The Only Hope for Me Is You

We kept on driving through the empty desert, occasionally spotting a rouge bush or shrub. I was bored in the passenger’s seat, so I was leaning out of the window, doing target practice on each bush as we drove by them. I was getting to be a better shot, I came to find.

“Hey, save your ammo,” Frank tapped my back. “You don’t know what’s coming up in Battery City.” I felt him tug me back in by my belt, and made me smack my head on the window frame with a loud thud.

“Frank, fuck you that hurt!” I said, rubbing my head after sitting down, sticking my tongue out at him. He laughed, and then his face turned serious as we drove up to the gates of Battery City.

“Be ready guys…” Frank said, on edge. He drove the car up to the gates, and I noticed there were no security guards; the gates were already open, revealing the blue-lit tunnel that led into BL/ind.

“Something’s wrong…” I heard Mikey say. I nodded, and Frank shrugged, driving through the open gates and through the tunnel.

“Well, if they don’t want to mess with us right now, I am totally fine with that.” He said. I couldn’t help but agree with him. The less we had to face, the better. I looked at Mikey in the rearview mirror, and he was looking out the window, lost in thought. Probably about Lauren. He was really worried about her, and it showed; I wanted to help him in any way possible.

“You okay Mikey?” I asked, and he turned his head towards me, nodding, stone faced. I couldn’t see his eyes behind his shades, but I did spot a glimmer of a tear roll down his face. Seeing this, I unbuckled my seatbelt and crawled into the back seat to sit next to Mikey, for supportive reasons. I put his shades up on his head, and looked into his watery hazel eyes, seeing the brown spot in his right eye clearer than ever.

“Mikey,” I said, holding his gloved hand. “She’s okay. I promise.” He looked at my hand on his, and sighed.

“I hope so…” he said.

“Look, Mikey, remember when she beat your ass during training day?” I asked, and heard Frank giggle from up front.

“Sorry, but it was funny…” he said, and was silent again. Mikey managed a chuckle.

“Yeah, I remember that,” he said. I smiled.

“Now imagine that, but a million times worse.” I punched the space in front of me. “She’s tough. She’s badass. She can handle herself, all right?” He nodded, smiling so I could actually see his teeth, and noticed the pointy teeth in his mouth for the first time. He was so adorable when he smiled, I wished he would do it more…

“Thanks, Cy, really,” He said, rubbing the back of my head. “You’re amazing.” I blushed.

“Nah, I’m nobody. Mikes, you just have to be strong, and believe, okay?” He nodded and let me go to climb back into the front seat. I saw Frank turn his head towards me, and he leaned in to kiss me, while still driving.

“Frank, what was that for?” I asked as he pulled away.

“Because you are not a nobody. You’re someone special. To me. To all of us. And what you did for Mikey just now…you’re the amazing one.” He leaned in, and kissed me again passionately, and I felt the car swerve to the right.

“FRANK!” Mikey yelled from the backseat, and we split in a flash, and Frank pulled the wheel the other way, straightening out the car.

“THIS is why I wanted to drive.” Mikey said, crossing his arms over his chest. I burst out laughing.

“Oh, god,” I said. “Just imagine if we came back with a wrecked car…Gerard would kill us both!”
“Oh shit,” Frank said, slapping his forehead. “Don’t even get me thinking about that…” I laughed, and punched his shoulder, and looked forward, realizing we were at BL/ind. Frank parked at the end of the bridge, where we were not a day before, and we got out, putting up bandanas and putting on our sunglasses.

“Alright.” Frank said, cocking his gun. “Let’s roll.” I walked in pace with him, Mikey close behind, and we pushed through the glass doors, not facing any defenses whatsoever. I pulled my bandana down, confused.

“Okay, what the hell is going on?” I asked, and Frank shrugged.

“I don’t know but it’s making our job that much easier,” he said, following Mikey down the hall we had walked through yesterday, back to the room with the bomb.

“She said she was looking for those boxes,” Mikey said as he walked. “I’m figuring they would be by that vending machine, since that’s where she found the first one?” I nodded, looking around, realizing we were already there, with no trace of Scarecrow bodies ANYWHERE. It was sparkling clean, with no sign of any bomb having blown up. Even the air duct vent I fell through was gone.

“What the actual fuck?” I asked, looking around. “It’s like we weren’t even here…” I trailed off, watching Mikey punch the vending machine rapidly.

“Mikey, there’s buttons for a reason.” I said.

“What?” He stopped punching the machine to actually look at it. “Oh…”

“Really, Mikey?” Frank joked, slapping him on the back. He walked up to the machine and pressed a button for ammo, but nothing happened.

“Damn it, I forgot the Vend-A-Hack…” He said, punching the machine. I grinned, whipping it out from my vest pocket and tapping Frank on the shoulder.

“I didn’t!” I said, handing it to him. He took it, and grinned, and pecked me on the lips lightly.

“I fucking love you.” He said, hooking up the device to the machine. I looked at Mikey, smiling, and saw he looked reminiscent and sad, and my smile faded. I was distracted by a loud CLUNK, followed by a cheer from Frank.

“WOO HOO!” He said, pumping a fist in the air. “Fuck yeah, I did it.” He took the ammo and handed it to me, smiling.

“Since you used half of yours on harmless shrubs,” he said, grinning. I took it, and was about to put it in my gun, but a piece of paper stopped me. I took it off of the small box, and opened it up.

“Meesa gonna go to…wait, what the fuck is this?” I asked, putting it inches from my face. “Is this GUNGAN?!” I laughed.

“LAUREN!” Mikey cried, taking the paper from my hands. “She knew we’d come after her and she’s leaving us clues, guys!” He smiled, and read the note, translating it.

“I am going to the village beyond Battery City, in the middle of the desert. If you guys see this, FOLLOW. I don’t know what’s out there, and could be in trouble.” He put the note down, smiling.

“She’s okay…” he said, relieved, and I wrapped one arm around his middle.

“What did I tell you?” I asked, poking his thin frame. Frank laughed, and dragged me over to him, but I tripped over his foot, slamming into the vending machine, making it almost fall over.

“DAMN IT!” I cried as I fell on my face. The machine didn’t collapse, but I heard a thud on the other side of it. I lifed my head up, jumping at the black BL/ind smile logo staring right back at me.

“What was that…?” Frank asked, picking me up off of the floor. I dusted myself off, and walked over to the other side. I looked around, and noticed a box had fallen off the machine, labled TOP SECRET, along with his Killjoy logo, a green face with a stitched up mouth, and an X for an eye, the other being a circle.

“Well,” I said, picking it up. “If it’s top secret, why the hell is it in such an easily accessible place?” I looked at the box more closely, seeing that it had more writing on it.

“Frank ‘Fun Ghoul’ Iero…” I read out loud, then snapped my head up, looking at the other two, whose eyes were wide.

“Frank, this is about you. Your whole life. In a box.” I said, and he quickly walked over and took it from me, setting it down and opening it up, pulling out papers of all sorts of colors.

“Birth certificate, candid camera shots, personal information,” he said as he pulled each paper out. Then, he pulled out something that seemed so important to him, he started tearing up. I bend down and hugged him, and he cried into my shoulder.

“Frank…” I said, comforting him. “Shh…it’s okay…” I took the papers from his hands, and he didn’t fight me off. He let me go, and I struggled to take the photo from his hands that he was grasping so tightly to, and put them all back in the box, picking it up. Mikey and I waited for him to calm down, and when he did, he stood up slowly, turning to face us, wiping his nose.

“Alright,” he said, his voice quivering as he spoke. “Let’s go.” He grabbed my free hand tightly, and I didn’t dare to let go. He needed me right now. Mikey was rubbing his back as we walked, and eventually we made our way back into the car. Without a word, he started the car and backed up, driving out into the desert to find this ghost town. I opened the box again, looking at the photo he was holding onto.

It was a family portrait, looking like it was taken just before BL/ind took over. It was him, his father, mother, grandfather, and the rest of his family. I teared up, just looking at this photo.

We had all lost loved ones, and it was because of BL/ind. Now I knew why Frank was doing what he did. To revenge his family and friends.

We drove on into the desert, and eventually came to the ghost town, run down and dirty. He parked right in the middle of the courtyard, and we got out of the car. I walked over to the first building I saw, and noticed so many EXTERMINATE signs on the side of the wooden building. I ripped all of them off, and sifted through them.

Gerard’s face stared back at me. Then Mikey’s, then Ray’s, then Franks, then Lauren’s, then even my own. All with red X's across the paper, with EXTERMINATE across the middle.

“This picture is fucking horrible.” I said, crumpling it up and throwing it far in front of me. Frank wrapped his arm around me, not saying anything, and Mikey started walking ahead.

“We have to look for more clues from Lauren,” he said, and I nodded, wrapping my arms around Frank, supporting him in any way that I could.