‹ Prequel: Blind Photographs
Status: Updates every other day
Destination Detonation
Fenced in, Fenced out
“Hey, D, isn’t this Boom Box’s boom box?” I’d found it in the kitchen of the diner, laying flat on the counter.
“Yeah, poor kid probably misses the music.” At least she was safe, though. We’d be blasting Mad Gear and the Missile Kid all the way home.
“It’s got a walkie-talkie?” I asked, noting the phone-shaped box on the side.
“One way only, and it interrupts all the transmissions to this radio.”
“Do you think I could hold onto it when we finally go in? I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
“Nothing will, you got surprise on your side, but sure. We usually follow them up there with the van anyway. Just give a holler into that thing and Show Pony’ll find you.”
“Thanks. It’s just… I’ve seen the crows. No names, no faces, they’re just androids made of flesh instead of metal. They will kill us if we’re not careful.”
This was my family now and I know they used to say that it’s better to have loved and lost then to never have loved at all, but I think that’s crap. I went a long time without loving something I knew existed for sure. I was completely fine. Grace had kept me going even when I thought for sure she was dead. But this was stronger than just family love. This was admiration and respect, and I owed everything to them. And if I lost everyone that day?
I would most likely walk in front of a S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W and drop my gun at his feet.
I know that you’re supposed to carry on when you lose people. I get it. There’s more to life than them. But at the same time there really isn’t. I wouldn’t be able to survive on my own, and after all of it, I wouldn’t be able to join a new team. I’d enjoyed the company of the meds, and the primaries, the ghosts and Gotham, but it was different now. So different.
“Here, Photo.” I figured it was the practice gun until I looked down. Shiny and purple, someone had scrawled Blind Photographs across the barrel. A pair of jingle bells dangled from the trigger.
“We’re going to be leaving soon and just- whatever happens, we love you. All of us, you and Boom Box are like our kids,” Jet Star explained, not looking me in the eye. I hugged him, then.
“Thanks, Jet. Actually, listen for a minute. All of you please.” The others stopped packing and came by me. “We’re going to get Boom Box back. But if not all of us make it, don’t look at me like that you know it might happen, my name is Faith Clark. That’s what it will say on my tombstone. The city keeps a graveyard for tradition’s sake and there’s this whole huge patch for killjoys. I didn’t realize it when I was brainwashed, but it was off to the side and not really taken care of. I’ve seen all sorts of people come by, spraying things onto the graves. Just go at night and no one will bother you.”
“Ray Toro,” Jet Star said. “That was my name before all of this.”
“Frank Iero,” Fun Ghoul added.
“Mikey Way,” The Kobra kid said, slinging a backpack onto his shoulders.
“Gerard Way,” Party Poison finished.
“You’re brothers?” I asked, incredulous.
“Yeah. It’s why I was so confused when I learned Grace was your sister. I mean, kids say stuff like that all the time, but it’s rare to see blood family out here,” He explained. “Usually they’re split by the city fence.”
“Yeah, poor kid probably misses the music.” At least she was safe, though. We’d be blasting Mad Gear and the Missile Kid all the way home.
“It’s got a walkie-talkie?” I asked, noting the phone-shaped box on the side.
“One way only, and it interrupts all the transmissions to this radio.”
“Do you think I could hold onto it when we finally go in? I don’t want anything to go wrong.”
“Nothing will, you got surprise on your side, but sure. We usually follow them up there with the van anyway. Just give a holler into that thing and Show Pony’ll find you.”
“Thanks. It’s just… I’ve seen the crows. No names, no faces, they’re just androids made of flesh instead of metal. They will kill us if we’re not careful.”
This was my family now and I know they used to say that it’s better to have loved and lost then to never have loved at all, but I think that’s crap. I went a long time without loving something I knew existed for sure. I was completely fine. Grace had kept me going even when I thought for sure she was dead. But this was stronger than just family love. This was admiration and respect, and I owed everything to them. And if I lost everyone that day?
I would most likely walk in front of a S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W and drop my gun at his feet.
I know that you’re supposed to carry on when you lose people. I get it. There’s more to life than them. But at the same time there really isn’t. I wouldn’t be able to survive on my own, and after all of it, I wouldn’t be able to join a new team. I’d enjoyed the company of the meds, and the primaries, the ghosts and Gotham, but it was different now. So different.
“Here, Photo.” I figured it was the practice gun until I looked down. Shiny and purple, someone had scrawled Blind Photographs across the barrel. A pair of jingle bells dangled from the trigger.
“We’re going to be leaving soon and just- whatever happens, we love you. All of us, you and Boom Box are like our kids,” Jet Star explained, not looking me in the eye. I hugged him, then.
“Thanks, Jet. Actually, listen for a minute. All of you please.” The others stopped packing and came by me. “We’re going to get Boom Box back. But if not all of us make it, don’t look at me like that you know it might happen, my name is Faith Clark. That’s what it will say on my tombstone. The city keeps a graveyard for tradition’s sake and there’s this whole huge patch for killjoys. I didn’t realize it when I was brainwashed, but it was off to the side and not really taken care of. I’ve seen all sorts of people come by, spraying things onto the graves. Just go at night and no one will bother you.”
“Ray Toro,” Jet Star said. “That was my name before all of this.”
“Frank Iero,” Fun Ghoul added.
“Mikey Way,” The Kobra kid said, slinging a backpack onto his shoulders.
“Gerard Way,” Party Poison finished.
“You’re brothers?” I asked, incredulous.
“Yeah. It’s why I was so confused when I learned Grace was your sister. I mean, kids say stuff like that all the time, but it’s rare to see blood family out here,” He explained. “Usually they’re split by the city fence.”