summary
one day I decided to make a webcomic that was set in 1989, starred a murderous teen girl and her crippling dad, her silly ghost best friend, a badass gunslinger ex-hitman and a wolf monster from Australia. then I proceded to obsess over it to escape my real life because I promise you, there is NO AI in any of my work. plus neocities is ad-free
Someone Has to Die: 1972
part 1Once upon a time a guy named Freddie ran away from home because the Church was starting to scare him, so he took refuge at an incredibly sinful club. the people who hired him were a very wealthy blonde lady named Kim, a reincarnated wolf monster with three eyes called Tony, and an edgy hitman called Ashton. All of them had one goal: to kill 100 people so Tony could use threads from each soul to weave the Immortality Rope. Tony, who's already immortal, will let one of them join him to live forever,and Ashton and Kim are simeultaneously competing for the spot, but they have to work together. now that Freddie's hired, he joins their cause, although he's the only one that doesn't want to be immortal.
they became the Four Suits, and the tiny club turns into a giant casino, and Freddie changes his last name to Heart. As time went on, Freddie became close friends with Tony, recieved romantic advances from Kim, but he strongly disliked Ashton. part of their jobs were to keep Tony alive by feeding him a dead body once a week, and Ashton hated taking Freddie on missions because he was inexperienced and a liability.
During their bickering on a mission, Ashton gets shot in the eye, and Freddie feels so guilty about it he stays at his bedside until he's recovered, and Tony implants a fake golden eye. They slowly start to become more respectful of eachother and better at their killing missions.
Then one night Kim decides to hold an auction (she's their main source of income tbh) and sells off "a date with Freddie Heart". At first Freddie's all for it, but the highest bidder turns out to be the very person he was running away from: his Godfather. Father Jaques drives Freddie back to his hometown to get baptized again, meanwhile the other three have no idea why he's been gone so long, and Ashton and Tony rush after him while Kim has to temporarily shut down the casino.
Ashton already has some sense of what's going on, after getting Freddie to admit parts of his homelife, and he has such a violent rage about it he nearly kills everyone in the house. Tony has to be the one to calm him down, reminding him that they really don't know what happened.
"He could've lied to you, Ashton-"
"Why would he lie about that? Religion is fucking stupid! I don't trust anyone in that church to not lay a hand on him!"
"You don't trust them, but he trusts you. I don't need my third eye to see that. You walk in there, you start slaughtering everyone in your way just to save one man, only to find out he's terrified of you now. You're not a monster. So show him you're not."
They decide to split up for the rescue mission, where Tony lures Freddie to the barn while Ashton disguises as a priest (using Freddie's clothes) to enter the church. Keeping his violent thoughts muted, he tries to ask around to garner clues on SPECIFICALLY who hurt Freddie and why. He meets Father Jaques, sus at first, and fakes curiosity to learn the truth.
Ashton holds out his hand, introducing himself as a traveling priest on a mission to learn about all church customs. He suggests the confession booth, and prods Father Jaques to confess his practices.
Jaques, foolishly comfortable enough to think Ashton holds no judgement, tells him about how Freddie was an outcast his whole life. He always ran off, preferred painting over socializing, and spent more time alone than anyone else in the town. Jaques, his Godfather, spoke to him more often than anyone else, and was the only person who showed him any affection at all.
"Does he love you?"
"Of course he does."
"Then why did he leave home?"
"Well... it's a bit of a long story, but... I had to destroy one of his paintings."
"What? Why?"
"Because it depicted sin. I couldn't let anyone else know about it. I scolded him for making it, and he defended his work, saying it was the only way he could express what he truly wanted in life. I set it on fire. And in retaliation, he stole my car."
"...step out of the booth, Jaques."
Before Jaques even knows what's going on, Ashton throws him on the floor and turns his violence dial up to 100 and he brutally murders the real priest in cold blood. It isn't until later, when Freddie and Tony find him, that he calms down. Tony picks the threads and eats the body, and Freddie drives Ashton a short distance away to the river.
"This is where he baptized me."
"I thought you guys did it indoors."
"I was a special case."
It's freezing cold outside, but Freddie turns off the car and suggests they sit in the back with the blanket, just for a little bit. They huddle for warmth, Ashton's still covered in someone else's blood, but Freddie isn't scared of him at all.
"What do you like to paint, Freddie?"
"I like drawing people. Sometimes multiple, sometimes-