Christmas for Criminals - Deonte DeSoto ●

[Neko]

The Dreamworld was a place where the gods tampered with as if they owned the realm. Not too different than the original toybox- but this was a place without logic. Without physical repercussions. A heaven and a hell to those who dreamed. It was a day like no other- grey and misty. There was no ceiling, no walls, no nothing giving the place a definition. Fog like clouds appeared above and below and hindered vision. Small flecks of black could be seen through the smoke- though the smoke didn’t chill or heat the person passing through them. A woman stood in a random place as she stared up at what one could presume to be ‘up’. Black hair curled around her pale chin. Her bland red-brown eyes were empty as she reached her hand up- her palm tilting upwards. The black dress shifted as she moved one of her feet to tap the front of the shoe she was wearing against what one could assume to be the floor. “Deonte DeSoto.” Her voice echoed as the fog froze in its movement- before sinking into the floor. Sucked down into what one could consider the ground – a scene started to form itself. Almost as if a world was being created- buildings rose and color burst from the dream land. The girl in the ‘middle’ of it did not flinch as things tore up and grew around her and her eyes only moved to her upturned hand. The scene finally finished building itself around her as she dropped her pale hand and turned to the right. There was a loud echo as her foot finally hit the ground- as if a judge’s gavel thundered through the playset she had created. The scene was Sumner City. Raising her hand behind her- she twirled- red and blue shapes forming on her back briefly as the scene formed for her masterful artistic hand. A small smile played on her lips, “I’ll be your ghost of Christmas Horror.” A flick of her pale fingers made a familiar face appear. Danika. Her red eyes were glassy- but still filled with what seemed to be fire. She stood to the left of the road- glaring ahead- though her chest was barely moving. A doll in a parade for the chaos to play with. Law had such cute dolls- but never did play with them enough- or so the proxy thought. A hand went to play with her curled hair as she walked on her tips of her toes over to the fake Danika. Raising her hand- she turned the girl’s head- towards the left- her body following as if it was on a string. Her ebony skin held no glow- but a faint shadow. Her red eyes stared at the space across from her- a scowl on her face. Letting go of the girl’s chin- her flawless hands drawing down towards the female-proxy’s sides she turned again- though another loud bang gave way- as if there was a gunshot. It echoed in one’s ears as if it wanted to shake them to the core. A hand lifted itself up and pointed to where the lifeless Danika was scowling towards- and a man with a black mask and case took its form opposite to her. No eyes could be seen as the mask covered up his face- and the hat did more to cover it. A long trench coat, gloves, and pants formed- completely cloaking the figure to where it wasn’t recognizable. He stared blankly at the doll across the way- as if he was one himself. Pushing herself forward and away from them, she leaped briefly- her hair and dress rippling even though there was no wind as she floated gently to the ground like a person would in zero gravity. A shine caught her eyes as they turned more red- holding her hand out- palm in front of her and fingers spread apart. “Come on, let’s play a game.” A form materialized in front of her- in the form of Deonte DeSoto- not a detail spared from his own visage- as it was the real and living thing she was dragging to this play. Once he was formed completely- she knew he could hear her and took no time to wait for him to adjust. “Deonte DeSoto.” She spoke- her voice, light, airy, not fully mature, but not a child either. “I have a proposition for you.” The proxy hummed- standing on her toes as she took a few quick steps to him- but still out of reach. “The man in the garb of black, has 100 thousand dollars in the case. On the opposite side is your sister. She is ordering you not to take the money.” Red eyes stared down at him briefly- though she wasn’t concerned with his actual responses. “Choose which one you will follow.” With that, she stretched her arm out towards the scene- as if she was gesturing for him to lead the way.

Deonte DeSoto

[Deonte DeSoto]

Deonte didn’t remember having fallen asleep nor did he remember the events that had led to him walking into his apartment and crashing on the couch half way to his bedroom. It had been a long night to say the least. What he did know, however, was the disorientated feeling swirling inside of him as he found himself standing in the streets of town. It was not enough to be a sickening feeling but left him lightheaded, and had Deon remembered how much he’d drunk before crashing, he might have attributed it to that fact.

Shaking his head only to clear it, he paused in mid swish as his name was spoken. A single golden eye zeroed in on the one who’d called his name, and for a very brief moment, he grinned not caring how or why she knew his name. “Well hi there,” he grinned. She was cute, or he thought so anyways. Neither the bizarreness of her figure being there nor her general appearance rattled in his mind though perhaps it was because of the dreamlike state he was in- not that Deonte knew that himself, of course.

He was about to ask her something when she’d spoken again causing him to stop short. A proposition? A grin wrapped his features. “What kinda-“ he paused again when she began explaining. A what? A hundred thousand dollars? In that case? A golden eye slid over trying to view it, and when he couldn’t quite from the angle he was looking at, Deon even leaned a bit to see it. Hot damn that was a lot of money! Already Deon’s thoughts were ticking about how quick he could swipe it and run, and they only paused for a moment to take in the information that his sister already knew about it and didn’t want him to take it.

Now, had he been awake, Deonte would have been suspicious. Had he been awake, he would have been wary of a stranger having the information and telling him to go for it. In the dream world though? Such inhibitions didn’t reach the young man, and the hunger for the green dollar reigned. Before he knew it, Deonte was taking fast steps towards the man whose face he could not see. Breaking into a run just as he got close enough, Deonte made to swipe the case.

[Neko]

The proxy had no idea why Deonte was the embodiment of greed. She could see the so called- green-envy in his eyes like a snake in the grass. She had no doubt he would take the case- and the doll that was Danika, only grew more and more agitated- though frozen as she was in her spot- her arms flailed and her eyes were teary. As Deonte burst into speed- she only gave a small chuckle. Such a greedy man, she thought to herself. She wasn’t sure what this alone would have on the man, if his greed was literally as much as it was in his soul- but she would soon find out. As soon as he took the case- his greedy and eager movements made the scene finally fall in place. Danika’s screams finally would hit his ears- but they were in anger, they were in fear. “D-Deonte!? W-Why would you take the money! You’ll let him ki-!?” Her voice was cut off as the man in the mask raised his hand- a gun forming in a spiral of black smoke as he shot it directly at the young woman. Her body jerked forward- collapsing into itself briefly- blood splattering on the ground behind her- as she fell backwards. The proxy hadn’t moved from her spot watching as the blood dripped from the lifeless doll as she gasped for breath. Danika writhed in pain- the wound seemingly to pour endless amounts of blood as her sharp raspy wails of agony echoed in the world around them. One might be concerned with the fact that she was still breathing- but Chaos’ dolls were meant to play a part- and this one did the perfect part, even if it bled like stuck pig. Her black hair fanned around her like a halo- but on the right side it was coated in her blood and sticking to the dirty concrete. Her red eyes stared at Deon, betrayed, wondering why he would sacrifice his own sister. She might have hated him- but would he have really gone that far? To abandon them all? “So for your greed- you would sacrifice your sister.” Her voice was bland- as if the creature honestly wasn’t surprised. “She’s dying.” The doll was- not Danika- but she didn’t speak of it. His thoughts were wrapped around the money- how were they going to be seeing his sister reach out for him, gasping her breaths. “What if I told you, he would do more to her, and you would get another hundred thousand dollars? What would you sit there and watch this man do to your sister?” Her red eyes briefly glanced to Deonte as she reached up her hand. A smaller figure- what one would know to be Diamond, then Dexter- then a taller form of Deja appeared behind the fallen Danika before disappearing. “I can wipe out your whole family.” The proxy hummed. “Are you willing to see them all die to sate your greed?” There was another pause before a twisted smirk came to her face as she walked closer to the still standing man. “This gun- if I paid you a million, would you go over there and finish your sister off? Then finish the rest of your family off? Chaos doesn’t pick sides, but you seemingly have picked material over physical. So tell me thief, how far does your love for money go? As a proxy, not privileged to human emotions, please do tell me how it feels to be the single cause of your sister’s murder?”

Deonte DeSoto

[Deonte DeSoto]

The screams that echoed in Deonte’s ears were suddenly overwhelming to his mind. His fingers had clasped the case; he’d taken a few steps then suddenly somehow everything seemed to rush. Danika’s words echoing in his ears, the bullet exploding out of the gun all blew by Deonte, yet the events that came thereafter were oddly slowed down to him. The jerk of her body sent ice through Deonte’s, but it was as she fell backwards that he felt his stomach lurch. Despite being a thief, Deon was just that. He was no murderer; he was not used to blood like that. He fidgeted uncomfortably as she writhed there crying out in pain, and awkwardly he took a step towards her.

Deon froze in mid motion as the other woman’s words hit his ears. A gold eye flashed sideways to meet the proxy’s, and for a moment he couldn’t breathe. He could damn well tell she was dying! Muscles in Deon’s neck rippled, and a grimace wracked his jaw. The fingers around the case relaxed and gripped it cyclically as if he were considering parting with it but could not. The words of the woman continued, and the muscles in Deon’s features fidgeted. More money; another hundred thousand dollars at the cost of his sister. Would he sit there and watch? Deon’s lips pressed together, his single eye flickering between the case he was still grasping and Danika before freezing upon seeing the sights of his other siblings.

W-what the fuck is this.... Even in the dream world, Deon knew this was… wrong. The questions of the proxy ripped at a part of Deon he’d forgotten existed: a sense of humanity he had never thought he needed. As the woman walked towards him, Deon took one step back. A million dollars. Hundreds of Benjamins and the idea that he’d never have to worry about money again- even if perhaps he would regardless. All he had to do was kill them; all he had to do was finish them all off. What had they ever done for him? What had they ever been but a burden to him? A financial burden to him! They’d done nothing! They were his mother’s mistakes! Their sacrifices would pay him back for all the things he’d had to put up with from them!

Deonte’s hands shook, and very briefly, he reached for the gun before the case slipped from his fingers and slammed to the ground instead. Deon jolted and recoiled back shoving his hands into his pockets. An estranged laugh rippled on his lips. “Ah-hahaha,” he couldn’t stop laughing thereafter, but the laugh itself became more and more nervous – and more and more loud as it did so.

[Neko]

Danika-doll’s arm reached out towards Deonte- mouthing words such as help, as if she was a real person. A cute little girl dying because of a man’s insatiable greed. It was sad, quiet, but oppressive in its obvious nature. The case holding the ‘money’ was simply shining in the small light around them, taunting anyone to look at it. Saying ‘I have this, but you don’t’. It was a sad life to live your ideals around material constructs- but the proxy had no idea why humans were so weird. She only had the thought that obviously they were weird and she could do nothing about them. It was something she still was sure Chaos would never explain to her. She could hear him literally debating and cursing at her- but she had no idea why he thought such things. She wasn’t privy to his history, only what she could do to poke him, mold him, make him pretty before burning him alive in the kiln of guilt and chaos that she was so fond of. “Your sister…I could keep her alive. We could shoot her over and over again.” She paused, as if was a logical statement he should respond to. “You aren’t responding to the fact that I asked you to become a murderer.” The case crashed to the ground- its noise banging around them but she did not flinch. She stood next to her taller male doll as he simply stood still. She stared at the doll as it coughed up blood. It didn’t bother her- but she didn’t exactly enjoy it. All she fed off was the chaos coming out of the individual who practically screamed his laughter next to her. Her red eyes slid over to him. “So, what are you going to do Deonte DeSoto?” She didn’t pause for an answer. “Are you going to throw away your greed for you to evolve into wrath? What will you give up for money? Will give up your family? Even if they are burdens? Even if they mean nothing to you, will you take away their lives and leave other people permanently scarred? Danika, your sister. She wants to be a cop. She wants to have a family. Will you take away that from her? Will you kill her unborn children? Will you show that she’s nothing to you….even if she has never done anything to you?” It was a loaded question, and she paused to let him understand his choices.

@Deonte DeSoto

[Deonte DeSoto]

Deonte felt sick. He was sure he could vomit right then and there though whether it was because of the blood itself or the entire situation, he didn’t know. All he knew was when those laughs finally started to subside, there was a note of pain in his vocals. Against the woman’s words, against the suggestion to become a murderer, he couldn’t stop the nervous laugh, the pained laugh. She was right, he wasn’t responding to the fact she’d asked him to take that gun and finish the deed. He couldn’t. He couldn’t deal with this situation.

Her words continued, however. What was he going to do? By then, Deonte had stopped laughing and stood there swaying a little. What was he going to do? That was the million dollar question wasn’t it? There was money before him- but there was also death before him. Why was this decision so hard to make? Clearly it should have been for the money. He’d put himself and a few cohorts in danger time and time again, but perhaps it was the assurance of death that made him hesitate. Perhaps it was the fact that whether he liked them or not, these were his siblings. The notion sickened him unto himself. They’ve never done anything for me! his mind ragingly justified, yet even in that moment, it was halfhearted and much weaker than when it had first come to mind. They may have done nothing to him, but they didn’t deserve to die.

Before he had fully realized it, Deon had turned and started running towards Danika. “Fuck you,” he barked out as he passed the woman and closed the distance to Danika. The hand that had reached out for him was taken, but even in that moment, Deon wasn’t sure he could help. There was … there was too much blood! At a closer proximity, he could see it all, could smell it all. His face twitched, and what was supposed to have been an assuring smile came as a grimace. “D-damn…uhm…” he tried and failed to speak before glancing back towards the woman. “H-hey you! Do sumtin’!” he spoke much quieter now, with much less assurance, as if he doubted it were possible but held some sort of hope.

[Neko]

Crossing her arms, the proxy only leaned up against the male doll as she kept her eyes on the slowly dying Danika doll. She was cute- too bad she wasn’t Chaos. Law, the opposite of her lord and master. She could hear the babbling brain of the man beside her. She cared little why- only that he still wasn’t making an informed decision. She was told humans were fragile and were easily overwhelmed so she tried to give him pause. It was only after he cursed at her and ran past the dolls- to his doll-like sister. She uncrossed her arms and walked daintily over to the obviously shaken man to stare down at him. “So you’re giving up the money.” It was mostly rhetorical- she already knew he wasn’t okay with killing these folk. Sad, but it did give her something to feed off of. She gave a small sigh as she took the side opposite to Deon. The doll gave one look towards her- but it was obvious that the doll was only a breath away from death- her hand having no grip on her brother’s. “I’ll keep her living. But in return, you don’t get the money, and you don’t get the power. Are you sure you wish to do that Deonte DeSoto?” She didn’t move- only kept impassive red eyes on him. He wasn’t doing anything particularly interesting. None of them were. As she had taken her time tonight, splitting herself up, no one was acting particularly chaotic. It was a bit sad. No one was getting any power upgrades anytime soon. Pity, but not a complete loss. Shaking these people and twisting their minds worked just as well. “I will send both of you back if you wish to end your trial, unless, you wish to murder a complete stranger for a half-sum of what I was originally going to give you. Oh, by the way. It’s an innocent infant. Two months.” She smiled at him- as if to taunt him once more. Would you give up money for a stranger? An infant? What would you do?

@Deonte DeSoto

[Deonte DeSoto]

Too many thoughts dressed in fear and panic swarmed in Deonte’s mind as he glanced back at the Danika doll. Upset, disgusted emotions he couldn’t decipher bashed Deon in waves, and the man was drowning in them. The cool comment that came caused the golden eye to flash back up and reflect the face of the woman. H-how could she be so calm? Didn’t she see all the blood, smell all of it? Didn’t she see his sister bleeding out? Didn’t she see her dying? The question that came thereafter made Deon cringe. Some strange part of him was sore at the loss of money. How much had it been? Hundreds of thousands of dollars? A million? But… but… he couldn’t. Fuck emotions sucked, but he couldn’t ignore the social pain if not the moral implications.

T-trial? It was only as the woman spoke it that Deon grasped how off the situation was. How had it come to be? He couldn’t remember, couldn’t even think back far enough. His memories were strangely void now past the shots. Deon gulped. He paid attention, and in the aftermath of the words she spoke, he didn’t even consider the situation any further. Kill an infant? For half the money? Deon’s breathing cut short though whether it was from money or the murder, he knew not which. A gold eye glanced to Danika before flashing back to the woman.

“I…” He didn’t want to say the position was so much easier to deal with than the murder of his sister, but it was. If it was a stranger, it was just that. It didn’t matter as much; he had no loyalties to a baby. Could he kill a baby? For that much money? Babies are worthless anyways his mind reminded him. His mother had had so many of them, and they just grew into worthless adults. Hell, it might even be merciful just to end the damn kid before it became a problem. Was he justifying himself? Maybe.

[Neko]

Deonte was useless. She gave him so many options and he still…was human. It was in a way a relief and a letdown at the same time- the girl thought to herself. Her shadow loomed over him briefly as she balanced on her toes. She didn’t spare a glance for the doll as it hacked up some more blood. There was no reason for her to- but that was what she was designed to do. Die endlessly. She had no will, at least…she knew the girl would simply see this dream as nothing but a horrifying nightmare that would be most likely forgotten. Red eyes gleamed as she watched him- a quirk of her lips the only sign she showed any emotion towards the fallen brother at all. She only knelt down slightly, reaching down to touch the doll of her own creation. The longer it existed, the more pain that would be brought down upon the actual Danika- she was sure. She absently reached down to take one of those inky locks as it clashed with her unhealthy pale digits. Laughable- she was sure- but it matched her own hair so the contrast wasn’t all that shocking for the proxy. The proxy absently moved to twirl her fingers in the blood below uncaringly. “Your unspoken words are speaking much more loudly than you are, Deonte DeSoto.” The woman carelessly recited, as if she was uncaring towards the emotions she had instilled in the man. She in fact, was completely uncaring towards them. “I hear your brain saying ‘greed’ but your morals questioning it.” The proxy hummed a little, resting her elbows on her thin knees as she rested her head in her hands. “Humans- from what Chaos has granted me tells me you take great stock in your young. Young being the future- but there is no future here. You are ours. They are ours. You cannot die unless we cause it. Or at least that’s what we’ll keep telling you.” The proxy chuckled, but continued uninterrupted. “However you’ve given up on the money. You can’t choose it. That’s fine. I’ll choose for you. That way it’ll all be better now. I’ll treat Danika…and we’ll all be happy right~?” She chirped, moving to stand and quickly hopping over Danika-doll’s knees as if she was a simple skip in a hopscotch game. With that, she quickly knelt down behind him- pressing her chest against his back and covering his eyes- even if he still had his eyepatch on. “See no evil? That’s boring.” She whispered against his ear- “I’ll see you again soon, Deonte DeSoto.” With that, the weight in his arms would be lifted- and her hands slipped away to give him the sight of his own teenaged body- shirtless with only one word carved into the skin. Pretty skin, pretty yellow eyes. Mangled. Jaw dislocated. One arm missing- and blood on the wall behind him showed the ‘doll’ was long dead. The agonized face was scrunched up and tears fell down it, but the red shock would be more than anything she needed to give him. Only one word would be echoed softly in his ears- the same word that was carved on the doll’s chest. G-R-E-E-D Deonte’s word would go black and he would wake up back home in his own bed- but the word ‘greed’ would echo in his head, with shrieks of laughter. Overlapping and lasting for at least a few minutes, before it disappeared as if it was never there. Once he shifted though- he would realize that there was money under his sheets, some bloody, some not- in a total of five hundred one dollar bills. If he looked at the blood closely enough he would realize it spelled out ‘Big Brother’. However once he did find the money, he would also find a doll that was strangely similar to Danika, Dexter, Diamond, and his grandmother. Danika’s doll was the only one where the red dye- or maybe it was blood- came from, and sticking out from her stomach was a credit card with a small white slip around it. Danika’s blood never looked so pretty.

DREAM END
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