The Rise of the Killjoys

Mikey's head throbbed as he slowly opened up his eyes into tiny slits. Curse the bright fluorescence of the Better Living Industries' lights. He knew exactly where he was. BL/Ind is the only place with chemically clean air that a person could easily choke on if you weren't part of the Better Living. As he tried to move his arms, he found that he couldn't. His eyes bolted wide-eyed as he realized he was tied to a chair. His arms were bound behind him, and his ankles were tied to the legs of the chair. He quickly looked around at his surroundings. The room was similar to that of a padded room in a mental institution.

He jumped when the door was slammed open. He saw Draculoids. Two, maybe three of them were equipped with weapons. Two others were empty-handed. Following them was Korse, and behind him some woman. Korse had a sly grin played out on his face, the woman just had a soft yet stern face. 'What the fuck do they want with me?' he thought to himself as he met Korse's eyes, staring hard at him. The woman stood in between them, turning to Korse and whispering something in his ear.

"So many Killjoys out there, yet so few of the 'Fabulous' Killjoys, am I right?" Korse mocked, lips curling over his canines with each grin. Mikey glared at Korse, his eyes burning with hatred...and the chemicals in the air. "Fuck you," he spat. Korse moved his hand in one fluid wave towards the direction of one Draculoid. Before he realized what was happening, Mikey was shot in the leg by said Draculoid. His screams were loud and vicious like that of a cat thrown in irradiated water.

"That doesn't answer the question," Korse stated. "There are only four Fabulous Killjoys, isn't there?"

Mikey thought carefully of what to do. He didn't want to tell the truth, but he also didn't want to be killed. Korse was almost right. There was one more Fabulous Killjoy, but Mikey didn't want them to know that. He had to say something though, unless he wanted a blast to the head. "Y...yes," he finally said. "Only four of us."

His attention was grabbed when another Draculoid walked in, ray gun in hand. Followed by two more, the Draculoid met Mikey's eyes. He could look past the mask and look into the Drac's eyes. One red, one purple. 'No fucking way,' he thought, trying to fight a smile from forming.

"It's okay. We can handle it from here," Korse stated matter-of-factly. Neither of the new Draculoids moved an inch. "That means that you can go now," he said, his voice becoming angry. The Drac Mikey was staring at walked past Korse, past the woman, and the other Draculoids, and walked right up to Mikey. Korse, pissed off, grabbed the Draculoid by the shoulder, spinning them around. "Who the fuck do you think you are disobeying orders?" he barked.

The Draculoid laughed behind the mask before slowly taking it off, revealing black and purple hair, and the red and purple eyes. Korse immediately dropped her. "I can see you remember me, Korse," Jade said. "And I no longer go by Agent 758. It's Toxic Angel now." Staring past Korse at the other two 'Dracs' in the door, they soon joined her and Mikey as they also took off their masks. The shorter Draculoid was Fun Ghoul, and the other one-the same height as Frank-was one of Jade's many allies of the Zones known as Eternal Demon.

"Fuck!" Korse ran out of the room, the woman following as the real Draculoids started firing at the Killjoys. Frank was the first Killjoy to fire, getting a Drac in the head. Jade and her friend turned to Mikey and quickly untied him, wrapping his ankle up as they both assisted in getting him the hell out of the room. "Hey, Ghoul!" Jade yelled as they got to the door. "Let's get out of here!" Frank complied, shooting one more Draculoid before joining his friends as they raced for the outside world.

Getting to the Trans Am, Frank slid over the hood of the car before getting into the driver's side, Jade getting into the passenger seat as Mikey and Jade's friend got in the back, the young girl quickly treating Mikey's ankle. Driving off, Jade quickly turned to look at the two in the back. "I forgot. Mikey, this is Josie. In the Zones, however, she's known as Eternal Demon."

Mikey nodded and smiled at Josie, wincing slightly as she fiddled with the bandages and medicine to treat his leg. Jade turned back around, looking at the road in front of them. Panting heavily after a too-close encounter with the Draculoids and of all people Korse, she turned to Frank and smiled. "Told you I knew a way in," she said proudly.

"Yeah, and it almost got us killed!" he replied, sticking his tongue out at her. They quickly drove back to the DayGlo headquarters, dropping Eternal Demon off at her station, then getting back on the path to the HQ.

Stopping in front of the entrance, the three Killjoys saw Gerard run out and attack Mikey in a tight hug, tears in his eyes. "Oh, God I thought I would never see you again!" he sobbed, his arms wrapping tightly around Mikey's waist. Laughing, Frank went inside, Jade following after him as they left the two brothers to reunite.

~~

Getting ready to sleep, Jade walked through the halls, trying to find Frank's room. Mikey was sleeping with Gerard and Ray since they shared a room, so now was her opportunity to talk to Frank more.

Frank, on the other hand, was getting his stuff put away, hoping he wouldn't have to use them anymore tonight. Sighing slowly, he turned to make a quick bathroom break when he ran into Jade at the door. "Oh, hey," he said, looking at her mismatched eyes.

"Hey," she replied, looking back into his eyes. "Can I...can I come in?"

"Uh...yeah," Frank quickly replied, stepping aside to let the newest Killjoy into his room. Jade looked around, her eyes fixated still on Frank. "Is there something wrong?" he asked her. She just shook her head, sitting down on the cold floor of his room.

Frank looked at the walls, then back to her. "I have a question to ask you," he said without thinking. Jade looked hard at him, then hesitantly nodded. "Sure," she said quickly, looking down at her hands. Frank didn't know what to do. He was scared of what was going to happen when he told her. He didn't even want to tell anybody but Mikey had to go and find out! He took a deep breath in, then exhaled it as he asked, "What do you think about me?"

Jade's eyes shot up at him, looking him over as he finished the question. She didn't know what to say. "What...what do you mean by that?" she asked, her voice quiet.

"I mean...do you, you know..." Frank tried to piece the words together without sounding like an idiot. "Like me? Like, like like me," he finally said. Jade looked back down to the floor, hiding the obvious blush on her face. "I, um..." she stuttered. Frank sat down by her and cupped her face softly, bringing her to look at him. As she did, Frank took this as a chance and captured her lips in a soft kiss.

He quickly broke the kiss as soon as he started it, looking for any signs of disgust in her eyes. To his surprise, he found nothing. Jade looked at him, her eyes widening at the recent action by her fellow Killjoy. "So," Frank began to say, "what's your answer?"