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The corridor shone with a golden light. One that was almost hauntingly bright. A light that nothing else down underground really had… a weird, harsh light. The place was shadowy and silent, only interrupted by plush footsteps and lackadaisical whistling. A large, slender figure sashayed down the hall irreverently, swinging a loaded gun as he did. His wide eyes looked around, split between intrigue and boredom.
“Sheesh, this place is overcompensating. Looks way too big and important…”
After continuing his stroll, he stopped, noticing something before him. A figure, barely obscured by the shadow, but still noticable. Short, stout, bony. A skeleton stood between him and the exit. Without moving his mouth, he spoke.
“heya. you’ve been busy, huh?” His beady eyes peered up the figure before him, from his feet to the tips of his ears. He looked up at the man looking down at him, hearing a scoff.
“Ohh, hey, it’s you, bone man. What, come to do something about me? ‘Cause I’ve got a .22 cal with your name on it.”
He lowered the gun down at the skeleton’s head, only getting a sigh and closed eyes in response.
“well, yeah. can’t let ya go by now, exactly, so glad you caught on. but you mind at least letting me run a few things by ya first? i had a whole thing prepped.”
The slim rabbit very briefly considered the proposition before him before lowering his firearm and plopping his hand on his hip.
“Alright, fine, why not. Shoot. Before I do.”
“perfect. now, as i was sayin’,” the skeleton said, brushing a hand against his jacket before holding out to the bunny before him. “do you think the worst person can change? that anyone will be a good person if they just tried?”
For a moment, there was a tense, pervading silence. And just before it got awkward, the rabbit began to chuckle. The skeleton’s posture corrected itself a bit, almost noticing the half-measure in it.
“What, are you asking me? This sounds like a rhetorical question?”
“well, it was. but judging by the look on your face, i think i wanna hear your answer. so do ya?”
“Pff. What kinda question is that? I came here because I could shoot things, not because of a moral jigsaw puzzle, numbskull.”
“well, that seems kinda like your problem.”
The skeleton didn’t flinch, not even as a purple hand cocked back the hammer of the revolver in it. There was a moment more of silence before another response was thrown his way.
“No, I don’t, then,” he said, now much more pointed in his response. “And even then, what’s it matter?”
“well, i think it matters here, if your outfit’s any indication.”
The rabbit glanced down at his overalls, white dust coating them. At this point, his face was growing slightly annoyed at all the introspection. He smacked some of the dust off his pants, then stood back up with a clenched fist.
“Look, I think we should be fighting right now, ‘cause that’s what I’m here for. I kill people, you say your stuff, we fight. That’s how this works. So stop acting like any of this is gonna mean anything, because we both know that I won’t remember this in an hour when I’m done with you.” The rabbit’s retort was harsh, but with a bit of a smug grin mustered up. The skeleton simply exhaled softly, then made his rebuttal.
“i dunno why you think im a fighter, but i ain’t, bucko. im a judge, and there’s a difference. for one, you spell ‘em differently, so they can’t be the same word.”
The bunny grumbled at the attempt at a joke, and the skeleton simply continued his speech.
“and for two, one fights people, the other judges. and judgement means looking inward. now, i don’t think you’re doing a whole lot of that, so let’s try again: do you think the worst person can change?”
The rabbit held his tongue, deep in uncharacteristic introspection. His train of thought, however, was brought to a square halt by the skeleton, his eyes now a pitch black, and his voice much harsher.
“Or are you just too scared to try?”
Bang.
On the ground behind where the comic once stood was a bullet hole, with the shaking purple hand of the rabbit holding a smoking gun. His eyes quickly turned towards his opponent, his smile now completely gone. The skeleton laughed, having slid away from the shot at the last second, one of his eyes slowly opening, a blue and yellow flashing pupil providing light in the shadow.
“yeah. thought so.”