Party Poison opened his eyes. Everything around his was white. The walls, the ceiling, the bed. The bed? He was in a bed? But there were no beds in the Californian deserts, where he and the rest of the Killjoys spent their lives.

But then it hit him – he wasn't in the deserts. He was inside a building. Inside a building in Battery City. But what was he doing there? He closed his eyes as he tried to remember what has happened before he woke up. He could remember shooting, lots of that. He could remember feeling reckless, anxious. But what happened exactly.

A fight! Of course! There was a battle! They were trying to rescue the Little Girl from Korse. He kidnapped her earlier that day. But they were fighting in the middle of the night, and it was morning now. He must've slept. No, he didn't remember falling asleep. Party's head began to hurt from all the confusion.

He looked around. Everything was plain. There was a bed on his left, and two beds opposite him. He knew there were bodies on those beds; the sheets were uneven. And he also knew who the bodies were – they were his friends! He wanted to sit up, but he couldn't. He tried raising his back, but he felt something tighten around his stomach. Dammit! he thought. He was strapped down to the bed so that he wouldn't be able to get out. But he had to wake his friends up, somehow.

'Guys! Guys!' he called out. The bodies made no reaction to acknowledge him. He sighed. He had to wake them up, or else God knows what might happen to the four of them. So he tried again.

'GUYS! YOU'VE GOTTA WAKE UP! WE HAVE TO GET AWAY FROM H–' he paused. He remembered something now. He remembered Korse's face. He seemed eager to hurt him. He shot him. HE KILLED HIM! But then, how come he's still alive, here in a room? Was this Purgatory? He couldn't believe this! He was panicking now, hyperventilating in shock. His eyes were wide open. He wanted to scream his lungs out.

'Party? PARTY, FOR FUCKS SAKE, WHAT'S GOING ON?'

Party Poison looked for the owner of the voice. It came from the bed across and left from his.

'I. I...' Party stuttered 'Are we... dead?'

'I don't think so.' The voice replied. It was Fun Ghoul.

Party sighed. 'But he... he...'

'I know, I saw it too'

'Then why...'

'I don't know. But I know one thing for sure, and that's to get outta here ASAP.' Fun's voice reassured Party and helped him calm.

'We have to wake the rest,' Party decided, 'and we need to find a way to get these straps off' he said when he saw Fun trying to get out of the bed.

For the next 3 minutes, Party and Fun were attempting to wake Jet and Kobra. They screamed and kicked their beds to make noise. In the end, they couldn't get them to wake up.

'I swear, they might never–' Fun started.

'SHUT UP!' interrupted Party, 'We just have to...'

Just as Party paused, the doors opened, and in came Korse and his assistant. Korse looked at all four of the beds, and froze as he saw Party and Fun awake. He shut the doors behind him with a thud.

'AH!' Jet Star and Kobra Kid gasped and raised their heads simultaneously. Looking around the room, they weren't quite sure what was going on. But the memories quickly flooded back.

Kobra gazed at Party. He wasn't sure how his big brother could've been still alive. The leader of the Better Living Industries, or BL/Ind, shot him there and then. And he was sure it was Party being shot; the Killjoys all wore colourful clothes, whereas the Dracs, Korse and everyone else wore plain white clothes. And he only knew Party had fire red hair that stood out. So how come he was alive?

'PARTY!' Kobra Kid smiled at his brother.

'Kobra dude!' Party grinned back. His last memory of his baby brother was when all four of the fabulous Killjoys split up to fight the Dracs.

Korse gave his assistant a glance, and she walked out of the room. 'Okay, ENOUGH of this little greeting!' he barked. 'I see you came round a little earlier than I expected. However, this should not, and WILL NOT, stop me from doing what I plan on doing.' He walked over to the other side of the room. From the test tubes, long white coats, and safety goggles, it seemed to be a laboratory.

'You,' he continued, 'are criminals. Stealing from us, killing our men. We want the better for you. We want to show you the perfect world. The world without conflict you're creating. The world where everyone is equal in every way possible. The world where nobody idolises anybody and nobody looks down at anybody. And even though you're criminals, I give you a second chance to become citizens of Battery City.'

Just as he finished speaking, the door opened once again and in came Korse's assistant, carrying a shiny metal tray with 4 syringes filled with a green liquid, and a small cardboard box. She put the tray down on a table on the side of the laboratory and hit a couple of buttons on the wall. Suddenly, the 4 beds on which the Killjoys lay raised and twisted so that they were upright. As the sheets fell on the floor, they realized that they were strapped down in various places: the ankles; the waist; the wrists. And they also realized that those weren't beds, but tables. There were little shelves at the feet to keep them from sliding down.

'Everything is ready, sir' said Korse's assistant as she put on white rubber gloves.

'Thank you' replied Korse. He walked over to where his assistant was standing. 'Now, we have two options here for you. Option No. One is the easy option – all you have to do is swallow these pills. Then there's Option No. Two – this is the harder option as we would have to inject those medications into you. Either way, the end result is the same. But the choice is up to you.'

Grace woke up on a couch. It took her only a second to remember what had happened the other night. Sitting up quickly, she spotted Dr Death Defying. She ran up to him.

'Ah, good morning kid!' he smiled. He and Grace were at the same height because of his wheelchair. Seeing her sad, innocent face, his smile faded. He knew exactly what she wanted to say to him.

'Listen, kid.' He put both his hands on her little shoulders 'We can go now if you want to. But you have to promise me that you'll stay in the van 'till we get back, alright?'

Grace smiled slightly. She nodded.

'Now, why don't you help yourself to the fridge? There are some crackers if you like.' The Doctor patted Grace on the back as she went to the fridge.

Dr Death Defying turned to Show Pony, who was sitting in the corner. Show Pony looked up at him and shook his head.

'So, um' Show Pony started 'how are we going to, you know...?'

'We have to. At least we should try and hope for the best.'

'But what if, you know, we don't succeed?'

'Let's just leave the worrying for later, after all this is over.' The Doctor put his hand in his jacket pocket and took out his keys to his van. 'Go start the van' he told Show Pony as he threw him the keys.

'So, made up your mind yet?' Korse asked the four fabulous Killjoys.

The Killjoys all stayed silent.

'I guess we'll just have to go with Option Three, which is to force those medicines into you.'

Korse's assistant picked up a syringe and walked up to Jet Star. She rolled up his left sleeve...