the n2-verse cluster. no one's got a clue what it is yet, but important people are missing, lodestars and the like. some sectors are turning destabilized, dragging other neighboring ones in the collapse too."

shit, that doesn't sound good. "it's not an error thing?"

"core frisk doesn't think so. errors are conspicuous - at least the ones we know are. there would have been tampering signs otherwise."

"n2..." killer hums. "so it's just near here." one more thing to worry about, he supposes.

"yeah. i'm just telling you to be careful," color fidgets with something under his coat. "you're an anomaly. killer variants are under more surveillance now per new emergency protocols. capture on sight."

"heh, when aren't we?" killer smirks, though his soul is beating faster than normal. color is right - this cannot be good. it will interfere with much of his work, both his personal leisure activities and his tasks with his mysterious benefactor. not to mention, his meetings with both of his friends-with-benefits. he probably needs to lay low for a while, which is not exactly something he copes with well historically.

"is that all?" killer asks, a bit wary when color shakes his head.

"... there's another thing," color says, but he's hesitant. killer braces himself, and he knows color can tell, infuriatingly enough. "your soul... how is it?"

"what," killer utters with a dead smile on his face. he tilts his head, his face half-morphed into the scary face he's been told to possess. "are you asking me out?"

"no!" color squawks, his face burning with embarrassment. "it's just- it's that- with my killer-"

"okay that's it," killer cuts him off. "i think i heard enough. can i go now?"

"... yeah, you can go."

with that, killer shortcuts to behind color and starts walking away. but not before the colorful skeleton monster has to have the last words.

"you know that you can trust me to help you, right?"

those familiar words again, and they make killer's soul pulse with something. yearning, he thinks. it's a longing of a hundred lives before him, something he has sworn to never walk again. so he squares his shoulders and briskly walks away. away from color. away from his nonexistent past and predestined future. only the present is worth his dedication.

murder didn't expect his evening to go like this. one moment, he is on his way back to his apartment with his two grocery bags in hands, just past a dark alleyway in a shady neighborhood. and in the next, some humanoid figure in a fur-lined hooded jacket appears in front of him with a glint of something metallic. startled, murder drops his bags and summons his bone attacks, all of them piercing through his surprise assailant. he doesn't think - he just does it.

before he could think about what he just did (oh stars, dream is going to be so disappointed), his attacker grunts out an unimpressed "ow" and just... stays there in the bone maze murder has just conjured.

"ok, you know what? you win, buddy," the hooded stranger drops the knife onto the ground, their body suspiciously lax for such a predicament it's currently in.

now that murder can see the other, he realizes they are also a skeleton monster, judging by the bony hands. but stranger somehow. the first thing that catches his eye is the glowing red target-shaped soul just casually outside of the other skeleton's body. murder can't help staring at it, discomfited over the unnaturalness of it all.

"my eyes are up here, handsome."

murder snaps his gaze to the face under the dark hood, only to see a wide grin directed at him. the streetlights are dim, but he can make out the other skeleton has streaks of some black liquid running down their cheeks.

"heh, shoulda known you're not a normal sans. pretty eyelights you got there," murder can hear the sneer in the other's voice. "guess it's not my lucky day."

stranger and only stranger. curiously, murder runs a quick CHECK.

* KILLER - ATK 9̴̛̳͈̥̉̃̂͘9̴̜͎̣͇̇͆͠9̵̘̻̪́͝ DEF 9̸̧̫̟̅̔́9̴̢̩͎͊̃9̸̧̹̀́ * he's not going anywhere. * it's rude to break someone else's toy.

murder stares at the trapped monster for an indeterminable amount of time before he steps closer and closer.

"you're not the chatty type, huh?" the other rambles on. "is this where you're gonna kill me? better do it quick then."

now standing over killer, murder lifts the hood, revealing what he's already suspected - another sans-type monster, just like him.

killer looks... rough. his jacket - way too big on his body - is dirty with faded blotches of dried blood and a mixture of grime and dust. his wide grin is strained and occasionally twitches at the corner, and his eyes look tired with dark, sunken eye bags under them. the black liquid bubbles in his sockets, steadily dripping onto the ground like tears.

killer looks pathetic, really. reminds murder of someone.

SOMEONE YOU SEE IN THE MIRROR OFTEN, PERHAPS?

murder closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. when he opens them, his eyelights are back to their usual white.

"i'm not killing you."

killer blinks back at him, tilting his head. "not sure if that's a good idea, buddy."

"and i'm not your buddy," murder scowls lightly, then sighs, pinching his nasal. "go to the job center on 24th street and ask for jade. she'll get you to do something for a bit of money. just- stop ambushing people in the dark to steal their belongings. it's not good in the long-term."

killer is silent, before bursting into laughter. "hahaha, you think i'm a mugger?!"

"i don't care what you are," murder dispels the bone attacks trapping killer, but not stupid enough to not prepare his next attacks just in case. "stop bothering me and i'll forget about this."

killer drops down to pick up his knife then slowly stands up. he spins the knife in his hand, whistling, "thanks for this, handsome~"