A spray paint can lay on its side, the nozzle broken, causing the red liquid inside to drip onto the wooden surface of the table. The smell of art clung to the air, drifting out of the open window of the garage. The door opened, letting a breath of fresh air into the room, and the arty atmosphere above them flooded out. Party Poison breathed in as much of the art aroma as he could before it disappeared. Kobra Kid closed the door. Looking admirably at the car that stood before him, he ran his slender fingers along the edge of the hood, eventually stopping when he reached a bout of wet paint from the nozzle of Fun Ghoul's can.
"Don't touch it!" Ghoul whined as Kobra's fingers played at the edges of it. Kobra chuckled and found a space to sit on the sandy floor beside Poison.
"Looking good bro!" he said, looking at Poison's artwork that graced the hood of the car.
"Well…I mean…I do try," Poison replied, flicking his almost-luminous red hair back in a nonchalant fashion. Ghoul and Kobra rolled their eyes.
"Not you , you sassy bitch! The car!" Kobra groaned, exasperated. Poison laughed and Jet Star's head appeared from the other side of the colourful vehicle.
"Hey Kobra, throw me a wrench, would you? The nuts on this wheel are loose." Ghoul sniggered.
"Nuts," he repeated in a whisper, and proceeded in letting out peals of laughter, with everyone watching him.
"You are unbelievably mature, did you know that?" Jet sighed sarcastically. Ghoul finally stopped laughing, but small giggles escaped him as he continued to work on his section of the car. Kobra rooted around the tool box beside him and eventually found a wrench. He walked around to the other side of the car and handed it to Jet. Poison wiped his brow with the back of his hand – he was dripping with sweat as the temperature had soared since day had broken.
"You have paint on your face," Ghoul told him.
"What? Aw, really?" groaned Poison as he cautiously dabbed his forehead with his fingers. Pulling them back he saw that he now had a large amount of black paint on his hands. "Oh well that sucks." He picked up a cloth and rubbed it over his face.
"Still there," Ghoul chuckled, pointing. "You've just gone and made it worse now."
"Damn it!" Poison moaned. He dunked the cloth into a nearby bucket of water and then made another attempt in cleaning his face.
"Look, idiot. Give that here. You're just ruining your pretty little face now," Ghoul sighed, and snatched the cloth from Poison. Rather than being gentle, he basically rammed it against Poison's face and literally attacked it with the cloth. Poison tried to protest, but found it hard with a mouthful of material.
"Unnf Ghul whffat ada gedd orfff!" he cried, but Ghoul kept going until all remains of black paint were gone.
"There! Beautiful," Ghoul grinned. Poison glared at him.
"Just you wait…" he growled vengefully, clenching his fists. Ghoul put his hands up in mercy.
"Ooh whatcha gonna do, P? Come off it. You couldn't take me even if you tried," Ghoul hissed, smirking. Poison got to his feet.
"Bring it, shorty," he snapped back, a smile playing on his lips. Ghoul frowned and stood.
"Excuse me, but this is no place to start mocking my height. Height has nothing to do with this."
"Oh it has everything to do with this. Watch out! I could step on you!" Poison cackled. Ghoul huffed and stamped his foot.
"Dude shut the fuck up!" he whinged. Poison, Kobra and Jet were frozen.
"…Did you just…stamp your foot?" Jet asked.
"I thought little girls only did that…In movies?" Kobra added. Ghoul blushed.
"Look, he was pissing me off, ok? Leave me alone." He stuck his middle finger up at them and sat back down. Kobra, Jet and Poison looked at each other. Poison snorted and the room burst into laughter, with an embarrassed Fun Ghoul wearing a angry yet bashful expression. "All of you are mother fuckers. Mother fucking fuckers." He crossed his arms and slumped against the wall. Poison wiped his tears from his eyes.
"Oh Ghoul, you do make me laugh," he giggled. Ghoul poked his tongue out and snatched up some copper wire, playing with it in his tattooed hands. After a while, Jet stood up and something clicked.
"Ow! Oh…my back…ow…" he whimpered, clutching his back. Kobra held him.
"You ok?" he asked worriedly.
"Yeah…ow…I just…ow…stood up funny…" Jet replied in a pained voice.
"Here," Poison piped up, crossing the room. Without a second to spare, he grabbed Jet's arms, held them behind him, pressed his foot into the arch of Jet's back and pulled.
"MOTHER OF-ARGHHHHH!" Jet screamed as his back snapped back into shape. Poison let go of him and he breathed heavily, shuddering. "YOU! YOU!" he snarled, pointing at Poison accusingly. But then he stopped. "Wait…you fixed me…" he gasped, rubbing his back. Poison nodded triumphantly.
"Sure did!"
"How did you learn to do that?" Jet asked, amazed. Poison shrugged. Kobra, Ghoul and Jet looked at each other, and then shrugged to.
"Are you going to just sit there and fiddle and not do anything?" Kobra questioned Ghoul. He glanced up from his wire and blinked.
"Oh…right. Yeah I probably should…" He got up and began spraying again. The group of Killjoys had been working on the Trans-am they had found for weeks. They had found it in Zone 5, outside an abandoned mall. It had been badly beaten up, with windows smashed and parts missing, but together they fed it back it's life, and now there was nothing left to do but make it look…well…awesome. Cans of paint, spray cans of paint and brushes were strewn all across the room, some pouring their contents onto the floor, some hardened from the heat of the Californian climate. The door opened again and Agent Cherri Cola waltzed in carrying a tray of drinks.
"Lemonade for all you hard-working gentlemen," she smiled, placing the tray on the table. Ghoul stood and crossed the room, scooping up a glass and glugging it down.
"Ahh, thanks babe," he winked, licking his lips. She rolled her eyes and went to walk to the car, but he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck. She shivered and smiled widely.
"Please. People. Do that shit somewhere else. Right now we need to paint this baby up and Ghoul can't really do that with his face on your neck, can he?" Poison grumbled.
"Oh Poison, you're such a killjoy," Cherri hissed snidely, and he couldn't help but chuckle.
"Smoooooooth Cherri. Smooooooth," Kobra giggled.
"So are you nearly done?" Cherri asked, stepping out of Ghoul's arms. Poison walked backwards and looked at his car.
"…You know what?" he said proudly. "I think we are!" He beamed at everyone and put down his spray can. "My part's finished!" They all shuffled round to look. A huge black spider graced the hood of the Trans-am.
"That's incredible, Poison!" Cherri gasped, drinking all the fabulous art work in. "Oh! Here, I made you something…" She dug around in her pockets until she produced something small from it. She placed it in Poison's hand. It was a tiny replica of his mouse mask. Blue fluff on the back, and the face was perfect.
"Oh my god…did you make this?" he breathed, turning it over in his hands. She blushed appreciatively.
"It's to hang from the rear-view mirror…I thought you might like it," she smiled. He leant inside the car and hooked it on. They all stood back and gazed at the shing colourful car.
"It's beautiful you guys," Cherri announced. They all puffed out their chests proudly.
"Shall we?" Ghoul grinned suggestively. Poison nodded, and they all climbed into the Trans-am, Cherri watching them. Trembling with anticipation and excitement, Poison turned the key and the engine roared into life. He shuddered. It sounded hot. His hands ran over the warm leather that covered the steering wheel. It felt good against his rough skin.
"Well…are you ready Ray?" he smirked - saying his best friend's real name felt good after all these years. Jet's heart swelled.
"Yeah!"
"…How 'bout you Frank?" Poison grinned.
"Oh, all night baby!" Ghoul chuckled.
"How 'bout you, Mikey?" Poison laughed.
"Fuckin' ready!" Kobra whooped.
"Well, I think I'm alright!" Poison cried with joy. "Cherri, throw open the garage door!" She did it, and the moment there was enough space to drive through, Poison kicked out the acceleration. The engine roared and the motor got hot. They shot off down the road, spitting up dust behind them, and headed for the horizon.