The Drac was dead in a millisecond, with three laser wounds to various parts of its body. Shortly after the demise of the Draculoid, the three Fabulous Killjoys were surrounding Crimson, pulling her off the ground. There was a blood splattered ray wound on her back, extremely close to her heart.
"Crimson!" Ghoul was almost crying as Crimson's face contorted in pain from being moved.
Soon the three killjoys had her leaning against a large rock, looking into the faces of Party Poison, Jet Star and Fun Ghoul.
She groaned. The pain was excruciating.
"C'mon Crimson," Ghoul was pleading, "C'mon, we're going to get you through this!"
Crimson Pixie looked up into the face of the killjoy, a weak smile forming on her lips.
"I love you, Ghoul," her voice was awfully frail, as though it took tremendous effort just to form the four words.
Ghoul took Crimson's hand in both of his, tears spilling out of his hazel eyes noiselessly.
Blood as red as her name began to seep through the material of her shirt. The ray wound had passed straight through her.
Crimson's eyes moved on to the small lump inside Ghoul's jacket. He took out the small infant, passing her over to Crimson. She held the baby in her arms, staring lovingly down at the small face.
"Take good care of her, Ghoul," Crimson whispered, handing the child back to its father.
"No, Crimson, don't say things like that!" tears continued to stream down Ghoul's face.
"Where …" it seemed to be getting much harder for Crimson to speak, "Where's … Flame?"
The three killjoys looked around to see Synthetic Flame standing where they had left her, a look of stunned horror plastered on her face. Reluctantly, they motioned her over.
Flame walked jerkily over to the group. The killjoys made way for her as she knelt down beside the dying Crimson.
"Crim …" Flame was almost sobbing.
"Flame," Crimson whispered the name, "Sometimes … Sometimes you h-have to destroy something perfect, because … the world needs beauty. It needs colour. Sameness isn't perfect, it … it's the opposite. The world h-has survived this long with all the fl-flaws beauty has … it can survive a l-little longer. So … make your choice. B-but really th-think about what's best,"
A silent tear fell from Flame's eye, falling down onto the sand.
All the killjoys were silent for a moment, until Crimson sighed.
"The birds," she breathed, "I can here the birds. I'm going to go see Alteration and the birds,"
Then Crimson Pixie closed her eyes, and moved no more.
Ghoul stood up silently, handing his daughter to Poison, and walked a couple of meters away before collapsing onto the sand, his head in his hands. His back shook from the tortured sobs that were raking through his body.
Flame continued to stare at her lifeless friend, her sister. Tears flowed from her eyes, mixing in with the dirt on the ground. She too stood up, but instead of crumpling onto the dirt, she ran. She ran far, searching for something, and knowing she couldn't go on until she found it.
Poison and Jet remained beside the deceased girl, and then Poison spoke softly.
"Crimson Pixie," he whispered, "Your shadow will live on without you,"
Then he bowed his head and stood up, followed shortly by Jet. They looked down at her. She looked so peaceful, almost like she was just sleeping. But they knew the truth. If she was sleeping, then she would never wake up.