King of Hearts: 'Suicide King'
The man could not have been more than thirty, yet he had a look of world weariness more appropriate for someone twice his age. He reached into his holster, and pulled it out: a small revolver, silver barreled and black-handled. It seemed unexceptional, until I noticed the Brand, a small heart with a crown over it, on the bottom of the black handle. Suddenly, I knew exactly what I was looking at.
The man looked me in the eye, and spoke, his voice just as world-weary as his gaze. "Yes, this is what you think it is. The Suicide King, King of Hearts. The King always finds his subjects, the bullets go straight to the heart without error. But each shot carries with it more than force and death. Every shot it makes the world seem more barren and hopeless to me. The sky is darker, colors are duller, people become far greater shit in my eyes. Each shot makes existence seem more bleak and pointless, and makes me crave release. That's how it got it's name, boy, it steals your will to live. I don't know how many more fights I've got in me, before I inevitably fall, and some fool claims the King for their own. But I will not be gunned down by a rival or an enemy. No, when it has sapped my will completely, I will die by my own hand, and to me it will seem the sweetest moment of my life."
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