Chapter Two

Party Poison

"Damn it, Poison, this is never going to work!"

Party glared at his brother wearily. "I've done it before, and we're still here."

The group of four Killjoys were standing beside their car, not fifty feet from the first gas station they'd come across in Zone 1. It was extremely close to the city, as there was no reason for any of the citizens in Battery to go out of their way to get things, but as Poison had predicted, it wasn't heavily guarded.

They were currently staring at the twenty-four-year-old in front of them, usually dressed in anything but what he wore at the moment. His clothes were stark white, lacking anything but the image of one of the many people going along with BLI's false reality, and his bright hair was tucked fully into a black hat Dr. Death Defying had found years ago. In fact, the entire outfit had been given to them by him—only in his possession for the reminder not to dress anything like it.

"Not so close to Battery City! You're gonna get yourself killed." Kobra continued, and Poison smirked. "Always keepin' it positive, hmm?"

"Sorry," Kobra looked away with a sigh. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"And I do? Look, it's not guarded, at least outside. That's a good sign. If there's anyone inside working for BLI, they won't recognize me in this."

"Yeah, still." Kobra shrugged.

"If you've got a better idea, I'd love to hear it."

Kobra glanced over the outfit again and then met his gaze. "Just…be careful," he said.

Poison nodded and turned to the other two, eyeing Jet for a moment, who had his eyes on the ground. "You okay?"

"Just fine," he replied, though was clearly lying. He was the only one of the group that was nearly an expert at siphoning gas, but he always felt guilty he could never do more than that, despite that always being the most important thing.

"All right. Give me two minutes after I get in, then bring the car around. You've got five."

"And if something goes wrong?" Ghoul asked hesitantly.

Poison gave him a small smile. "Then don't wait up for me." he responded, and then turned without hesitation and set off towards the station.

Like that would ever happen, Ghoul thought with a sigh, glancing at the others and then moving off towards the Trans-Am.

Party almost stopped as he got to the door, looking at the ray gun dispenser outside the place. He would destroy it if he could—they were the things that supplied weapons for the Dracs, used much too frequently. He swallowed hard and forced himself to continue; if he looked like he wasn't supposed to be there, they'd notice and suspect him. He had to know precisely what he was doing to cause a distraction, and it was slightly unnerving to realize he didn't.

"Nice day, hmm?" the woman behind the counter greeted him as he entered, and he showed no emotion. "It is," he replied, keeping his head lowered but glancing around for anyone else in the place. For being so close to Battery City, it was surprisingly empty. Only one other person was in the little store, over towards the back.

Two people, all right…

Poison went over to the refrigerator doors and opened the one with large containers of water behind it, rolling his eyes. Oh how he wished it could always be this easy…just walk into a store and get something.

No. No, that was the life they all had left behind. He was glad he did; how could he even begin to think like that? That was like wanting to become one of the drugged up people in the city, practically tripping over false happiness, and he obviously wanted nothing of the sort.

He almost smirked at the idea that came to him then, hoping it successfully distracted the workers. He grabbed three containers and managed to get the door shut behind him, took a breath, and then pretended to lose his balance, dropping them almost before he could move. "Ooh!"

The woman and man both looked at the boy on his knees and went over to help him up.

"Sorry," Poison murmured quietly. "Must've slipped on something…"

"Don't worry about anything." the woman said, far too calmly, and he resisted the urge to cringe. They helped him carry the containers to the counter, and Poison stopped briefly, looking at the aisle of food they passed and grabbing the smallest thing he could see—a box of eight granola bars. It wasn't dog food, anyway; he only hoped he had enough to get it.

"This is a lot of water," the man said as he took the box from him without giving him a chance to set it down himself, placing it next to the bottles. He eyed the Killjoy closely, and Party struggled to stay calm. There was something in the man's expression—suspicion?

"We are in a desert," Poison chuckled, reaching into his pocket for the money they'd managed to find around. Had it been five minutes yet?

Just to be sure, he pretended to search several more moments, finally pulling out several crumpled bills and coins and setting them next to the cash register.

The woman took them, counted, and then looked at him strangely. "It's fifteen twenty."

Poison coughed in surprise, unable to stop himself from blurting out, "It's water!"

The man leaned on the counter, a little too casually. "The price went up a month ago. Don't you watch the news?"

Frustrated, Poison dug for the rest of the money, almost throwing it down on the table.

The woman's smile remained, but she took on a sort of confused look at the actions.

Shit. Poison smiled slightly at her, but knew he'd already allowed his aggravation to show. Maybe it hadn't been that noticeable...?

"I'm sorry, you don't have enough." she said, and Poison sighed, glancing longingly at the box of what he very much wanted. "What if I put these back?" he asked, gesturing at it, and the woman tapped at the computer again. "That would do it."

With a sigh, Poison grabbed the granola bars and walked over to where he'd found them, reluctantly leaving the box there. They had food; water was more important.

"Here you go," the woman nodded at him, and he gently took the few coins she held out to him, placing them back into his pocket. He picked up the waters, doing his best to act like they were at least heavy enough to have previously caused him to fall, nodding at the two as they watched him go.

"He was a bit odd," the woman said, shaking her head, and then frowned as the man only continued to watch the door the kid had walked out of. "Yeah; a bit odd." He glanced at her and then walked into the back room. He picked up the phone, then hesitated. Was he completely sure? The boy could have simply been uninformed, but then…

After a moment, he punched the numbers anyway, holding the receiver to his ear.

Poison finally took a deep breath as he reached where the car was waiting on the side of the road, feeling as if he hadn't done so the entire time he had been in the store. "You get it?" he asked Jet, shoving the bottles into the back of the car and getting in the passenger side. Kobra placed his foot on the accelerator, and they sped off.

"Fuck yeah," Jet smirked like the question had been a joke. "What, did you think I didn't?"

"You know what I think? I think they just scammed us." Poison rolled his eyes, shoving his hand in his pocket and taking out the few coins, the only thing left from everything they had found, holding them up in his palm to his younger brother.

Kobra regarded them in disgust. "That's all you got back? For water?"

"Party," Ghoul suddenly murmured before the older could reply, pointing at him. "Your hair…"

Poison frowned and then moved his head to look in the broken rear view mirror, feeling a pang of fear. On the side, some of his hair was sticking out of the hat, which was tilted to the side a bit. "Shit," he muttered, ripping it off completely and throwing it by his feet, shaking his head. It must have slipped when he fell; was that why the man had been regarding him so strangely? And if so, would he have realized he was a Killjoy?

Kobra glanced at him. "That just happened, right?"

Poison cleared his throat, hesitated, and then gave him one of his adorably innocent smiles without replying.

Kobra rolled his eyes. "Works on everyone but me, bro."

The red-haired Killjoy thought for a moment and then glanced back at Ghoul, who couldn't help but give a small chuckle, shaking his head.

"It doesn't matter, anyway," Poison said after a moment, tugging on the very uncomfortable outfit and facing forward again. "Not like they have BLI on speed dial."

"Mm," Kobra replied, his eyes on the road. "'Least we got what we needed."

"For now," Poison said, fidgeting again. He hated looking like one of the people they tried so hard to rebel against. "But we'll need more eventually. And we are not going back there." He scowled, tossing the coins he still held onto the floor. They wouldn't need them, anyway; they couldn't buy a thing in the world with sixty-four cents, and it would take them ages to gather up as much money as they'd just spent.

"We'll think about it then. Right now we—holy shit!"

They jerked forward as Kobra slammed on the brakes, then looked up to see what he was gawking at.

Off the side of the road was the little girl from the whole incident at the diner the day before, stumbling along feverishly.

And she was alone.

"The hell?" Jet murmured, and the four got out of the car as the girl drew nearer.

"Hey," Poison called gently, and she raised her head, seeing his clothes before anything else and panicking, beginning to immediately rush off in the opposite direction.

Party looked down at himself. "Shit!" he muttered as he understood; she thought he was going to try and capture her. "Wait!"

The other three Killjoys ran to follow her, though she barely made it twenty feet before she tripped and collapsed, groaning.

"Listen—we're Killjoys!" Ghoul tried as they caught up with her. "We aren't going to hurt you!"

The girl's expression relaxed slightly, and then her eyes shut and she pitched to the side.

Kobra reached out and caught her before she could hit the ground, lifting her up. "Damn," Kobra said. "She's still got a fever." He hadn't even a need to feel her forehead; her entire body felt as if she'd gotten an awful sunburn, and yet she was more pale than she was red.

"Did her brother leave her or something?" Ghoul wondered aloud.

Kobra shook his head and turned to walk back to the car. "He did all that yesterday to just leave her here in the middle of a zone? Doubt it."

The two followed. "So what, you think BLI got 'em?" Jet asked, and Kobra shrugged slightly. "We won't know until we ask her."

Party opened the door of the passenger side as they returned, and Kobra gently set the girl down in it, getting in beside her. "Come on, we might need to call in the Doc again if she gets any worse."

"She couldn't have been out here long—we just came this way earlier." Poison pointed out, getting in the back with Ghoul, and Jet shook his head, starting up the engine. "I hope so. Her being in the sun like this couldn't exactly be good."

Kobra nodded in agreement, glancing down at the girl and then to his brother. "You should probably change before she wakes up."

"Mm, good to know." Poison rolled his eyes, flipping him off in irritation, and then leaned back. Like he hadn't both realized that and been planning on doing so anyway. "Thanks; really."

It was almost night again before the girl stirred. "Neo…?"

Jet, who had been taking turns with the others watching her, stood up and went over to her. They were in the smallest back room of the diner, the few cushioned chairs they owned placed together in a makeshift bed just her size. He waited a moment, wondering if he'd been hearing things, and then felt hopeful as she mumbled again. He adjusted the damp cloth on her forehead, smiling slightly as she opened her eyes. "Hey, don't worry, you're safe." he said calmingly.

The girl did not reply, although she suddenly appeared close to tears. Jet hoped they were not of fear or pain. "Are you feeling any better?"

The girl nodded, and then finally spoke. "They took him." Her voice was soft but strong.

"Your brother?"

She frowned. "How did you…?"

"He came here yesterday for…help."

"I don't remember," she said after a moment, seeming slightly panicked.

"You've had a pretty high fever," Jet explained, placing the back of his hand to her cheek. She was still warm, but it had definitely gone down. "You're going to be fine," he smiled, and she sighed softly.

"What's your name?"

"Grace…" the girl murmured, and before he could speak again, her eyes closed once more, and he instead exhaled for a long moment and stood, walking out.

"Any improvement?" Kobra asked, having been in the booth closest to the room.

"Yeah, her fever's definitely going away. She even woke up for a minute or two."

"Really?" Ghoul asked, coming over to stand next to him, looking at him curiously. "Did she say anything?"

"Yeah…" Jet took a breath. "BLI took her brother."

None of them replied; Poison didn't even look up from where he was sitting, further away from the rest of them. It wasn't that they didn't feel for the kid, getting her family taken away and all, but they hadn't exactly liked the guy.

"At least they didn't take her," Kobra finally murmured. "She wouldn't have lasted long sick."

"Maybe that's why they didn't bother with her." Ghoul shrugged.

"I wonder if her parents were taken, too, or…" Kobra winced and did not finish.

"Or they could be fine," Poison finally raised his head. "At least, as fine as someone who's living in Battery City can be."

Jet nodded. "For her, I hope." He paused. "I think she—Grace, her name is Grace—is going to want us to try and find Neo."

"Well, obviously." Kobra muttered. "But I don't know if we can."

"We'd be giving them an actual reason to kill us, and others." Ghoul sighed. "If we broke in BLI's headquarters, I mean. And that's only ifwe survived long to do that."

Jet leaned back against the wall with another nod, glancing in at the girl.

"You didn't tell her we would, did you?" Poison asked, eyeing him, and he looked at the red head. "No."

Poison stood, adjusting his jacket and shaking his head. "Well, if we get a chance to rescue him, we will." It was a bit obvious he was trying his best to care, and would have cared more had Neo not attacked him like he did, and they all silently agreed. But he was a Killjoy all the same, and they could only hope his situation wasn't as dangerous as they suspected it probably was.

"Look, I just told you! I don't know anything!"

Frustrated, the BLI agent smacked the restrained Killjoy before him yet again, turning around and placing his hands behind his back. "You are not telling me something. Stop making this difficult!"

"Damn it!" the Killjoy groaned, and the agent scowled, looking at him again. "You were in Zone 1. There is not one place to get food and water there that isn't guarded. I've recieved one call, and it was not describing you. So how exactly did you come to get the bag you had?"

"I…I raided some diner."

"And there were Killjoys there?" the agent asked, leaning over and slapping the boy again when he did not reply. "Fucking stop! Yes, there were people living there!"

The agent rolled his eyes and straightened up. Fifteen minutes. Leave it to these damn Killjoys; they'd rather die than rat each other out. This had been exceptionally quick progress; and he had a feeling it was mostly because he had been given direct permission to interrogate him as such, and the boy knew it. "Now we're getting somewhere. Who were they?"

"I don't know…really, please…"

Another smack. It seemed to be working, anyway.

"I don't!" the Killjoy gasped. "Some guy with red hair—Poison or something. A-and three others! One was Jet Star, I think…"

The agent watched him for a moment, surprised. "Really?" he smirked, interested, remembering what the man who had called in to BLI had said; the boy who'd been acting strangely had had red hair.

Gotcha. "Good job, Killjoy."

"You…" Neo Explosion trailed off the curse, weakened. He'd never meant for any harm to come to other Killjoys; he'd been desperate before, for his sister…Oh no, he thought—what of her? She'd run off into the desert, all while being ill…if her fever and the heat from the sun didn't kill her, would something else?

"You heard the orders." the agent continued, smiling sardonically at the Killjoy. "His father wishes to speak with him after this."

The Dracs started towards Neo.

"Fuck you!" the boy finally managed, and the agent halted. "You'll never win!"

Exterminator Korse turned back to him, smirking. "I'm afraid," he started, "it's a little late for that." He chuckled. "We're already on our way. You think your little group of rebels will stop us? Hmm? You're quite mistaken if you do."

"Not a mistake—" Neo grunted as the Dracs yanked him out of the chair, his arms still tied behind him.

Korse chuckled and continued right on out of the room, ignoring another curse shouted after him. His smirk impossibly increased, and it wasn't due to the fact he knew exactly what the boy's father was going to do once he revealed where his sister was.

It was because he now knew where the same four Killjoys that had caused him the most trouble were. The group was one of the only ones he had tried numerous times to capture, and failed at every attempt.

Not only that, but it seemed that they were very much looked up to between all the rebels. He'd heard the names Jet Star, Fun Ghoul, Kobra Kid, and Party Poison more times than he cared to remember from interrogating other Killjoys.

Party Poison.

That name even more than the others. The red head had been evading him for years, every time slipping away before he could get him, all while raising hell for BLI.

And he was about to be his. Korse would be sure of it. He'd enjoy making him suffer, making him give out every last location of every last Killjoy in the Zones, and making him watch as he killed them off.

He'll never talk.

Korse wasn't sure where the unpleasant thought had come from, but knew it was partially truthful. Being their leader and all, it would be nearly impossible to get anything from him; same with the rest of them.

We'll see…

Korse smirked again as he walked.

Yes, he liked that thought much better…

"Hello?"

Party jerked immediately out of his slumber, tilting to the side and half falling out of his chair at the small voice. He stood and went over to the bed they'd created for the girl, squinting in the darkness until his eyes adjusted. "I'm here, don't worry," he said, realizing she was sitting up. "Are you okay?"

"Who are you?" she whispered.

"Party Poison," he replied quietly, not wanting to startle her. He bent down on one knee and placed a hand on her forehead, sighing in relief. It was absolutely fine—no abnormal warmth at all. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes," she answered, and Poison smiled. "I'm glad, Grace."

"…How…?"

"Jet Star told us. He was the one who was in here with you before."

"Oh." A pause. "What time is it?"

Poison stood and walked over to the window, looking out. A pinkish light was slowly illuminating the sky, and he faced her again. "Morning. You slept all day yesterday."

She shifted almost uncomfortably, looking as if she wanted to say something but remaining quiet.

"Do you need something?"

"Yes," she said, failing to continue.

Poison frowned. "What? Are you hungry?"

She nodded, and he began to leave to both wake the others if they weren't already up and get her something, but she suddenly called, "Wait!"

"I'm still here."

"I have to go to the bathroom."

"Ah." Poison felt ridiculously stupid. "All right, I'll show you where it is."

Grace nodded and slowly stood, with Poison standing close by in case she needed help, and then he led her out of the room.

Twenty minutes later, the group of now five sat at a booth next to the window, Grace at the end of one side by Poison, across from the other two, and Ghoul, sitting in an additional chair they'd pulled up.

Grace set down her glass of water and leaned back contently. She hadn't fulfilled both her thirst and her hunger at the same time in…she couldn't even remember how long. It felt amazing.

"Better?" Jet asked, and she nodded. "Thank you." She smiled, and the rest of them found themselves doing the same.

She ran a hand along her fluffy hair, which almost matched Jet's in appearance. "You're really nice," she said, "helping me and all."

"Of course," Party said. "We'd never leave a fellow Killjoy out without help."

She took on a sudden sad expression. "I…"

"What is it?" Ghoul frowned.

"I-I can't be—I mean, I'm not a Killjoy."

"What?" Kobra widened his eyes. "Who told you that?"

"My brother." She looked away. "I'm too young; I'm ten."

"You're never too old or young to be a Killjoy," Jet said. "If you're against BLI, you are a Killjoy."

"He always told me I wasn't old enough to even understand what we were rebelling against."

"Do you?" Poison asked, and she turned her attention to him. "Yeah."

"Then you're a Killjoy. And no one can tell you differently."

"Neo did. He said a lot of things," she frowned. "I know he loves me, but…he's just a real stressed out person."

Poison unconsciously lifted a hand and ran it along the back of his head. Never would've guessed.

"It's not his fault, though," she went on with a sigh. "My dad didn't exactly protest BLI taking over, and my mom went along with him. They started acting all weird, mostly him, trying to change how we thought and stuff…and trying to force the two of us to take these icky medicines."

"Did you take them?" Ghoul questioned curiously, and she shrugged. "Only once. But I didn't after that. They made me feel like I didn't care about anything."

"That's what most of them do," Kobra shook his head. "They mess with your head."

"But everyone else was taking them; they seemed happy about it, too."

"It's not real," Kobra murmured. "They only think they are."

"Yeah. Anyways, Neo woke me up one night and said we had to leave. We didn't even say goodbye to them." She sighed again and looked away. "We took this old truck from the junk car lot down the block from our house and have been out here ever since. It's been, like, a couple of months, maybe." She cringed. "My dad, he started working for BLI a little while before we left. That's when it got worse, and…he's tried finding us a hundred times, but we always get away. Until the Dracs got my brother, before you found me." She shivered and shook her head. "I was so scared, I mean, I wanted to help…I've always wanted to help…but I couldn't, so I ran."

"Well, you're safe here," Poison said, and she smiled, though it was sad. "We can try to find him, right?"

Poison hesitated, not wanting to give her false hopes. "We can always try." He glanced at his younger brother and then back at Grace, a smile tugging at his lips. "But…you're going to need a Killjoy name to be one…"

She brightened up immediately. "Really?"

"Do you know anything you'd like?"

She giggled. "I've always thought Missile Kid was pretty cool…"

Poison gave into the smile; she was too cute. "Well, Missile Kid," he began, placing his hand out for her to shake.

"Welcome to the Fabulous Killjoys."