Hey guys, Butterlover328 here. I've been having Writer's Block for the Potter Twins and I'm swamped with end-of-year projects, so I decided to publish a short story I wrote about a year ago. It's one of my favorites that I've written, and the reason that it took me so long to publish this is because I was going to use it as a writing sample for a publisher to look at, but I changed my mind and I'm publishing it. Anyways, I hope you enjoy, and I'll see you guys later. Bye!
~Butterlover328
"Fuck, we're surrounded!" Poison shouted, his back pressed against Ghoul's as he shot rapidly at the Dracs closing in on them. He knew they shouldn't have gone out alone, but they were low on supplies and Jet Star was in the process of healing Kobra from a Drac's lucky shot on their last run. He needed to get out of the diner, and since they had the rule to not go out alone, it seemed like a great idea at the time.
But now, Poison cursed as he checked the low battery on his ray gun. He only had a few shots left before the battery died, and he had left his extra ammo in the Trans-Am. A rookie mistake, something Poison hadn't done in a long time, and now he was paying for it.
"Ghoul, got another battery?" He whispered. Ghoul nodded silently, taking his left hand off his ray gun so he could reach for his ammo pack. However, shooting with only his right hand messed with his accuracy, and his shots became more random. Poison tried to cover him, but despite the fact that he downed another Drac or two every time he shot, it wasn't enough to prevent the Dracs from circling in on them, producing a boundary that effectively trapped them in.
Nonetheless, once Ghoul finally got the fresh battery out of his pack, he handed it to Poison and immediately switched back to shooting with both hands, allowing his accuracy to improve immensely. Poison wasted no time in switching out the batteries, stuffing the empty one in the pocket of his jacket as he took down another three Dracs.
Ghoul cried out in pain as one of the Dracs finally hit him and clutched his shoulder, gritting his teeth to try to block out the pain. Poison noticed his friend's pain immediately and starting circling around to take out as many Dracs as he could to help Ghoul make a run for it back to the Trans-Am. Right now, getting Ghoul out of there was Poison's main priority, and dammit, he was going to do it no matter what the cost.
Finally, it seemed like the Killjoys were going to get away relatively unharmed. The Dracs had thinned out considerably, and every time they tried to close in on Poison, they just ended up taking a few steps closer to the barrel of his gun and their death. Poison knew that things were looking up for them, so it was obvious that something even worse was going to happen, as the Killjoys had a bad luck streak a mile long.
And of course, the one time he wanted to be wrong, he just had to be fucking right.
Their bad luck came in the form of Korse. Normally, Poison could hold him off well on his own, but with an injured Ghoul, no backup coming, and the still sizeable amount of Dracs that were coming closer with every breath correlating to his rapidly decreasing ammo supply, Poison knew he was well and truly fucked. And it was during those times that he came up with the stupidest plans ever. This one, he could tell, was going to be pretty high up on that list.
"Ghoul! Head for the Trans-Am! I'll cover you as we make a break for it!" Poison exclaimed.
"Are you an idiot, Poison? That's going to get us killed!" Ghoul shouted back.
"Then save yourself, I'll hold them back as you run!"
"That's even worse!"
"Just do it! NOW!" Poison yelled, tucking the smaller man underneath his arm to coax him into running as he sprinted, dodging shots from all around. Poison shot desperately at the Dracs in front of them, trying to clear a path for them to head for the car. Two of them went down, creating a gap just large enough for them to break through the circle without too much damage. Just when Poison was lead to believe they were actually going to make it, Korse decided to get involved.
Until now, the Chief Exterminator had only been observing the battle, waiting for the right moment to strike, but when his primary objective was close to escaping from his grasp, he knew he had to intervene or face an inquiry from the director for his failure. So with careful precision, he lined up his shot and took it.
Poison went down as a shockwave of pain started in his left calf and rippled through his entire body. He gasped in pain as it felt like electricity was coursing through him, paralyzing him. His mind went blank, and screams were ripped out of his mouth as he wailed in pure agony. Ghoul tried to help him up, but his injured shoulder wasn't helping anything and he couldn't pick up Poison without hurting the both of them. Still, he didn't want to give up, and in an effort to protect Poison, pushed through his own pain to grasp his gun and keep shooting.
"Ghoul, just go!" Poison shouted, trying to suppress the pain.
"No fucking way Poison! We're both getting out of here today!" Ghoul shouted.
"I'm not letting you die today, Ghoul!"
"And I'm not going to leave you behind!" Ghoul exclaimed, shielding his eyes from the sun with his injured arm, which was not helping him ignore the pain, but did succeed in giving him better aim due to being able to see.
However, shielding his eyes left him with a blind spot, and Poison was unable to warn Ghoul in time before the younger man went down, struck by the same weapon that Korse used against the redhead. Poison tried to grapple for his gun, but trying to shift too much caused his muscles to spasm and he was gripped with pain again. He was barely able to stifle a scream as he made impact with the harsh ground again, but with his gun in hand that he was successfully able to acquire, he shot all but two of the remaining Dracs in fatal areas before his gun ran out of ammo at last.
The last two Dracs mechanically grabbed Poison and Ghoul and dragged them away from their weapons and getaway vehicle, and towards Korse. They tried to struggle and loosen the incredibly tight grips of the Draculoids, but due to their injuries and the electric shock they both received leaving them weak, their efforts were fruitless, and were finally deposited in front of the Chief Exterminator of BL/ind.
Korse smirked, revelling in the glory of having two of Better Living Industries' most dangerous enemies powerless before him. As if to rub it in, Korse knelt down to Poison and lifted his chin high enough to meet his eyes.
"Look what we have here; the Leader of the Fabulous Killjoys and his tiny sidekick. Tell me Poison, did you like my new weapon? It's currently just a prototype, but with this success Better Living will certainly start creating a larger supply of them for Draculoid use. I find that they are much more effective than normal ray guns in regards to incapacitation. Do you believe that my observations are worthwhile?" Korse asked, enjoying the weaker-than-normal glare of hatred mixed with excruciating pain that the redhead sent at him as Korse mocked him.
"I think that you are a motherfucking bastard and that you'll rot in Hell for the rest of your years when I get my hands on you." Poison spat at him, defiance easily readable in his position and tone.
"Oh Poison, you always seem to amuse me with your petty threats. In case you haven't noticed, you are under my power, not the other way around. And don't forget that I have leverage as well? If you enjoyed that little demonstration of my new weapon, then you will be sure to enjoy it when I use a higher voltage at nearly point blank range on your little pet." Korse smiled as a groan of pain escaped from Ghoul's lips and he caught the flash of fear and worry that overtook Poison's face briefly as he adjusted the settings on his prototype shock gun.
"So what do you think, Poison? The last demonstration had a total of 600 Watts, so I wonder what we happen if I upped the ante to 1000?"
"What do you want, Korse?" Poison asked, wondering if he really wanted to know the answer to that question.
Korse's lips quirked slightly in the corner as he heard the underlying tone of worry in Poison's voice as he asked his question, and he turned to face his captive.
"I want to see you suffer. I want you to believe that you can escape, and then be the one to smother that hope from your eyes as I destroy everything and everyone you care about. I want to see you beg for death, and to be the one to deny you of it until you see that I have won. That is what I want, Poison, and it starts now." Poison's stomach clenched as he heard those words, and Korse grinned as if he knew what the redhead was thinking. He stood back up to address the Dracs.
"Leave the other one behind, we've got what we want. He'll die anyways, either from the sun or from the other zone rats that are out here." Poison gasped in pain as Korse forcibly pulled him up, his knees buckling as his legs spasmed again. Poison was sure he was going to collapse again, but Korse held him up and started dragging him to his car.
Poison struggled, knowing it was more for show than any chance of actually escaping. If he and Ghoul had been unable to escape from the Dracs, then there was no way that Poison could escape from the superhuman grip that Korse had on him, but there was also no way in hell that Poison was going without a fight.
However, Korse knew exactly what he was doing and grabbed Poison underneath his armpits, one hand snaking around his chest as the other was holding his shock gun. He pointed the gun at Ghoul, who had just started recovering from his first experience with the weapon, and was now able to speak again.
"If you keep struggling, I'll give you a front row seat and show you just how powerful this new weapon is. How much voltage do you think Fun Ghoul can handle, Poison? 1000, 2000? He's already received 600, and you know exactly how much that took out of him. Shall we see what happens when he receives double that amount?" Korse murmured in his ear. Poison froze at the implication, and let out a shaky breath. He swallowed impulsively as he thought, before he finally came to a decision.
"Let him go, and I'll come quietly. I promise." He said, his voice wavering slightly as he spoke.
"Poison!" Ghoul yelled, trying to stand up, only to be knocked down again by one of the Dracs as they kicked him in the stomach.
"Enough." Korse growled at the Drac, before using the gun to brush some of Poison's hair out of his face.
"You realize that I could just take you right now, and that I have no need for your petty promise, right Poison?" He said in Poison's ear.
Poison met his eyes. "But you'd like it, wouldn't you? To say that you were the one to turn me in. To say that you were able to make me submit and come without a sound. If you let Ghoul go, you can."
Korse's eyebrow arched slightly as he considered the offer, and since Poison noticed that he was really considering it, he said the one thing that he knew would hook him in.
"So what will it be, Korse? The faint glory of taking me in, or the smug pride of bringing me in without a fight? All you have to do is let him go."
"And how am I supposed to know that you will honor it if we make this deal?" Korse questioned him. Poison smirked.
"I always honor my word."
Korse pondered it, and then finally made his decision. "Alright, I'll accept your offer." Poison sagged in relief as he knew that Ghoul would be okay, but then Korse gave an order to one of the Draculoids.
"Kill him."
"What?! You just said we had a deal! Where the fuck is this coming from?!" Poison shouted, starting to fight Korse's grip once again.
"You might honor your word, but I never said I do. Watching you suffer is more glorious than anything else you could even begin to offer me. Besides, I'm granting him mercy. Would you rather he be killed quickly by the enemy, or slowly from the harsh desert that you rats call home?" Korse replied smugly. Poison's glare grew until it was the most powerful one he ever gave.
"I swear, I will hunt you down and kill you and anyone else from BL/ind that gets in my way. I will never stop until I die, and even then I'll haunt your sorry ass until BL/ind is destroyed for good. I will not rest until I see BL/ind fall. That is a promise." Poison stated, his eyes boring into Korse's soulless ones as he made his oath.
"Too bad you'll never see it through." Korse whispered, putting his gun back in it's holster and picking up Poison's legs so he couldn't kick as he carried the redhead to the car. As they reached the vehicle, Korse took out a needle and injected the contents into Poison's neck.
Poison felt the effects of the tranquilizer immediately, and despite trying to fight it, was unconscious in seconds. Korse's grin stretched across his face as he loaded the unconscious form of his victim into the backseat.
"We're going to have so much fun together." He said, slamming the door shut with a resounding clang and drove off, leaving behind the horrified screams of Fun Ghoul as the Dracs closed in on him.
Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the story! Now, since I left the ending kinda ambiguous, you could always imagine that Ghoul managed to kill the two Dracs, rode off to find the other Killjoys, and launched a successful rescue mission to save Poison from the evil clutches of Korse and BL/ind. Or you could imagine the worst if that's your kind of thing as well. I may or may not end up writing a sequel to this eventually that ends on a happy note, but for now I'm just going to leave it here. Make sure you add kudos or comment if you liked this and want to see more, and if you want to read another Danger Days fic I wrote, you can pop over to my profile and click on "The Light Behind Your Eyes". I'll have to warn you though, that one tends to be a tearjerker. Anyways, thank you for reading, and I'll see you guys later. Bye!
~Butterlover328