Chapter 2
A single ray of desert sun shone over my left eye, rendering me awake. I flipped over onto my other side, careful of my arm, and tried to fall asleep again, but to no avail. With a groan, I picked myself up out of bed. I battled with my black tank top till it was on properly, pulled on my purple skinny jeans, and laced up my black combat boots tight. Once finished getting dressed, I walked over to the dresser so I could look in the mirror. It had a slight crack starting from its left corner and stretching down about an inch or two.
My purple and black hair was extremely knotted and I decided I couldn't do anything without a brush. So, I began to frantically search the drawer where I put my things the night before for my hairbrush.
After searching for what seemed like forever, I finally found it in the bottom left corner. I brushed my purple and black locks till they were smooth enough that I could run my fingers through them without getting caught. Happy with this outcome, I decided it was time I for me to finally leave my room.
I slowly walked into the main room of the diner and was met by four unfamiliar faces; they all looked up at me the instant I walked in the room. I examined the strangers and realized the must be the "others" Ghoul was talking about. The first person I saw was a little girl. She had puffy brown hair, and light green, almost blue, eyes. There was no way she was any older than 8.
The second person was wearing roller skates, light blue and white polka-dot tights, and a cropped top that said "NOISE" on it. They were also wearing light blue helmet, that was the same color as the tights, that covered their face.
The third was a girl around my age, possibly younger, who had vibrant lime green and jet black hair that went slightly past her shoulders. She was smiling at me which made me notice her perfectly straight teeth, she probably had braces when she was younger. She had on lime green jeans, black boots (that look strikingly similar to mine), and a black t-shirt with green splatter paint all over it.
And the final person was wearing a mask that covered his entire face. The design on the mask appeared to be some type of mime makeup. He also had on a bandana, leather fingerless gloves, and a butterfly knife strapped to his thigh.
"Hi!" said the older girl, stepping forward and extending her hand. "Hey." I said while shaking her hand. "Poison told me we had a new killjoy staying with us. I'm Cursed Cemetery, but you can call me C.C." I nodded. She then called forward the other killjoys. The little girl darted forward and stated, "I'm Missile Kid. That's," she added, pointing to the figure with the roller skates, "Show Pony." When Show Pony heard his name, he skated over and flipped up the visor on his helmet, revealing his eyes. They were a light, chocolate color. "Hi'ya!" Show Pony said in a cheery voice. I gave him a little wave.
"Hey," the final killjoy said, "I'm Street Mime." "Hi. I'm-" "Marvelous Cyanide Rose, I know. Ghoul told me." He finished for me. "Kobra told me about your group. I'm so sorry!" C.C. said, pulling me into an embrace. I was quite shocked at first, and it took me a moment to hug her back. When she pulled away, there were tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly worried. "It's just, here," she said, leading me towards a booth, "Sit down and I'll tell you." I sat opposite of her in the booth, and Missile sat down beside her and took her hands into her own- squeezing them supportively.
"Long ago, maybe one or two years after BL/ind started, my friends and I were camped inside an old auto-repair shop. We had been there for a while, when one day my friend, Nuclear Nitros, had this dream. In it, we were ambushed by dracs and forced into Battery City. Three out of five of us were brainwashed and forced to be dracs or scarecrows. The other two were put on so many BL/ind pills, that we had no memory of one another.
"After discussing this with the others, we decided to move camp. We were going to the very next day, so we decided to pack most of our stuff into the trans am- including most of our weapons. That was our biggest mistake ever, because that night, when we were asleep, my friend's dream came true. We were attacked and drugged, rendering us helpless.
"When I awoke, I was in a room. Everything was white, and I mean everything. My hands were bound, but after a while, I was able to get my hands free and ran to the door. I picked the lock. Once in the hall, I was completely lost. Eventually, I found some dracs and followed them out of the building. When we were outside, I attacked them and knocked them out, and took their rayguns. I snuck out of the city, but even after that, I had nothing. I had no idea where to go. I had no idea where my friends were. And I had no hope.
"After a few days of wandering through the desert, with no food or water, the guys found me and brought me back here. I've been here ever since." She concluded, tears dripping down her face. I instantly shot up from where I was sitting, and ran around the table to her side, pulling her this time into an embrace. We stayed embracing for awhile till the tears had passed.
"I'm sorry." She said, staring at her feet. "For what? Crying? We are only human." I replied, patting her back. "Yeah we're human, but for how long?" Street Mime added. I was about to respond but realized something: he was absolutely right, I couldn't argue. With a sigh, Street Mime pulled up a chair to our table and sat down. "Since we're sharing stories, I guess it's my turn."
He took a deep breath before beginning, "A while ago, I was a scarecrow," I gasped, "What? Then how are you, I mean, how did-" "How did I escape and how did I become normal again?" he finished for me again. I nodded. "I can't remember who I was before I was a scarecrow. Which means, I have no memory of family or friends. One day, something really weird happened. I became aware of surroundings again. Everything just kind of snapped into place.
"I realized who I was and that I needed to get out of there. I stayed undercover sort of- not letting anyone know I had control over my thoughts and actions again. A group of scarecrows, including myself, were called in by Korse one day and I found out that I had a rather high rank in BL/ind- meaning I had more freedom.
"From what Korse described, the group I was in were going t try a new type of BL/ind pill. After the announcement he disbanded us, but I followed him. Thankfully I wasn't questioned when I entered certain rooms with guards outside the door. Eventually he talked to some other official about what I wanted to know- what the pills would do.
"The pills were supposed to make us 100% obedient. It appeared that I was not the first scarecrow (or drac) to come back to their senses, but unfortunately the others didn't stay quiet about it and were brainwashed again and again. Thus, they created this pill. I already knew I had to get of Battery City, but now I had soon. Very soon. Like right there, right then.
"After hearing this, I bolted from that room and thought. I really thought, something I hadn't been able to do for a while. Then I came up with a plan. BL/ind, no matter how evil, had the best and newest technology around. Being a scarecrow for a long time, I subconsciously started towards the lab. When I arrived, there was no one there, thankfully. So I started searching for something.
"A certain piece of technology that could help me escape. After hours of digging around, I found it. This," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out an ordinary looking pocket watch. "is the thing that helped me escape. It looks like an ordinary pocket watch right? Wrong! This is one of the best scientific breakthroughs ever. This watch renders the user invisible. This saved my life.
"I quickly figured out how to use it, ran out of the building, and into the streets of Battery City. All of the buildings were white and were exactly the same. I looked in horror at what the world I once lived in had become. That's when I think my hatred for BL/ind really kicked in. All my emotions that I could once again feel took control. They were bottled up to long, and those bottles exploded. I did some pretty bad things.
"After my rampage on BL/ind, I'll spare you the details, I was wounded. Though invisible, I had still been hit multiple times. I slipped into a coma, and when I finally came to, I was here. I was told they found me in the desert when they were looking for some food and clothes in old buildings." He sat back to let us know he was done.
I sat there for awhile, my mouth gaping open. I was in complete shock. I never thought anyone one could ever come back after being brainwashed, but I was wrong. Horribly wrong. "Do you have any idea-" I started but was once again cut-off. "How I snapped out of it? Nope. Guess they didn't brainwash me well enough." He finished with a shrug.
After that we all just sat in silence for awhile. "I still have a question," I said, turning towards Street. He raised an eyebrow. "How do you-" "Always know what people are gonna say? Just a gift I guess." He replied. "Don't worry," C.C. told me in a hushed tone, "you get used to it eventually." She finished, giggling.
Her giggling made me smile. But it wasn't just her giggling, it was her story. It was Street Mime's story. It was the fact that, after everything that's happened in our past, we still found a way to survive. It was the fact that we would survive whatever would come our way. Because killjoys never die.
I hadn't realized it but, during my blissful, thought-filled, moment, I had begun to cry. "Hey, are you alright?" Missile Kid asked, truly concerned, while entwining her fingers with my own, holding my hands. "Oh, yeah, I'm ok now." I answered, my voice, unfortunately, cracking. She looked as though she didn't believe me, but didn't question me any further. Wiping away the remainder of the tears, I stood up and left the booth, soon followed by C.C.
"So, are there any other others I should know about?" I said while hopping up onto a barstool at the counter. "Not at the moment. But when the guys get back from patrolling the zones, we'll see." She said while sitting down on the barstool on my left. Street stood from the booth and headed towards the back of the diner, probably to his room, since there was nothing else to do at the moment.
In a flash, Missile was seated to my right. I literally did a double take from where she previously sat, to my side. Then, I started to hear the roaring of a car's engine pulling up to the diner. As quick as she was there, Missile was leaping for the door. She jumped in front of it excitedly, till it burst open and the guys stepped in. Street Mime entered back into the room, grinning slightly at the returning killjoys. "Welcome back!" Missile exclaimed while running up and hugging Poison tightly.
He hugged her back and looked up. He waved at me the best he could while trying not to break his embrace with Missile, and I waved back. He gave me a slightly embarrassed smile, and I tried to control my laughter. "Any luck finding anything, or anyone," C.C. asked, nudging my arm and winking, "today?" "Not today. Hopefully that means all the killjoys are keeping each other safe. So you all got introduced?" We all nodded.
"So how's the arm?" Kobra asked, walking up to where I was seated. "Honestly? It hurts like f-ing hell!" I answered truthfully. Everyone in the room burst out laughing, and even I joined in, although totally embarrassed.
Eventually the laughter died down, and Ghoul started for the door. Stopping in front of the door, he spun around and looked at me; I gave him a questioning look. "I was gonna go work on your car, do you mind?" "Go ahead. You don't have to ask you know. Since I'm staying with you guys, anything I have is yours. Now, go work on our car!" I replied giving him a wink. A huge grin spread across him face, and he speeded out the door, fidgeting ever so slightly with excitement.
We all sat around chatting for awhile. I got to know the others better, and the guys talked about how the patrolling went today. Suddenly, Ghoul darted back into the diner. His eyes and face were filled with shock and worry. "Ghoul, what happened?" C.C. asked before anyone else could, standing up and grabbing his hand. She tried to lead him to the nearest booth, but he wouldn't budge, still in a trance like state.
"Dracs. Tons of 'em. Get ready guys, this isn't gonna be pretty." He finally spoke, starting to come out of his trance. An instant later, he spun on his heel, and Poison, Kobra, and Jet were out the door. Soon followed by Pony, Street, C.C., and myself. Quickly we were all outside, and I had to shield my eyes from the desert sun till they had adjusted.
Someone put their hand on my shoulder, causing me to jump and draw my gun. I spun around to face my attacker, and there was Ghoul; he put his hands up innocently. "Oh my gosh, sorry! You scared me." I apologized, blushing a light pink. "No prob'. I just wanted to tell you something," he paused. He looked as though he was thinking about his next words. "I don't think you should be out here… Maybe you could stay inside the diner with Missile?" I stared at him with a slightly upset expression on my face.
"No fucking way! You guys are letting me stay with you, you're fixing up my car, the least I could do is help fight off the dracs!" "You cant even hold your weapon properly!" I looked over at my left arm, my less dominant, that was holding my raygun. I would have used my right arm, but the wound made doing anything with my right arm hurt so much, it was impossible. "But I can still shoot some dracs! Besides -" but I was interrupted.
Ghoul leapt towards the floor, hooking his arm securely around my waist, and took me down with him. Before I could question (ok, yell at) him, I watched as a laser beam crashed into the diner wall: right where I had previously been standing.