The Only Hope for Me Is You

"JOKER! FUCK!" I said, shooting at the Draculoids as I ran over to my partner. She was on her knees, hands on her head, groaning.

"What's going on, bro?" I asked, wrapping my arms around her,

"I--It's nothing..." She said, her eyes still squeezed closed, still groaning slightly. What had happened? I patted her back.

"No, Joker, you aren't fine..." I said, standing up and turning around, taking off my bandana from my mouth, my hair blowing in the wind. It was silent for some reason...too silent. Seriously, the gunfire had just STOPPED completely, for no reason at all. I was beyond confused...

"Where did they....go...?" I said to myself, looking around. There were no Dracs in sight, just the exterminated ones lying on the ground, motionless. I frowned, then turned around to help Electronic Joker get back up to her feet, grabbing her by the shoulders. She stumbled as she straightened up, and shook her head. I saw myself in her aviators.

"Dude, what's wrong?" I asked. She shook her head. I frowned again.

"Man, if we're in this together, you HAVE to open up to me, okay?" I put my hands on her shoulders, looking at my reflection, trying to see her eyes behind those sunglasses. She sighed.

"Later," she said, shrugging my hands off her shoulders and walking past me. "They don't just disappear like that, Cyanide." Her hand still had her gun in it, ready to fire. I walked over to her, dust flying under my footsteps.

"I know, Joker...I know...." I looked around the perimeter again, still not seeing any Dracs in sight.

"You think Korse brought them back?" Joker asked me, and I shrugged.

"I don't know, man..." I put my bandana back over my mouth, breathing out a sigh of anxiety. Where could they be....? I circled around the area once more, Joker watching me.

"They're gone, man..." she sighed, holstering her gun and putting one hand on her hip. I shook my head.

"Nah, that was too easy--" I started, then I saw it. I had just climbed on top of the side barrier of the highway when a laser beam damn near missed my head. I ducked, jumped down, and took my gun out of my holtster, firing in the general direction that beam came from.

"THEY BROUGHT SCARECROWS! RUN!" I yelled grabbing Joker's arm, and we started gunning it, running back the way we came, panting, leaving dust clouds behind us. As we ran, laser beams flew past our heads, connecting with the ground in front of us, creating mini dust clouds as they hit.

"We have to get Party Poison and the others!" Joker yelled as we ran, and I nodded. I remembered I had a small portable radio in my pocket, and I fumbled around my back pocket, finally whipping it out, trying to find a signal.

"POISON! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, THEY SENT IN SCARECROWS! AMBUSH! WE NEED BACKUP!" I pocketed the radio again, and grabbed Joker's arm, clearing a side barrier. We slammed onto the ground, and leaned against the concrete wall in the shadows, panting.

"Fuck," I breathed. "I hope they got that..." Joker nodded.

"What do we do?"

"We wait...there's no way we can take down all of them alone..." She nodded, and we sat there, guns at the ready, hidden from the Scarecrows that were chasing us. We heard their footsteps run by us after a few minutes, and we were silent, waiting for them to pass.
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Gerard was sitting next to his brother on the couch in Dr. D's hideout when the radio started blinking. Frank saw this, and immediately made his way over, and picked it up. It was Cyanide's voice, broken up by the poor reception.

"POISON---HEAR--THEY---SCAR---OWS----AMBUSH---NE---BACKUP!" He looked at the others.

"Oh, shit." He threw the radio down. "Cyanide and Joker are in trouble." Gerard nodded, and they all immediately stood up, cocking their guns. Gerard put on his mask, and his red bandana over his mouth. Frank put his bandana over his face, already wearing his aviators. Mikey threw his glasses on, and Ray adjusted his gloves.

"Let's go..." Gerard said, signaling to the car. They all ran out of the shack and got into the car, Gerard at the wheel. He started the car, and they were off, gunning it into the desert, off to do yet another rescue mission for fellow killjoys.
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"Where the hell are they?" I asked out loud, frustrated. They hadn't gotten my message. They weren't coming. We were dead; going to be ghosted, dusted, like so many before us.

"They'll be here..." Joker reassured me, touching my elbow. I smiled at her.

"I hope so..." I stood up, peeking over the barrier, trying my hardest not to be seen. The Scarecrows were patrolling the area surrounding us, so there really was no chance of escape. I sat back down.

"They know we're here..." I said.

"Damn it," Joker said, throwing a rock in front of her. I watched it sail, and unfortunately it bounced and hit a metal pole across from us. I cringed.

"SHIT!" I said, standing up. "We gotta move. No doubt they heard that." She nodded, standing up as well, and we creeped against the wall, staying in the shadows. I looked up every once in a while, in case they peeked over the edge and tried spotting us. Then I heard it. A faint, low sound of a motor, coming closer and closer. I grinned, and turned Joker around.

"THEY HEARD IT!" I said, doing a little dance. She smiled at me.

"What exactly is that...?" She crossed her arms over her chest, eying me, but laughing.

"It's my happy dance, okay? Just come on, let's go..." She laughed, and followed me up the hill, back to narrow ground, a couple hundred feet down the road from where the Scarecrows were positioned. I looked around, and saw it, far in the distance. There was a dust cloud, coming closer to our direction, and when I squinted, I could see a hint of the car's hood, with the spider on top of it. I smirked, turning to Joker, who was also grinning.

"It's them," I said, pumping my fist. As they came closer, I walked into the middle of the road, waving my arms around. Eventually, they came close enough for me to see Gerard at the wheel, Frank in the passenger's seat, and Mikey and Ray in the back. Gerard came zooming towards us, the engine roaring, and pulled up to us, and rolled down the window.

"You called?" he said, smirking. Frank waved from the passenger's seat. I smiled and waved back, realized Joker had walked over behind me.

"Thank GOD you guys are here..." I said, looking behind us. "There were so many Dracs...I don't know how we made it out alive." Gerard nodded.

"And then they just....disappeared..." Joker added. "And then Scarecrows started sniping us." I nodded.

"Well, let's take them out." Gerard said, shutting the car off. Me and Joker moved away so he could open the door, and the four of them got out, putting their bandanas over their faces.

"Where are they?" Ray asked, and I pointed down the road.

"A couple hundred feet down..." I said. "We jumped over the bridge, and they think we're still down there." Mikey scoffed.

"For being the 'elite' of BL/IND...they're pretty stupid..." Frank laughed.

"You have never been so correct, my friend," he patted Mikey on the shoulder, and walked up to me.

"You guys all right?" he asked us, and we both nodded. Joker seemed hesitant to say anything, and I knew she was going to talk when she was ready.

"Yeah, we're fine now," I replied. "Let's just take care of them, all right?" I saw Gerard smile, and he patted me on the back.

"That's the spirit!" he said, getting back in the car and starting it. "Ray, you flank left, take them out from behind. Mikey, you go with Cyanide and Joker to the right. Me and Frank will take the middle. Ready team?" Everyone nodded, and Frank ran around the car to get back in the passenger's seat, cocking his gun.

"LET'S RIDE!" He yelled, and Gerard lead-footed the gas and they were off, zooming down the road leaving dust clouds in their wake. Ray nodded at us, and began running to the right to take them out from behind. Mikey patted us on the shoulders.

"You guys ready for this?" he asked, smiling slightly. I cocked my gun and nodded my head, grinning at him.

"Oh, yes!" I replied. The three of us began running to the left of the road, guns at our sides, ready for whatever was going to happen next.

Mikey was taller than both of us, and therefore faster, but he still kept stride with us, to keep us safe.

"Okay, on my word...we split up." he said, looking at us as we ran.

"Wait...what?" Joker exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean we still go as a team, guys...I just go farther ahead than you. Got it?" he said. I saluted as we ran, and when we finally got back to the Scarecrows, I was amazed at what I saw before me. The car was parked dead center of the bridge, and Gerard and Frank were firing at the never ending hoard of scarecrows, back to back.

"TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!" Gerard yelled, firing again, shooting another Scarecrow in the chest.

"WILL THIS EVER STOP?!" Frank yelled, taking down yet another one.

"POISON, LOOK OUT!" I yelled, seeing a Scarecrow creeping up on Gerard. He turned around, just in time to see Ray fire at it from behind, and it fell at Gerard's feet, squirming. Gerard looked at Ray and smirked, and Ray nodded.

"Thanks buddy, really..." Gerard said.

"Save the thanks for later, we have more important matters right now..." Mikey said, firing at another Scarecrow.

"Jesus, Kobra, grumpy much?" his brother joked, and Mikey didn't respond.

"NOW!" he yelled, jumping over the bridge.

"Fuck, what is he doing?" Gerard yelled, firing away. I kept shooting down Scarecrows as well. I managed to shoot one that was right behind Frank, through the space between his body and his arm. Joker stood back to back with me, and together, we all managed to shoot down almost every Scarecrow in sight. Finally, silence. Gerard blew the smoke off of the tip of his gun, and holstered it, smiling. Frank was grinning, and so was Ray.

"Another victory..." Gerard said, taking his mask off. "But where the fuck did Kobra go?" We all looked around; Mikey was no where in sight.

"Damn it, he had better not have gotten himself ghosted..." He said, putting his hands on his hips, staring at the dirt at his feet. Frank patted his back.

"Be prepared for anything, Poison..." he said, and it looked like Gerard was in pain. Not physical pain...more like he couldn't take loosing his brother. I frowned, and walked over to hug him.

"Poison...everything will be okay..." I told him, and he wrapped his arm around my back, rubbing it lightly. I smiled, letting him go. Joker and Ray were scoping the area, for any trace of Mikey. Then, Joker pointed down the road.

"Uh...guys...he isn't ghosted...look." We all looked down the road, and I widened my eyes at what I saw. There was Mikey, running our direction, at lightning speeds. But it wasn't that that surprised me...it was the massive army of Draculoids chasing him that caught my eye. Gerard put his mask back on, and we all got our guns at the ready, prepared for the massacre that was about to ensue.

Mikey kept running, eventually coming back to us, panting.

"Shit, I'm sorry, guys..." he breathed. "I wanted to see how many were left, and was caught on one of their spy cameras in the desert..." Gerard hugged him.

"At least you aren't dead, bro," he said, and let him go. I looked at Frank and the others. Then at Joker.

"You ready?" I asked her. She nodded.

"More than ever." she replied. And the six of us stood in a group, ready to take on our enemy.