A/N: I'M SO SORRY AGAIN! I have no idea why it's taking me so long to get these chapters out, and I hate leaving you guys on edge for so long! But I guess it's just been super crazy with the fact that I have my last week of classes (forever!) next week, followed by finals, followed by graduation. Add on top of that looking for jobs/internships, and the fact that this past weekend was pretty much our homecoming here at school (who figured a track meet could bring so many people out to party?). So yeah, those are my excuses. And I know I shouldn't be blaming them but myself, but I digress.
I hope this makes up for it. I seriously promise the next chapter will be quicker, but now, back to homework for me so I can write some more!
Stay fabulous, Killjoys!
Chapter 45: Bulletproof Heart
Party Poison stayed silent as he was forcefully led from Korse's office with Chemical Skeleton. The whole theory of him somehow in love with Electric was crazy.
It's not love; it's more like brotherly affection for her. Isn't it?
Whatever it was, it was sending his thoughts into a tailspin.
Party couldn't avoid the looks he was getting from Chemical out of the corner of his eyes. Party thought they would be of anger, and so he averted his gaze from Chemical's inquiring look for the longest time. But when they had to stop for the elevators at the end of the hallway, only then did Party actually see that there wasn't anger on the face of Electric Revenge's brother.
No, he looked compassionate, almost itching to ask a question about what had happened. But to tell the truth, Party wasn't even fully sure about what took place back in that office.
The sound of the elevator ding brought Party back to the situation at hand, handcuffed and being led to his death. The doors opened, revealing an empty car, with grey walls and a grey floor and ceiling. Korse turned around, that evil smiling still sitting on his grey face seemingly becoming a permanent fixture.
"Not much longer now," he sneered, stepping aside. The Dracs that had been escorting Party grabbed tightly to his arms, pulling him closer to the elevator. Something triggered inside of Party that caused him to fight his captors as they pulled fiercely on his arms. Maybe it was just the will to survive, or the last bit of fight left in him, but the end result was the same.
Party Poison didn't want to die. Not like this.
Another Drac rushed towards him, the butt of its blaster poised to crash down on Party's head to make him more complacent. The blow never came, though, as the body was all of a sudden propelled backwards, sporting a brand new burn in the middle of its stomach. Party craned his neck around to see who had shot, only to catch a flash of yellow, black and military green before his escorting guards pulled him forward.
Frank?
Something passed by in a blur, barely allowing him to get a close enough look as he felt his arms being let go of. The two escorting guards were lying on the floor seconds later, writhing in pain as they nursed broken arms. A white-clad body was in front of him, breathing heavily. But there was no mistaking the swept-back blond hair.
"Mik…Kobra?" Party mentally cursed himself for almost blurting out his brother's real name in his surprise.
Kobra turned around, a smug smile on his face. "Miss me, big brother?"
Party began to open his mouth, ready with a witty comeback, but a yell of fury escaped from Korse.
"That's enough!" he shouted, pulling out his white blaster. "Kill them!"
"And that's our sign to leave." Kobra quickly grabbed two white blasters from the incapacitated guards before pulling on his brother's arm. "Ghoul?"
"Keep your pants on," he yelled, shooting wildly at the Draculoids before grabbing onto the arm of a surprised Chemical—surrounded by the two dead bodies of his guards—leading him away from the elevator and the horde of stunned Dracs.
Kobra did the same, grabbing onto one of his brother's arms, pulling him away from the firefight. They ran past a deadly accurate Laser Shot, who continued to shoot until they were a few steps ahead. The sound of Korse yelling at his men echoed in the hallway as they turned around a corner, avoiding the white lasers raining down on them.
"What the hell are you guys doing here?" Party finally managed to get out as they ran down the hallway, avoiding getting shot in the back of the head. "And how are you alive?" He looked at his younger brother.
"Long story. Won't bore you with the details now." Kobra flashed his brother a smug grin as he shot with both blasters at the guards giving chase.
"How about first we get these things off of us?" Chemical shook at his handcuffed hands behind his back.
"Hold on." The group slowed as Laser placed the muzzle of his blaster directly against the chain connecting before pulling the trigger. The laser cut cleanly through the metal. Laser made quick work with Party's cuffs, repeating the same process.
"It's the best I can do now," Laser replied, returning to shoot the Dracs behind them as they began to run again. "No time to pick the lock."
"It's good enough Laser," Chemical smiled at his friend before looking at the three Killjoys. "Now let's just get the hell out of here."
Korse was furious as he saw his prisoners once again escape from his custody, rounding the corner at the end of the hallway.
No, he wasn't furious. He was pissed to the nth degree. And there was hell to pay.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" he shouted to the guards standing around, confused. "Get them! Unless you have a death wish?"
The guards that weren't injured gave chase, following the escaping zone runners around the corner. Korse turned to enter the open elevator, leaving behind the injured and dead. He knew those could be dealt with later. There were more pressing issues at hand.
He leaned back against the cold grey wall of the elevator as he descended down to the first floor. A plan was beginning to take shape in his mind the further he descended. The public Extermination was not working to his specifications, considering that now twice in less than an hour his prize prisoners had escaped.
But whatever he planned paled in comparison to what was waiting for him once the elevator doors opened, as a wonderful surprise stood in front of the doors, escorted by his most trusted man and newest recruit.
Jet Star turned the corner, letting his blaster sweep in front of him before he nodded his head.
"All clear."
Show Pony and Digital Ghost rounded first, their blasters also raised and ready to fire. A few seconds later, Neon Paint and Techno Beat came around at a slower pace. Neon still had her blaster in her hand, though it was lowered. Bringing up the rear was Rocket Revolver, his hand once again placed over his injured eye.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Techno asked.
Neon huffed as she blew at a stray strand of blue-dyed hair. "You've asked that seventeen times already. We're almost back to the stairwell, and the parking garage is only a short run from there. I think he'll be fine."
Techno shot her a dirty look as Rocket sighed. "I'm fine. But the sooner we get out of here, the sooner I can get actual medical attention."
"Come on you guys!" Pony shouted from down the hall. "Before we become target practice?" Techno, Rocket and Neon looked up to see Digital and Jet already halfway down the next hallway.
Neon rolled her eyes as she ran to catch up. Techno watched Rocket walk forward a few steps, continuing to clutch at his fresh injury. She moved up by his left side, grabbing the blood-stained hand and holding onto it tightly.
"What the…?"
"It'll be fine," she said sagely. "You're so concerned about your eye that it's slowing you down. I'll make sure you can't worry."
"Are you sure this isn't an attempt to just hold my hand?"Rocket asked, raising his uncovered eyebrow in amusement. A small laugh escaped Techno's lips.
"Come on!" Neon shouted at the two of them.
Rocket shook his head as they jogged forward to catch up with the rest of the group. "Is she always like this?"
Techno shrugged. "I couldn't say. I've only known her for about 18 hours."
"You're serious?"
Techno nodded. "Digital Ghost and she brought back Pika-chan."
"Who is this Pika-chan you keep talking about?"
"Sorry. It's my nickname for my friend Electric Revenge"
Rocket's hand gripped tighter around Techno's as they neared the rest of the group. "Chemical's sister?"
"You know Chemical Skeleton?" Her eyes went wide just as Jet kicked the door open. They filed into the stairwell, quickly making their way up the concrete stairs.
"Yeah, he was my cellmate. So Electric set this whole thing up?"
"She was pretty persistent," Digital interjected as they passed another basement level. "I haven't seen so much passion in a zone runner."
"Don't kid yourself," Neon replied. "You've barely seen how zone runners work."
"And you're the know-it-all about this certain subject," Digital shot back.
Pony chuckled under his helmet. "You guys certainly know how to have a riveting conversation when we're being chased by S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W, you know that?"
No other comments were made, besides the occasional grunt or sigh as they passed yet another floor on their way up the stairs. Techno couldn't help but blush at the fact that Rocket still hadn't let go of her hand, considering how close together the group had to be as they made their way up the narrow staircase.
Don't worry Pika-chan. We're going to make it out of here.
"We're not going to make it out of here," Laser replied, shooting up at the Dracs from his perch a few floors below. The narrow space in the stairwell hampered his attempts, sending his shots flying nowhere near his targets.
"Laser! Come on!" Chemical shouted, taking the stairs three at a time. He hit the third floor landing hard, waiting for the Killjoys to catch up with him.
"Aren't you coming?" the shortest of the Killjoys—Fun Ghoul, was it?—asked.
"Yeah," Chemical shooed him away absently as he watched Laser appear at the top of the stairs. "Go on."
"Stubborn, just like Becca," Ghoul muttered as he turned and followed Party and Kobra down to the next floor, shooting occasionally upwards at the chasing Dracs.
Chemical smiled as he heard those words, chuckling under his breath as Laser approached him.
"What's so funny?" Laser inquired as they followed the three down the stairs.
"I never thought I would have to thank Bec…I mean, Electric, to get me out of this mess."
Laser shook his head, chuckling as well. "She's as crazy as you are sometime, you know that? Must run in the family."
"It must."
They turned the last bend in the stairs, as Kobra kicked out the door, surprising the Draculoids waiting in the hallway behind. Using his newly-acquired blaster, Chemical joined the rest of them as they ghosted the Dracs beyond the door.
Becca, we're almost out of here. We're going to get out of this alive, I know it. Chemical smiled as the mantra repeated over and over in his mind. It gave him a surge of strength as he ghosted any Drac in his way, leaving a war-path of death behind him. Not that anyone in the group cared.
"Look!" Laser pointed in front of him as the last Drac fell. They all looked to see the hallway brighten up at the end. "We're almost out of here!"
"Good," Ghoul sighed as they ran forward, out of the artificially-lit hallway. "This place is depressing me."
"Imagine how I feel." Chemical could help but smile.
The hallway opened up into a grand entranceway. The morning sunshine was shining through the window of glass, onto the white marble floors. An elegant fountain stood in the middle of the floor, the water bubbling up and splashing into small pool in front of a large information desk.
"Fancy," Kobra muttered. "You'd think they were hiding something."
The other two Killjoys shook their heads as they laughed.
"So now what?" Chemical looked around the place.
Ghoul quickly reached into one of the pockets in Kobra's pants.
"Dude, what the fuck?" Kobra punched Ghoul as his hand pulled a black box out.
"Your radio, that's the fuck," Ghoul rolled his eyes as he turned the thing on.
"What for?" Laser asked.
"We're giving the good doctor a call, that's what."
The sound of a laser being fired off echoed around the large room. It didn't nearly surprise them as much as the fact the radio in Ghoul's hand was shot cleanly out of it, sending it to the floor and shattering it into pieces.
"No one's calling anybody." A cold voice echoed in the room. All five of them raised their blasters, aiming in every direction as the thunderous sound of footsteps echoed around the room. Within moments, Draculoids and S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W guards alike came pouring out of the many hallways leading into the room.
"To the doors!" Party waved at the group as he backed up towards their only escape. The rest of them joined him as quickly as they could as Party placed his hand on the door handle.
"Chemical!"
A familiar voice echoed in the room as their white-clad enemies stopped filing in around them. Among the sea of white, though, they couldn't see the owner of the shout.
"Electric?" Chemical answered back, his eyes darting around the room. From the panic in her voice, something told him that something wasn't right.
His suspicions were answered a few seconds later as the sea of white parted, revealing a smiling Korse, blaster clutched in his hand. And standing not even five feet behind him was a terrified Electric Revenge, with a sword around her throat and a blaster to the head.
