(A.N. So this story probably won't be updated again until about Sunday, but fear not! I'll most likely have a new story up Saturday. It's a Black Parade-inspired story that I've been playing around with in my head for the past week or so. I think I'm going to write it. It is multi-chaptered but it'll probably take awhile to update as the chapters will be VERY long (one for each track off The Black Parade) and most likely take awhile to finish writing and revisions.

Speaking of which, if you would like yourself perhaps placed into this story, you can PM me or write a review on here telling me your name/your character's name and a general idea of how they act and what they look like. I'll try and include every submission I get. Also, if you're interested in helping me write the story, feel free to tell me. I'll accept any help I can get, even if it is just reading a draft and telling me if it's good, though someone to check for grammar and help with plot and throw some ideas around would be much appreciated and, of course, you would be credited.

Thanks again for reading and reviewing my stories!)

He was in a van. The men with the vampire masks. They were all around him. His head hurt. He couldn't hear anything over the pounding of his heart in his head. He wondered where the rest of his group was, if Combat Baby was okay.

He felt a needle being thrust into his arm. He blacked out.

When he woke up, he was running. He didn't know how he'd gotten there. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know who he was. His chest hurt, and so did his back and his arm. He clutched at his arm, looking down and feeling his stomach twist at all the blood. His blood. Somehow he knew it was his blood. The heartbeat in his head slowed. The heat bore down on him, making him dazed and confused.

He collapsed.

When he woke up for a second time, he was in a bed, a thin sheet covering his bandaged chest. Weakly sitting up, he looked around the room, at the dusty interior and the cluttered corners. He almost missed the man standing in the corner, but the man's bright red hair had made him impossible to miss. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, staring at him with a curious expression.

"Hi," he tried to say, but his throat was too dry and he just ended up choking on his words and coughing.

Hurriedly, the man reached over to the desk beside him, grabbing a half-empty bottle of water. He crossed the small room in two quick strides and handed the bottle to the boy, who gratefully gulped the water down.

"Thanks," he managed to croak in a cracked whisper.

The man just nodded, turned, and left the room, leaving the boy very confused. He looked around again, trying to figure out where he was. Then came the question of how he'd gotten there.

After a minute, a girl entered the room. Her expression was wary, and he just offered a small wave. It would be rude to scare her off.

"How are you feeling?" she asked in a small voice.

He just looked at her and said, "I've been better."

This actually made her smile, though he saw how she tried to keep a straight face as she moved to his bedside.

"I know it seems a bit soon, after just waking up and all," she mindlessly picked at a loose thread on the sheets, "but what happened?"

He shook his head, "I don't understand."

"How did you get on the side of the road? And how did you get-" she hesitated before pointing to his chest, "that?"

He too looked down at his bandaged chest. Looking back up at her, he just shrugged.

"I have no clue."

Oddly enough, she didn't look surprised. The tiniest realization hit her eyes as she nodded, mostly to herself. He noted with an almost childlike fascination that she had pretty eyes. Very mature, a contrast to the rest of her face.

"So do you know who you are?"

He thought long and hard. He knew he had to have a name. He had to come from somewhere. He just had no memory at all. He shook his head wordlessly again.

"Okay." She nodded again, a confirmation to herself, before turning to leave the room. Before leaving, she looked back at him.

"If you need anything," she said with a small smile, "just ask for Diamond."

He gave a small smile at her before she left.

He decided then that she was his favorite.

The others were nice, too. There were a lot of them in the small house. At least, he thought it was a house. He hadn't left his room after a few days of being there.

The red-head -Party, he'd called himself- was quick to talk to him. He seemed eager to help the boy with whatever he needed. He felt like Party knew something about him, but wasn't telling him anything.

The blonde, Kobra, told him that he'd been given some strange medication before they had found him that was keeping him from remembering anything. He said the memories would return, but it would take awhile.

What he hadn't been prepared for was how much he had to remember.

And so the long process of healing began.

Diamond was sitting at a booth, a deck of cards between her, Missle, and Show Pony. They were playing Missle's favorite game, Go Fish.

"Threes," Missle called out.

"I've got one." Diamond said, handing Missle the card from her hand.

"I don't," Pony said, preparing for the girls to both scream at the top of their lungs.

"GO FISH!" the cried, both laughing and high-fiving as Pony took a card from the pile in front of them.

"I don't like playing with you two," he said frowning, though soon he smiled, unable to keep up a serious pretense.

Party, Jet, Ghoul and Kobra entered the diner laughing. They'd gone out for what they called "Fabulous Killjoy Bonding Time", which usually ended up being just them Vend-A-Hacking. Diamond liked it, it always put them in a good mood.

As they sat down at a booth together, Ghoul flashing Diamond an amused smile, she decided to check up on the boy. He still hadn't gotten a whole lot of his memory back, but she was hoping he'd at least remember his name.

Knocking softly on his door, she heard frightened muttering from inside. She opened the door and found him tossing and turning on the bed, talking in his sleep. Closing the door she hurried to him, lightly shaking him awake.

His eyes opened and they fell on her, wide and terrified.

"Killjoys," he breathed, "You guys are Killjoys and I'm one of you and my group-" he tried to sat up, but she held him back as he talked louder, "My group. My family. Where are they? What have you done to them!"

"Hey!" she yelled back. His wild eyes met her calm eyes and he settled down slightly, still tense but now at least silent.

"Freaking out isn't going to help." She insisted, "Now we don't know where your group is. We just found you, on the side of the road, bleeding."

He nodded, "I know, I know. I just kind of-"

"Lost yourself." She finished his sentence.

"Yeah," he replied sadly before looking up at her in confusion. "How'd you know?"

"I know someone who went through what you're going through right now. Maybe he'll share his story with you if he feels up to it."

He nodded silently.

"So what do you remember now?"

He sighed, "Well, my name is Adrenaline Agent. I'm a Killjoy. I ran away from Battery City, where I grew up after-" he paused, "I don't know why I was living there. Anyway, I didn't like what my dad was doing with that…company…"

"Better Living Industries?"

"Yeah. That." He looked at her, "You got something against them too?"

She smiled wryly, "I guess you could say. We all kind of have a bone to pick with BLI."

He pursed his lips in thought, "I had a group of my friends and my sister. We were Killjoys together. Doomsday Device, Revenge Runner, Combat Baby…and my sister was Sun Kissed. She was…eight…the last time I saw her."

"Do you know what happened to them?"

He swallowed hard, "We were…just wandering the desert and then…these guys with…masks…"

"Draculoids."

"Yeah. Them. Draculoids. They came from just…out of nowhere…they had a van and…they took me and my sister and Doomsday Device. But…Revenge and Combat…"

"What happened to them?"

"They shot them." A tear slipped down his face, "Two shots. To the back of their heads. They were dead before they hit the ground."

Her hand moved to cover his. He took it, holding on like she was his lifeline.

"That's all I remember." He coughed roughly, using his free hand to wipe his eyes.

She nodded. "That's a lot to take in. Do you want some time alone or-"

"No!" he almost yelled before realizing he'd startled her. He calmed back down, "No…I mean…I don't want to be alone."

"That's fine." She smiled a small smile, "You've told me what you can about your past. Let me tell you what I can about mine."