We Are the Kids From Yesterday

Battery City isn't what it used to be. LA was once a place full of celebrities, sky scrapers and hope. Now, it's mostly desert sand, broken families and rebellion. If you were a Killjoy, you couldn't settle near the now-small city. Some find refuge in abandoned shops on the outskirts of town. Others, like Astro, Battery and I, are always on the move. We can't go too far away from the Zones, though, or we would never get our radio updates from Dr. Death Defying. He was our secret link to the Scarecrow attacks. We had only been involved with a couple fights, and they weren't major. We were afraid of Zacky getting hurt, so we tried to avoid the large-scale battles. Up until this point, though, it had been too quiet. It almost seemed as though the Scarecrow had backed down, but chances of that were slim to none. Korse would only give up if he was killed.

Killing Korse seemed like a very small chance as well. I would often daydream about killing him, though. he needed to die for all of the lives he's taken or ruined. My fists balled up when the memory of my sister passed through, and Astro squeezed my shoulder.

"Calm down, he'll die soon." She said, sitting down with the radio. She always knew when I was daydreaming because of my balled fists and angry, yet blank stare.

"Not soon enough." I muttered. I helped her adjust the radio to the Doctor, then pulled over a copy of the Battery City Times. Four men were on the cover with red X's through them. They were the original Killjoys, and they were the most fierce. If Korse could choose any four people to kill on purpose and get away with it, I'd say he would choose them. Their pictures were at the top of every Battery City Times cover, and BLI was offering a hefty reward for their capture; dead or alive. We had yet to run into the Killjoys, but I hoped we would sometime. They seemed to always win, and they would get away with, well, maybe a scratch.

"Ritalin, listen." Astro whispered, turning the radio up. I put the paper down and focused my attention to Dr. Death Defying's deep voice.

"Here comes an alert from the Zones, folks. Nearly fifty Dracs are headed through Zone Seven. We need all the help we can get, Killjoys. Keep your hand on your gun, and try not to get ghosted."

Astro and I shared the same look of worry and wonder. We wanted to help our fellow Killjoys, but with so many of Korse's kronies, it was too dangerous for Batter. Then again, we were in the Zone the Dracs were coming through...

"Someone is bound to have a car. And if not, one of us can stay beside him." I told her, snatching up my gun and sliding it in its holster. I was ready to fight, and ready to kill. I picked up Battery Fire as Astro Zombie packed up our radio and handed me the small bag of out necessities, then we were on our way.

*

It wasn't very long until we could see the Dracs. They were standing still, facing a whole line of Killjoys. I dropped the bag and sat Battery down before turning to Ella. She turned the radio on, and just as Dr. Death Defying's into started, we heard the revving of an engine. I spun around, and was stunned to see that infamous Trans Am. I tapped Astro's arm over and over until she finally turned around.

"Is... Is..." LIke me, she couldn't speak. The four men stepped out from their car, masks on and guns in hand. Just as my hand clamped over my mouth, Party Poison looked our way and stopped. I watched as he turned his head to the others, then he came our way.

"Oh my God. Ella... Look." I felt like a giddy little girl. We looked at each other, silently screamed, then composed ourselves when Battery stepped in front of us. Poinson stopped in front of Battery, smiled down at him, then looked at Astro and I.

"Here for the fight?" He asked, picking Battery up.

"Uhm... Uh... Yeah." I stuttered out. Astro giggled and poked my side.

"Speak up, don't stutter." She muttered, then smiled at Poison. "It's awesome to meet you, but now's really not the time to chat. Maybe after?"

Zacky squirmed onto the ground and pointed to the car. "He can stay in there. This shouldn't take long." Poison winked, picked up our bag and radio, then started off towards the car. I pulled my gun from its holster and kept my finger on the trigger, afraid that a Drac would pop up suddenly. We watched Poison strap Zacky in the car, and just then, Fun Ghoul came over.

"This will be cake, man. Not gonna take long at all." He stopped and looked from Poison, to us, then to Battery. He opened his mouth to speak, but as soon as he opened it, a ray blasted past his head and went on into the horizon. We all spun around with our guns locked and loaded, but no one was there. The fight was a little ways up ahead, and there wasn't a Drac in sight.

"You two stay back here with him. We're going ahead." Poison said, and before we could protest, then ran ahead to the fight. I looked at Ella, then Poison and Ghoul, then back at Ella.

"That had to come from somewhere. Those things don't just pop out of nowhere." She pulled Battery from the car and held him to her. We knew we all three had to stick together, because we couldn't just let one go. If we were ghosted, we'd all be ghosted together.

"Look at them go." I mumbled, watching the fight. I could pick Party Poisin, Kobra Kid, Fun Ghoul and Jet Star out easily, and they were kicking some major arse. Part of me wanted to be fighting beside them, though. They were very smooth when they fought, even when the unexpected happened. Drac after Drac fell as many Killjoys shot their rays and dodged the ones that were coming their way. It seemed almost beautiful, to see so many people fighting for this cause. Seeing all of the Killjoys fighting gave me hope that one day BLI would be taken down, and peace would be restored.