The deed was done and the screams of Nellie Lovett were subsiding from the bakehouse furnace. Sweeney Todd trudged over to the cold body of his wife and knelt beside her lifeless figure. He cooed softly to her:
"There was a barber and his wife…"
He continued his barely audible song until a faint noise made disturbed him. It sounded like footsteps. They sounded much smaller than one would imagine but they were impossibly large for any animal who called the sewers of London home. Just then, Todd heard a delicate sound come from behind him. He paused, waiting for the noise to reoccur. He was no longer brimming with fury, but instead curiosity and a certain fear as to what demons the sewers could provide. A sniffle followed by a sorrowful whimper caused the grown man to turn around. There he saw sobs shaking the tiny figure of the timid Tobias. He wore a heavy expression of fury gravely mixed with grief and laced with fear. He was soaked to the bone and held Sweeney's discarded razor open, ready to attack.
"She was all I had!" The distressed child sobbed. He must have watched the whole scene from the sewer.
"What am I supposed to do now?"
Todd looked at the boy and felt a slight remorse. He was right. Toby had been at the workhouse all of his life until he was greedily snatched up by that conniving backstabber, Pirelli. After the death of that scumbag, he was held in the perpetual love of Mrs. Lovett, whom Todd had just mercilessly incinerated. The boy was to be abandoned once again but he clearly wasn't leaving without justification. Sweeney turned around again to bring his gaze once more to his spouse's figure resting on the cobblestone. All of a sudden he felt a flimsy thump on his right shoulder. Once again he swiveled his muscular frame to face the child and stood up. Toby had punched him. The boy closed the razor and stuffed into his pants pocket before launching a full assault of punches on Todd's lower chest and stomach. Sweeney was taken aback by this fit of violent rage. Toby was always such a quiet and obedient boy, but he was quite strong as well, though not strong enough to really hurt.
The boy stood there, sobbing, teeth clenched, beating away at the sturdy man before him not the least bit frightened as to what could happen if he truly upset this killer. Toby's blows to Sweeney continued for just a while before growing weaker and less frequent until he lost all control of his emotions and threw his arms around Todd's torso in a solid embrace. He was obviously surprised by this, but let the boy stand there and hold him while he tried to control his wavering voice and speak to him.
"I'm all alone now Mr. Todd. I have no one. You are alone now too." His tears slowed and his voice gained a more natural rhythm as he continued. "I saw the whole thing. I know you were fighting for her, your wife, and she is gone now. What are you going to do now? What am I supposed to do now?"
Toby's words went straight to the hardened heart of Sweeney Todd and began to chip away the ice. He was right again, as children usually are due to their pureness before society corrupts them. He had nothing left to do now that his revenge on Judge Turpin was complete. He no longer needed to fight for Lucy. He needn't help Anthony rescue Johanna. It was useless for him to continue killing for the sake of "Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pies". All at once a great sadness came over him and the last of the ice melted off of his heart and turned into hot tears which streamed down his face as his gaze met Toby's and his arms wrapped around the child. And there they stood, alone in the world except for each other, not knowing where their fate would take them.
I am debating over whether to continue this, just leave it as is, or if it is even any good. Reviews are GREATLY appreciated since this was a challenge given to me by a friend and did not come about by my own accord. Thank you in advance!