OH LORD. GAY

"One million U.S. Dollars. That, and so much more."

A strange looking man with dyed hair stood in front of Phantom, holding tens of one-hundred dollar bills in his hand.

"Just to find her?" The stranger nodded.

"Just to find her. Nothing more," He lied.

Of course, Phantom had taken up the deal. What he didn't know was how it would hurt him in the long run.

-

It had been a few months since the stranger had last come to visit, but here he was, again. Phantom cleared his throat.

"I've found stuff on her- Sofia, right? I'm so close to learning where she is, I'm almost done-" The stranger smiled, a thin, snake-like smile.

"Oh, the deal has changed." Phantom frowned.

"What?"

The odd man chuckled, and folded his hands together.

"One million is quite a sum of money, is it not? Especially for a task so small..." He made a swift snapping motion of one of his hands, a photograph appearing inbetween his fingers.

"Of course, you'd get something much more valuable than money if you agree to these changes..." Phantom gulped. This... This didn't seem good.

"I won't kill her, Arche." The scientist chuckled.

"Oh, but, you will. If not..." He turned the photograph around in his hand, revealing it to the bounty hunter.

"This poor girl- it would really be a waste for her to die over this. Don't you agree? Her life is precious to you, is it not?" The younger man looked at the photo, heart dropping. How did he..?

"Hearty, isn't it? I've been watching her closely. She's very kind..." The taller man walked in circles around the bounty hunter.

"So, then. Are you really willing to let her die over your cowardice?" Phantom slowly shook his head.

"... No, of course not. It will be done."

-

Well, it sure was supposed to be. six months had passed since then, and the woman he originally hunted was dead. And so, so many other versions of her. Now, he had a new target.

"He's my greatest regret," Arche began, "He's cost millions of life. Surely you'll have no qualms killing him, yes? You do know what is at stake here..." Phantom nodded.

"He's your son." The scientist frowned.

"... Yes." Phantom crossed his arms.

"How old is he?" The stranger put his hand on Phantom's shoulder.

"Oh, don't worry. Only a couple of years younger than yourself..." Phantom moved away from Arche's touch, and the man frowned.

"... Well, I don't need to tell you anything else. Ciao!" He waved, before vanishing into thin air. Soon, it would surely be over with...

-

Or, it was supposed to be.

Phantom had admittedly become somewhat enamored by his target; no, no. Surely just a sort of pity-filled admiration. Most in Nick's position would have just killed themselves; but he had a method, a manner, to harming others. He was one of the best soldiers one could ask for, had it not been for his selfish nature.

Phantom knew everything about the guy, having never met him. Each individual scar covering the soldier's body was recognizable to him, every mannerism and method he had was common knowledge to the demon. Every single file Nick had leaked, Phantom had read through. Every trauma, Phantom knew of. He was inside of Nick's head more than the sniper was himself.

Granted, this information took months and months to amass. The file on Nick was now nearly a terabyte large; one could say Phantom was obsessed. He saw it as 'taking pride in his work'. Now, though, he was so close to applying everything he had learned; He needed to kill Nick. For Hearty.

Did she even know the danger she was in..? Did Nick know either..?

Phantom shook his head. Snap out of the pity party, get back to tracking him. The demon had been following the teen for a week now; and today, Nick would be weak enough to kill.

He looked up from his communicator device as he saw the teen, from a hundred meters away, slowly limping back towards his hideout. He had escaped to a far-off dimension; Arche remarked that it was incredibly hard to survive in. Nick hadn't known that until after he had arrived.

The hideout itself was bland; Phantom had explored it a few times when Nick wandered off for food. Just a cave of sorts, the floor covered in leaves, fibers, and animal skins and furs. Nick had definitely been trying to survive.

Recently, the soldier had attempted to take on a bear; Phantom cringed from the trees as he watched the beast slash Nick in the chest. He ran away from that fight.

How he had injured his leg, though, was partially a mystery to Phantom. From running? Falling and breaking it? Maybe, something had bit it?

Either way, a tactical advantage. Nick couldn't run, and he knew Nick had run out of ammunition for his guns. This would be easy.

But... Killing him from this far away, no. Felt wrong, when he had spent so much time stalking the guy. Nick deserved to at least know who- and what- killed him.

Phantom dropped down from the tree, slowly making his way through the forest towards the cave. An unsuspecting Nick was inside, propped against one of the cave walls.

As the bounty hunter grew closer, his adrenaline kicked in. This was it, finally, after so long...

He rushed into the cave entrance, and... Held his gun towards Nick, before slowly lowering it. He... Was alot nicer looking close up. Nick didn't seem to mind.

"Oh, thank god. Sammi-" Phantom cringed.

"How the fuck did you know my name?" Nick raised his eyebrow.

"I... Whatever, listen. My leg- I fucking jumped off of a cliff for something, and-" Oh. That's how it happened.

"Hey, are you fucking listening?! God, dude. I'm actually dying here." Phantom snapped out of it.

"You... Do I *know* you?" Nick facepalmed.

"You've known me since the war started! Can you not look at me like that? You look like Diontrey after I saved him from that liongater Arche made." Phantom cleared his throat.

"... I really don't remember that-" Nick grew more annoyed.

"Are you not the canon Sammi?!" Phantom paused, and stopped to think about it.

"... Probably not?" Nick groaned.

"I'm going to fucking die." The bounty hunter nodded.

"Yeah, actually, that's why I'm here. So, uh, hold still while I blow your brains out-" Nick crossed his missing arm over his full one.

"Gladly. I hate it here." Phantom bit the inside of his cheek.

"No, I mean it. Your dad sent me to kill you.." The soldier huffed.

"Yeah, I put two and two together. Shoot already then, fruitbasket." Phantom lowered his gun, slightly insulted.

"Fruitbasket?" The injured man rubbed his temples.

"Yes, it's a fucking insult, asshole. I'm making fun of you for being gay. Or Pan, whatever the hell that means-"

"First off, that is of no concern to you, and second off, you literally have a boyfriend!" Nick scoffed.

"Had. He was pissy that I brought up his dead sister in a fight- as if he didn't fucking kill her. 'Oh, it was an accident, he was a child, you shouldn't say that'- whatever! I won the fight." Phantom stared at him in awe.

"... Dude. That's fucked." Nick threw his hand in the air.

"Oh boy, look, we have the guy who's gonna kill me for money telling me that I'M the asshole. Whatever. If it makes you feel better about killing me, I'm not gay. I'm homophobic. Now shoot." The demon shook his head.

"No, you aren't- god. You've been with so many guys-" Nick piped up.

"And they got me sick, so now I have to deal with that, and also general other stupid gay-shit. You know what they diagnosed me with? Syphilis. I don't even know what the fuck that is!" Phantom looked kinda grossed out.

"... Have you considered that maybe you shouldn't have cheated on your boyfriend?" Nick rolled his eye.

"We. Never. Dated." The bounty hunter slowly nodded.

"Right... So... Did you ever get treatment?" The soldier shook his head.

"No. They kind of planned on killing me anyways, so... The doctors refused. Whatever. It's fine, the rash is gone now, anyways." Phantom looked slightly concerned.

"You know you can get, like, brain damage and die, right?" Nick glared at him.

"You're about to shoot me anyways." The blonde rolled his eye, and sat down next to Nick.

"... I dunno. I kinda feel bad now." Nick flinched as he sat next to him.

"Actually, I'd rather you kill me now-" Phantom gave him a sad look.

"Dude, you flinched when I just sat next to you. I know virtually everything about you- and everything that's happened to you."

Nick frowned.

"Awesome. I'm so glad my dad shared my trauma with you. Did he also tell you that he hired Kierce to do all of that? Or are you just going to assume everything that happened to me was an 'unfortunate mistake'?"

Phantom went quiet for a bit. He didn't know that... That was horrible.

"Yeah. He likes to leave that part out." Nick murmured, before looking away.

"So, I'd honestly rather die to you- or a version of you, Sammi. I... I trust you more, I guess," The soldier admit.

"... When you're done, can you tell canon Sammi what all happened? I feel like he should know that I died." Phantom slowly nodded.

"I'm not going to kill you, Nick. I.. I think I would regret it." The soldier let out a soft laugh, putting his head in his knees.

"I fucking knew it. You're a coward." Phantom frowned.

"No, I'm not. I just..."

"Please don't tell me some shit like 'I'm in love with you', I think I'd take your gun and shoot myself."

Phantom slowly shrugged, and Nick let out a loud groan.

"Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me."

"What? You're gay, and injured, and maybe I could help you!" Nick facepalmed.

"Holy. Fucking. Shit. Yeah, I can see why Diontey hated me when I did this to him." Phantom frowned.

"We don't have to date, but at least let me help you-" He leaned over to help with Nick's leg, and the soldier pulled away.

"Don't touch me, you impure piece of-" Phantom put his hand over Nick's mouth.

"Please drop the act already, you're hurt, and I am not gonna forcefully make out with you or anything." He slowly moved his hand off of Nick's mouth to help with his leg, and Nick sighed.

"... The fact that you even thought of that makes me uneasy, but, so did I, so..." The younger of the two watched as Phantom worked, in a rather meticulous manner, before using a bit of magic to mend the leg.

"Here, your bone was fractured. Should be fixed now." Nick stretched his legs, and... Huh. It wasn't painful.

He slowly stood up, with Phantom's help, and a smile washed over his face.

"... It worked." He shook off his legs, and looked up at Phantom.

"It worked!" He felt the urge to hug the bounty hunter, but, contained himself. The demon nodded.

"Thank god- I have a rift device, so I can get us more food-" Nick shook his head, grabbing onto Phantom.

"Get us the fuck out of here-!" As he grabbed Phantom's arm, his eye widened. He was.. Much more muscular than normal Sammi... Wow.

Phantom was surprised, but obliged as he pulled the device from his pocket.

"Woah, uh- You know what? Sure." He smiled, as the two dissappeared from reality. Gone.