The fabulous Killjoys: After SING

Vengeance paced back and forth inside his new room, which was mostly a photography darkroom, mixed with a closet and a thrown-in bed just because someone felt bored. However, the large amount of clothes defiantly meant that he wasn’t forced to wear anything of a certain style. There was a small bathroom next to his room, consisting of things that most people would normally find in a bathroom, including a dark oak medicine cabinet hanging over the pure-white sink. When Dez told him that he was staying in this room, he grabbed clothes at random, got a quick shower, and stared in the mirror for what felt like an hour, trying to take in his new face. Though no matter how hard he looked and studied, he could not get use to the pale red eyes, the scar, dark crimson hair, and the pale skin, which only made the eyes and scar stand out more. Finally getting tired of staring in the mirror, he retreated into his sulfur-scented room, where he started pacing, playing back the day’s events in his head.
“What’s going on?” he asked himself as he stopped pacing to run his hand over his face, continuing his hand’s movement so that they started to thread through his hair, which even felt different than it did before. After a minute, there was a knock on the door.
“Hey, you in there?” a voice asked, their question floating through the door. Vengeance quickly recognized the voice as he pulled his hand out of his hair.
“Yeah, come on in, Deryn.” He said, plopping on the bed as Deryn opened the door and hastily walked in, her silver hair reflecting the black lights. Trying not to be too loud, she closed the door behind her, walking into the room a little, still keeping a comfortable distance between the two of them.
“How are you feeling?” Deryn asked, her gaze aimed towards the floor with her hands behind her back.
“I’m fine,” Vengeance answered, waving his hand as if carefree, but quickly looking straight at Deryn, his gaze starting to show concern. “But what about you?”
“What about me?” she replied, lifting her head up to return Vengeance’s gaze.
“You know what I mean.” he said, getting up off the bed as he spoke. “When I practically suffocated you down there.”
“Oh, that.” She stated, almost sounding slightly ashamed of what had happened. “I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, once I got some air in me, I felt like I could take down BL/I.”
“Well, if you’re sure…”
“Wait, are you worried ‘bout me?”
“No, of course not.” Vengeance said hastily, turning his back on Deryn as he tried to hide the light pink starting to spread across his face. “I was just trying to make small talk, and that was the only thing I knew about you.”
“Sure, then do me this one thing.” Deryn said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Say that straight to my face, then I’ll believe you.”
Shit. Luckily, at that moment, an alarm started blaring through the halls, a light in the middle of the room starting to flash red. Vengeance quickly spun around to see what was happening. Deryn was just staring at the red light, a wide smile growing on her face.
“What’s going on?” Vengeance asked, having to yell over the alarm to be heard.
“Pandora got us the new recruits,” Deryn yelled, bouncing on the balls of her feet, quickly turning and running out of the room, Vengeance quickly following her.
“Wait, Pandora left?” he asked, now jogging besides Deryn as she ran down the dark hall, back to what was the living room.
“You mean you didn’t notice? Oh wait, I keep forgetting you’re new here. Don’t worry; you’ll see the difference between when she’s here compared to when she’s not.” By now, the two of them had reached the entry of the living room and had rushed in. The large room looked even more cluttered than the first time Vengeance had been in there with Pandora, thanks to the small cluster of people that were gathered, talking, acting alive and excited. Deryn and Vengeance stood on the edge of the cluster, but they could hear certain things float out of the horde.
“I heard three pings…” Dez said excitedly to Jay.
“I just hope they’re guys, the male population here is greatly outnumbered.” Alix said to some other girl with short copper-brown hair.
“Yeah, I agree with you on that one.” The girl replied, shoving her hands into her pockets. “Even I don’t need to be around this many girls.”
“Hey, when’s Pandora gonna make it in here?” a girl with white blond and electric blue hair asked Deryn as the girl walked into the small mass.
“Don’t know,” Deryn answered. “Soon though. If they’re mentioning the pings, then they gotta be in the building’s range.”
“Guys!” the copper-haired girl yelled, instantly making the mumbles become ghosts. “Get into position. We can talk like a gossip circle after we’re sure it’s them.” Quickly, everyone pulled out his or her guns, aiming at the door, leaving Vengeance standing where he was, defenseless and slightly confused.
Wait, if it’s Pandora, then why are they planning to shoot her out? Is this a revolt? Before he had more time to figure out what was going on, the front door burst open, Pandora striding in, holding her head up as if she owned the world. Three people followed her, wearing dirty BL/I masks and everyday clothes taken from a local near Battery City.
“Hold your fire my siblings,” Pandora said, putting her hands up in defeat. “You know how I hate unnecessary bloodshed in this room.”
“And why is that?” the blond and blue haired girl asked, keeping her neon pink gun aimed straight at Pandora’s chest.
“Because we would get blood on the canvases, and I’m not doing splatter paint on all of them.” Pandora said simply, putting her hands down.
“Yep, that’s Pandora for you.” Deryn said, slightly amused as she lowered her purple gun, the others slowly following her lead. “Now, who are those three?”
“These are our new recruits, the Boss wanted me to brain-wash them, but I got them out of there before I had to.”
“Can we take off these moronic masks now?” One of the three said, adjusting the mask as if he was trying to get more air. “I feel like wearing these ruins what we stood for.” Vengeance knew that voice and spoke up before Pandora could answer.
“Wait, Kobra?” he asked, taking a step towards the three people. The one who asked quickly jolted his head around to where Vengeance was now standing. The pair of light brown eyes squinted at him, as if trying to remember where he’d seen this person before. The man tilted his head, still trying to remember. “Is that you, Kobra Kid?”
“Do I know you?” the man asked, making his head stand right on top of his body. Pandora sighed as she shook her head in defeat before she spoke, this time cutting off Vengeance.
“Kobra, please tell me exactly what I told you all outside in regards to Party Poison,” she said, her eyes closed.
“Um, you said ‘Now, he won’t look like he use to, but if you hear him, then follow the voice and you’ll find him.’”
“Now listen to what you just said.” Pandora replied, her tone slightly irritated. Kobra thought for a minute before everyone heard him gasp, his eyes now wide and staring at Vengeance.
“Are you Kobra Kid?” Vengeance asked again, his temper starting to get a bit low. Kobra stood there for a moment, as if he had been frozen in time. One of the other two, who was defiantly the shortest in the trio, smacked the guy in the back in the head, making Kobra flinch as he attempted to backhand the short guy. Quickly, the short guy ducked and hit Kobra in the groin, making him lurch forward in pain. The short guy quickly pulled off Kobra’s mask to have a head of blond hair come tumbling down, Kobra’s face showing excruciating pain.
“Ghoul, you asshole.” Kobra said through clenched teeth. The short guy pulled his mask off, showing his black hair falling down to the bottom of his neck, where the ends curled off. There was a smirk practically plastered on his face.
“And this is why you should try to use your brain, before the rest of it dies out on you.” Ghoul said, patting Kobra’s back as he started walking right up to Vengeance. Staring intently into Vengeance’s pale eyes, he continued his conversation with Kobra. “And this is also why you should memorize your brother’s voice better, so you can actually use that brain.”
“Fuck off,” Kobra groaned.
“So, what’s your name now, Poison?” Fun Ghoul asked, keeping constant eye contact with Vengeance as he spoke, the smirk gone.
“Vengeance.” He replied, breaking contact to look down. Fun Ghoul shifted his weight between feet as he waited for someone else to break the silence. Luckily, Kobra had recuperated and charged into Ghoul, not slowing down until he rammed Ghoul into the far wall. Recovering quickly, he turned to face Kobra and swung his arm, hitting square in the face.
“Stop!” Pandora boomed, her tone hard and icy, matching her cold stare as she glared at the two fighters. Instantly both of the men stopped fighting, Kobra in mid-swing as he was going to pound Ghoul’s face in. After a minute, both men dropped their arms down to their sides, Kobra walking away. “We have no time to fight amongst ourselves, so quit it you dumb fucks!”
“Sorry.” Ghoul said, looking down at his feet. The room was quiet, everyone but Ghoul staring at Pandora, some mouths agape. Even Vengeance had looked up when he heard her yell, and had instantly felt afraid. The only time that he felt like this was before he died, when the BL/I boss’s gun was shoved right under his chin.
“Pandora?” the copper-haired girl asked, her voice barely a whisper, eyes wide in shock. Deryn didn’t say anything, she just put her gun back in its holster and walked straight up to Pandora. She whispered something to Pandora, but no one knew what Deryn had said. All they knew was that Pandora had agreed, which was seen by Pandora nodding her head, and Deryn guided her out of room. The room was still quiet because of the look on Pandora’s face. It was a face that showed defeat, guilt, and looked like the world had ended.
“Dez,” Deryn said, her voice loud and steady, making Dez look up. “Help the new guys with their identity. When Pandora gets to be more like herself, then she’ll change their looks.”
“Understood.” Dez said, nodding her head. Deryn walked by Vengeance, but quickly stopped, not turning her head as she spoke to him.
“Vengeance, help Dez. I feel that if someone that they know is explaining the details, they’ll understand better.”
“Sure thing.” Vengeance replied, staring at the two girls’ heads. By now, Pandora had started to double over, hugging herself.
“Come on,” Deryn mumbled, only Vengeance hearing what she said. “Let’s get you outta here.”
“I’m sorry.” Pandora said, her voice sounding broken and lifeless. Deryn just led Pandora out of the room. The room was still for a moment before the copper-haired girl cleared her throat, making everyone’s attention focus on her.
“All right everyone, resume what you were doing before the alarm, except for Deryn. Vengeance, you can go back to your room, I’ll handle the assisting.”
“No,” Dez said sternly, her eyes now a steel gray color. “If Pandora’s not able to control, then Deryn is second in command, and just because your third in command, it doesn’t mean that you can go and change Deryn’s orders. Is that clear, C.C.?”
“Fine.” C.C. huffed after glaring at Dez for a moment, turning and storming silently out of the room. Everyone but the few that were suppose to stay left, Dez walking up next to Vengeance and slapping his back, trying to make it a friendly gesture.
“Don’t worry about C.C.,” Dez said happily. “She only acts like that when she doesn’t get to be in control. So you may see her like that that often.”
“And Pandora?” Ghoul asked, walking up next to Vengeance, staring at the door. “Is she always like that?”
“That’s the weird thing,” Dez said, looking at Ghoul, who had turned his gaze away from the door. “She’s never yelled like that before. I can honestly say that I don’t know what got on her bad side.”
“She looked a little pissed when you four got in here,” Vengeance said, aiming what he said to Fun Ghoul and Kobra Kid. “Did anything happen on the way here?”
“Not that I know,” Ghoul said. “Anyways, shouldn’t we get this identity thing done?”
“Right,” Dez said excitedly, taking a step towards the cluttered worktable. “If you would all come with us, then we can get this all sorted out.”