I drew circles in the dust beside my leg as I thought about the time that had passed since everything changed. My closest friends , the ones who were already as close as family , one actually being family, we're now closer. Like I didn't just love them I needed them. I needed them to help me through these days of killjoys vs dracs. I absentmindedly gnawed at my lower lip. Our family was missing a member though. Frankie, I mean Fun Ghoul. I always forget. We didn't use our real names in this world of lasers and "perfection". Frankie just fit him though, it seemed a waste not to use the name. Jet pulled me way from making a rut in the dust by starting to tell Kobra and I the plan for getting Fra-Fun Ghoul out of HQ's conforming hands. Jet was generally the man with the plan. I nodded at him to show him I was listening. My index finger traced the barrel of my yellow ray-gun. Jet's plan was actually quite different than his usual array of schemes. This one wasn't kicking the doors down with guns ablaze, it was sneaky. I couldn't hold back the smile that tingled at the edge of my mouth. Jet finished his brilliant plan with " Then we grab Ghoul and we get the fuck out of there!"
Kobra concluded enthusiastically with, "Sounds like a plan, Jet. I'm in!" as he mindlessly rubbed the hole in his red leather jacket that revealed his bandaged arm. The two looked at me with the look like I should say something here, "Yeah, Jet sweet plan!"
" Thanks" Jet said glancing up at the dark night sky above us, "I'll keep first watch for the night. We have a big day ahead of us. " I leaned back against the trams-am. I felt Koba's breaths slow and deepen as he fell asleep. I had my eyes closed as to not worry Jet by me not sleeping. But I couldn't sleep, not at a time like this, not when a member of the family I so dearly needed was at the mercy of the exact thing we were fighting against. I forced this thought out to only replace it with the one thought that troubled me more. I loved frank. And not in the way I should, I loved him loved him. I actually was about to tell him how I felt before he was taken.
Flashback
" I've got her running really good!" Frankie said excitedly pulling me into our makeshift garage in the diner, our home. The trans-am he'd been working on it for what seems like forever now. " Doesn't she sound great?" Frankie was jumping with excitement as he took in the vehichle's newly found ability to run.
" It sounds awesome!" Now's my chance to tell him! Maybe he's so happy now that he won't explode with anger when I tell him. "H-hey Ghoul can I tell you something?" I stuttered. My tounge was so dry and why are my hands so clammy? I was going to be sick.
"Yeah Poision, you know you can tell me everything."
I took a deep breath"Ghoul-" but I was interrupted by the sound of drac tires attempting to break on the loose earth. I heard Kobra yell something to Jet.
Frankie rolled his eyes "Guess it's have to wait. Sorry Poision." we both walked though the door exposing the scene of two drac vans unloading their contents onto the sand before us. Two vans of dracs, we could do this we've done it before. I flipped my gun up from it's leather bindings on my right leg. I shot two dracs down before one had gotten into arms length away. I kicked him with the heel of my combat book. He fell to the ground joined by another whom Frankie had just hit with the butt of his ray gun. He smiled at me with at his teeth. He was the only person who could do it that well.
I saw a drac come up behind him and the matching smile vanished from my face. I pulled the trigger twice towards the dracs's head making it each time. I saw him hit the ground as I was dragged back by pale hands wrapped in a white suit. I tried to shake him off to no avail. I instinctually reached for my gun. The holster was empty. Damn, I had it in my hand when it he grabbed me I must've dropped it. I continued to squirm it was all I could do. I felt the drac suddenly go limp. His arms fell from my sides as his corpse collapsed to the ground. I spun around to see who had shot him. It was Frankie
" I got your back" he mouthed and then winked at me tossing me my gun an gracefully re-entering the fight. I struggled with my gun for a moment before joining him. I shot down drac after drac but there were too many. I couldn't see Frankie. I kept turning in hopes of catching a glimpse of him but when I did I was only overcome by more grief. He was being dragged by three dracs in to the back of one of the white vans. I shot at them missing each time. Each shot missed was followed by a different curse word. I only got to take two shots at them before they had closed the back doors to the van and had taken off.
There was still a good half van's worth of dracs left. They all immediately ran off towards the diner. I would've followed them if u hadn't have seen a beaten Kobra Kid fall to the ground. He was bleeding out of his nose, his spit lip, and the other injuries the dracs had caused him. I stooped down to him gently cradling him in my arms. Oh Mikey, what have we gotten into? He was my brother and we had been though rough times before but never anything like we had faced in the last month or so. Jet had crouched down beside me and the torn Mikey. I could feel Mikey's restrained breathing. He needed the emergency kit.
I handed Mikey into Jet's arms and with ray gun at the ready I ran into the diner there were four dracs in the dining area that served as our bedroom. Anger for what had happened and fear for what would happen flooded my veins and fueled my vengence. The four dracs dropped to the floor one after another. They had been pouring something over the torn booths but at the moment I didn't care. I was getting the emergency kit for my brother.
I pushed through the jointed opening in the counter. I walked to where the garage was and was greeted by the last three of the dracs who found the same fate as the previous ones. My hands shook as I realized we couldn't stay here anymore. Those dracs would've already been back to headquarters with Frankie- I didn't want to think anymore about it so I continued to empty the shelves into the trans-am. I hope he got this piece of metal working. I thought to myself as I tossed the emergency kit into the passenger's seat of the trans- am. I walked over to the makeshift tin door to the outsider and raised it up to be greeting once again by another drac. Guess I had missed one. I shot him to the ground like the others. I saw the lit match in his hand fall with him. I just made it into the trans-am as I saw fire surround where I had been. I started the car and hit the pedal. It roared to life and speed out of out now burning home.
I pulled around to the front of the diner to attend to my brother. He had come to and was staring opened mouthed at out home that was now engulfed with flames. Jet's face matched as tears streamed down their faces. I stopped the car and fell to my knees next to them and cried. We stayed there for what seemed like an hour but in reality took no time at all as we watched our house burn to the ground. There was absolutely nothing we could do. The sun was starting to go down, so Jet pulled the now bandaged Mikey to his feet and pulled him to the backseat with him. I started it up again and we drove down the barely discernible road for about thirty minutes. It was too late and we were too exhausted to save Frankie from the headquarters no matter how bad I wanted to. I knew to do it now, would be a suicide mission. We eventually found a place to make camp for the night.
End flash back
Frank POV
I saw Poison spinning around looking for me. I wanted to call out to him but I couldn't because of the gag already tied around my mouth. The dracs around me slammed the door and I felt the engine crank. I looked around the dark van the best I could. I was being restrained by two dracs. My eyes came across a familiar face, Korse. I'm screwed. I felt the gag from my mouth be wrenched out and replaced by a had clutching a damp cloth. I struggled against it but it was no use.
I saw Poison bent down next to a broken figure with Jet standing beside them. Oh my god Kobra! I felt a tear drip down my face and fade into the cloth as my eyelids closed and I hit the ground.
The fluorescent light blinded me as I blinked my eyes open. I was immediately hit with the fact that the back of my head hurt. I tried to reach my hand up to it to find that my arms were in restraints to a metal table. I glanced down to find that my legs had been treated the same way. My chest began heaving up and down rapidly as I realized where I was. This wasn't good.
The memories of the fight started flooding back to me. If it was even possible I started hyperventilating quicker. Kobra had been hurt... or worse. I pushed the thought away from my head and focused on the fact that I'd seen Korse in the van.
Right as the thought reached my mind he walked through the light gray painted door. I immediatly stopped greeted me with a smile, and not one of sincerity. He stepped closer to me with his hands tucked behind him. I had gathered my breathing by now and was giving him nothing but my stupendous poker face.
"Hello, Fun Ghoul. I don't suppose I need to tell you where you are." he paused trying to get fear to cross my face, he continued, a bit disappointed when he didn't get the reaction he was expecting, " We killed The rest of your little group." My jaw dropped slightly. He had said it with no emotion, BLi had probably trained that "imperfection" out of him that was kind of their thing. He continued, "We didn't need all four of you to get information out of, so once we got you and killed the rest."
I felt adrenaline fill my muscles and bloodlust fill my thoughts "I'll never tell you anything!" I growled through my teeth. My hands were in fists beside me. I felt my nails dig into my palms.
" As you'll find out, we have ways to get you to talk." He stepped back from the table some and pulled a remote from behind his back.
My heart rate skyrocketed as I felt the restraints tighten as the metal table shot electricity through my body. My fists loosened as did my clenched jaw. My mouth was slightly agape and my eyes shut tight from the unimaginable pain. The intense pain lasted for what seemed like hours but I knew all to well that it had only been mere seconds. I panted trying to catch my breath. Korse smiled again except this one was different than his first one. This one was filled with absolute ecstasy .