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Killjoys 11 Escape, Before...

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About three miles from the gates of the eastern Killjoy camp a group of fifty or so people were sitting around mending their wounds. Party Poison and Tiger Beatdown got off of the bike and gave it to one of the Killjoys waiting for them. He was offered a hug from Cosmic Karma as she got off of her bike.

"It's good to have you alive and well, sir." She backed up after a moment, bowing her head respectfully. Poison couldn't help but smile just a little bit at the gesture.

"It's good to be here." He saw Jet-Star approaching them and jogged over to him quickly. "Jet-Star, shit! You look like hell!" He laughed and grabbed the man's hand in a gesture of friendly greeting. Tiger Beatdown followed along, amazed at the amount of wounded surrounding them.

"We thought for sure you'd been killed in the riots in the second zone."

"You got word of that huh?"

"Yeah, very quickly." Jet-Star looked grim. "You're bleeding. Come on, sit with me and tell me what the hell happened."

"Only if you return the gesture. How did the camp get overrun? What the hell is going on?" Poison walked with him and then stopped. "This is Tiger Beatdown, sorry I didn't mean to leave you out."

"Leader of the western Killjoys, good lord I haven't seen you in years. I thought you'd gone traitor on us." Jet-Star was clearly confused by this new development. He'd thought that the Killjoys had been from the west, like the ones that had attacked him only a few days prior.

"We, apparently, have a lot to catch up on." Tiger smiled though his mind was still in the camp. What had happened to his new friends? He had a feeling Party Poison was agonizing over the same thing so he didn't bring it up but said a silent prayer for Agent Alpaca to take care of Disco Bitch for him. He didn't doubt her ability to take care of herself, he just worried for her for reasons unknown to him. I can't help it. They sat down in the dirt in front of a tent that had been recently erected to house the wounded. Party Poison slipped his torn blue jacket off and set it down. His arm had already started to clot and though it throbbed painfully the pain let him know he was alive so he didn't mind it.

"Why don't you let Neon Rocket take a look at that? He got in just before you did." Jet-Star nodded toward the wound on Poison's arm. Neon Rocket knelt down next to him and started to look at the wound as well as the various others he'd received during battle. He had to have looked frightening with the amount of blood and dirt caked to him. The medic looked worse for wear himself now that he could see him outside of the dirt. It seemed as though he'd been tending to the sick and hadn't had sleep or eaten in a good long while.

"No, go rest Rocket." Poison nodded his head. "I'll worry about it once we've figured this out. There are things more important than flesh wounds."

"He's right." Tiger knew that if Poison really needed medical attention he'd ask for it. Right now getting to the bottom of the chaos in the distance was more important.

"What the fuck happened?" Poison leaned forward on his knees and looked at his weather-worn friend.

"Well, when you left to go to the second zone yesterday… All hell broke loose. It's hard to even describe to you. It happened so fast!" Jet-Star pushed his unruly brown hair out of his face to no avail.

"Well, try to. Even just a good idea of what happened is more than I have right now."

"A Killjoy showed up at the gate… Real tough looking. He was holding the American flag and we greeted him and asked for his dog tag as we always do." Jet-Star looked as though he were struggling to remember the details. "I only joined the fray after Fun Ghoul started screaming. Apparently it was an ambush. Young Killjoys, who I thought were from the West," he looked knowingly toward Tiger Beatdown who didn't interrupt, "stormed the camp and just started tying people up. They had more force than we did. Half our troops were still sleeping, or recovering from that last trip I took into the desert. I'm still wounded too and was in no condition to fight."

"You told me he was attacked by Killjoys from the west, right. Just a few days ago? And that's what confirmed you to send an assassin after me." Tiger nodded his head to Poison, recalling the conversation they'd had overnight.

"Right, at least that's where we thought they were from. It wasn't a mortal wound, but he needed to rest up. Jet-Star's a pretty practiced medic so he was able to save a good amount of the wounded that day." Poison reassured him.

"Yeah, that was nasty but this was way worse. Poison I knew some of these Killjoys… These were Killjoys we'd thought were dead. Killjoys that had disappeared in the desert to never return. Some of them were at least, not all of them. If I could find a list of the ghosted I could tell you just which ones were there. There was a group of much younger men and women and they were all following some high-on-his-pedestal Killjoy."

"Let me guess: green hair, vest, tattoos, real big fucking sense of superiority? He had big fucking arm muscles like the size of my fucking head right?" Poison scoffed remembering the man who he'd stood off with in the camp. "Called himself Phoenix Fury, if I recall."

"Yeah, I take it you met." Jet-Star gave a forced smile. "Gave you some souvenirs of his meeting huh?"

"Yeah, he sure did. I gave him a few too." Poison held up his fist to show his bloodied knuckles.

"Good, I hope you put that pompous ass in his place."

"To tell you the truth, I'm not sure he was such a bad guy." Poison sighed heavily. "I gave him the chance to kill me and he didn't. I think they might be just as confused as we are."

"It's true. He heard what you had to say. Maybe he'll reconsider." Tiger Beatdown agreed.

"What I don't get is who the hell told them I'm a traitor? Who the fuck would spread that shit? Anyone who really knows me knows I would never betray the Killjoys."

"I don't know. I hadn't heard the accusations until we were overrun. I knew they couldn't be true so I led the wounded here the best that I could. We've been friends for years Poison, I'd know if you were a traitor." Jet-Star sighed in relief. "We were unprepared Poison. It was startling how fast we were taken over. It was hard to tell the difference between the enemy and our men."

"They were Killjoys!" Tiger added. "You couldn't be expected to think that they would attack you. We're supposed to be brothers in arms, not enemies. You let them in, I'm sure, anticipating that they were there for shelter for the night, not that they'd attack you."

"It's true. I stayed around long enough to hear the new guy making a speech about how they were taking over and starting a new Killjoy regime. He gave our Killjoys a chance to turn themselves over or be taken as hostages."

"No one did, right?" Poison grimaced, only asking because he hoped he'd hear something to give him some faith in his people. Jet-Star hung his head as he talked, giving Poison his answer before he even opened his mouth.

"It was disheartening to see how quickly they turned on the cause. The truly loyal were so few and the obedient were so many we stood no chance." Poison cursed under his breath. The Killjoys were falling apart and there was nothing he could do.

"The Killjoys weren't from the west." Tiger chimed in, seeing his friend having a hard time finding words that weren't obscene.

"Well then where were they from?" Jet-Star furrowed his brow in thought. "We know these zones better than the Dracs do. Where could they have been hiding?"

"I don't know. But all I can tell you is that it wasn't my men. I was ambushed the day before all of this started by Dracs in the west after receiving a tip that I'd find supplies. I think that there have been plants in the camps for longer than any of us could have imagined."

"So you think they're working right under our noses?" Jet-Star looked as eager to figure this out as the rest of them did. He winced as he leaned forward, his wound being on his stomach. It was still sore but not bleeding.

"I think they were. Partially at least. All the false reports and accusations seem to be coming from within our regime." Tiger put his hands to his temples and rubbed. His head was starting to pound from lack of sleep and stress. "All this time we were pointing fingers at each other…"

"We wasted days blaming the wrong people." Poison spoke in a quiet but angry voice. "We should've been looking more into the people making the accusations rather than into those they were being made against. Are we that predictable? We did exactly what they wanted us to do."

"Don't blame yourself…" Jet-Star began, having a feeling he knew where this was going. Party Poison was notorious for taking the burden of punishment on his shoulders and wearing it heavily.

"What? Are you out of your mind? Don't blame myself? We've become complacent! Content to trust those around us because they talk a big game, because they wear the same masks we wear! We're as bad as the Dracs, following blindly because it's easier than doing the dirty work! I've let us fall into complacency!" It was the only word that seemed to fit.

"Poison calm down…" Tiger went to comfort his friend but Poison got up from his spot and spoke louder.

"No, we're just as much to blame as anyone else! Maybe these new guys are right. Maybe we did turn our backs on our cause. How many of our Killjoys do you actually know Tiger? Jet-Star?" Both men stayed silent. It was likely that together they couldn't list even half of their members.

"That's what I thought."

"Just because they were right about a few things doesn't make us traitors. We still believe in a cause. Just because we were trusting of our members, doesn't make us evil. It makes us willing to believe that there's good in everyone! It makes us have faith! There's nothing wrong with it." Tiger got to his feet and pointed a finger at Poison. "You won't be giving up on this, I won't let you. I don't want to hear any talk of you resigning, or leaving!"

"You think I'm going to just run off like some coward? You have that little faith in me?" Poison scoffed. "Hey, all of you fuckers! Listen the fuck up because I'm only saying this once. We're going to gather forces, we're going to take back that fucking camp and we're going to start this from scratch! No one will be trusted, trust will be earned. Everyone will be presumed an enemy and disloyal until they have proven otherwise! We will stand united, or not at all!" The area around them grew quiet, all staring at Party Poison. "And I'm done pussyfooting around the Dracs. It's fucking time we took some action! We'll get it together, we'll stop this fucking nightmare in Battery City. We won't be hiding in the zones any longer! And that fuck, Fury? He's not leading anyone."

"That's the Party Poison I love." Tiger threw his arm around Poison's shoulder who winced and leaned to one side to keep the pressure off of his wounded arm.

"Are you with me? This is everyone's last chance to back the fuck out and leave!" Poison looked around at people who slowly nodded to agree and eventually started to cheer in their support. Jet-Star got to his feet.

"We're with you Poison. We always have been." Jet-Star and Tiger Beatdown urged Poison to sit back on the ground. "You're right. After watching our Killjoys bend to whoever was the strongest yesterday… things have got to change."

"Damn straight." Poison was exhausted and worried. Fire Frenzy and the others hadn't made it out of the camp. He had a feeling that Jet-Star had men watching the entrances at all sides to look for escapees. He'd seen a few people being led in after him and Tiger Beatdown but none were the three he was hoping for.

"What the hell happened in the second zone?" Jet-Star was curious and wanted to be filled in so he waited until the excitement of the crowd died down. He turned away for a moment and grabbed the wrist of a passing Killjoy. "Would you get something small to eat for Tiger and Poison? I know they're going to object but they look drained."

"Of course." The Killjoy walked out of sight to do as he was told, looking proud to do so.

"I went looking for an arsonist and was attacked by Killjoys, accused of this same bullshit they've been throwing around here in the camp. I ran into Alpaca, was attacked by Korse and saved by the arsonist." Poison shrugged, summarizing it as quickly as he could. There was no need to include why he'd been following the arsonist.

"It's obviously far more complex than that. Disco Bitch saw I wasn't a traitor and tried to organize a meeting with Poison but he never got the message." Tiger Beatdown added onto the story to let him know what had happened in the west. "She'd been sent to kill me after the accusations from Kobra Kid."

"Wait, that reminds me. Where's my brother?" Poison perked up, hoping that Kobra Kid had made it out of the fray.

"Last time I saw Kobra he was complaining of a fever. That was awhile ago though." Jet-Star reported. "He came to me after you left and I took his temperature and confirmed he had one. He went to lie down and I haven't seen him since."

"Shit. He's probably still in the camp."

"The good news is that they weren't executing Killjoys." Jet-Star held up his hands in a reassuring manner, not wanting to see Party Poison start to panic. "They were preaching non-lethal tactics and offering peace for those who stayed behind. If Kobra Kid is still there I'm sure he's alive and well." Party Poison didn't seem relieved at all. He wanted to be able to protect his baby brother.

"We'll get to him. We can't just run back in there with fifty people. Half of you are injured already."

"We can't go without a plan either." Tiger shook his head. He wasn't good at battle strategy so he knew he shouldn't be left in charge of it. "Any strategists make it out of there?"

"Not a single one." Jet-Star nodded to the Killjoy who came with two bowls of stew in thanks. "Eat up, you must be starving. I imagine you haven't taken time to really eat or drink much of anything."

"I'm not going to say no. I'm starving. You're right, we haven't eaten properly in a long time. At least I know I haven't since I heard about Tiger going turncoat." Poison took the bowl and saw Tiger do the same. They hadn't realized how hungry they were until they were devouring the food in front of them. They refused to sleep or take care of any wounds until they had heard from their friends they'd been traveling with.


It had been hard to be stealthy with so many people creeping around the Killjoy camp. Luckily things still seemed to be in a bustle due to the chaos that had happened a few hours earlier. The four had made it halfway to the front of the camp. They could see the gates and the fallen guard tower which hadn't been attended to completely. There was a group of Killjoys assessing the damage and they'd have to walk right past them to be able to escape unharmed.

"There's no way we'll make it past them." Disco whispered.

"Even a distraction wouldn't work here. Too much open space…" Black Cherrybomb put away the smoke grenades he'd been toying with since they had stopped behind this building. "Is there another way out of here? Maybe one that's less guarded and in the middle of the camp where everyone can see us?"

"There are several exits but I'm guessing they're going to be blocked off. This is the only open one and that's because the guard tower collapsed and broke the gate."

"The wall's too high to climb over. Even if we got to the top, jumping off could risk breaking a leg at the bottom. We can't really escape on broken limbs." Agent Alpaca mused. He wasn't going to risk breaking a bone when the only person he thought he could rely on here wasn't in her right mind. He looked around and couldn't see her immediately. "Where did Fire Frenzy go now?"

"What?" Disco looked around just as curious. "There she is!" She whispered and pointed toward a building not too far back. She had obviously stopped before they had.

Frenzy was crouched low, holding her flamethrower close to her and listening to a group of Killjoys speaking in hushed tones around a fire. They were cooking some kind of meat on the end of sticks. She could see the fat dripping into the fire, fueling it and causing it to spark and smoke. She'd only stopped because she had heard them mention Party Poison and she was curious to what they were really thinking of him. She wasn't completely clear on what had been going on but from what she could tell, the things that they had been accusing the man of weren't true.

"I heard he's been putting the new recruits through initiation… Taking advantage of women and men alike." A young female Killjoy shivered in disgust. Fire Frenzy made a face, even though she thought the man was a pig she didn't see him so desperate for attention in a bar if he could get it free from Killjoys in his camp.

"I hear he's an addict too and to some heavy shit."

"I know he used to be, but he kicked that habit." One of the older Killjoys who looked skeptical of the accusations chimed in.

"Not from what I've heard. I hear he's been trading Killjoy secrets for drugs to feed his habit."

"I've seen him with the bottles, it wouldn't surprise me if he really was."

"To think I believed him… I heard he's been letting some of the other leaders in on his sexual deviance to now. Some of the older generals, like Kobra and Jet-Star."

"Oh come on, he wouldn't do that."

"Wouldn't he? You know you've heard the rumors."

"Sure, he's a pervert sometimes but never to the Killjoys."

"Are you defending him?"

"No, I'm just saying we really shouldn't be gossiping. I don't like accusing people of shit without proper proof." Frenzy agreed with that entirely. At least they weren't all insane. Maybe she could reason with them. She stood up and went to interrupt to put them in their place or at least talk some sense into them. She didn't like what Party Poison did but he'd been completely honest with her when they were locked underground hiding from the Scarecrow. She could put them in their place and maybe make enough of a distraction to allow the others to escape. Frenzy was good at getting out of sticky situations, she'd be able to find her way out eventually or burn everyone to the ground in the process.

"What are you doing?" Disco hissed grabbing one of her arms. Frenzy shoved her off and felt Cherrybomb grabbed her other arm.

"Don't do it, they're not worth it." The man assured her. Alpaca stood nearby in case Frenzy tried to bolt. They didn't need to get caught all over again. He wasn't sure they'd keep them alive a second time.

"They're trading lies, someone needs to set them straight." Frenzy looked distressed and angered that they were holding her back. "Plus a few of them don't seem to entirely believe what's going on here." They stopped as they heard the Killjoys in front of them, as if looking for proof of what Frenzy had accused them of.

"I heard that Poison sent an assassin after Tiger Beatdown. How much do you want to bet that they're in this together?"

"Right, next they'd probably be starting some kind of sex trade with the orphans."

"I heard they're thieves, stealing for their own profit while we suffer without food, while orphans die at the hands of the Dracs!"

"They're pigs. Poison propositioned me the other day…" Disco Bitch didn't finish listening as the girl told her tale that was clearly all bogus. They all knew Party Poison had issues but he'd never abuse any of the Killjoys or anyone for that matter. Everything Poison did was completely consensual as far as she knew.

"Go get 'em." She let go of Fire Frenzy's arm and Cherrybomb did too. He didn't believe in what the Killjoys did in general, but he wasn't going to let them be talked about like this. The organization was overall benevolent. Anyone with any sense could see the passion in their leaders. Disco Bitch knew a few of the Killjoys and was disappointed at how quickly they'd turned. Even those who had been disagreeing only moments ago seemed to be changing their opinions.

Fire Frenzy brushed off her arms, holstered her gun, and grabbed a can of gasoline which was close to the fire, she could tell by the smell of the fire that it was what they had used to fuel it. Frenzy removed the gas cap and started spilling the gasoline in her wake as she approached the Killjoys.

"Who the hell are you?" One of the men pointed his gun at her but she didn't seem thrown off by it.

"So you think your leader's turned on you do you? Do any of you have any actual proof?" She spoke loudly and kept walking around the circle of Killjoys who were all reaching for their guns but not shooting. They seemed to want to hear her out. "That's how fast you turn on your brothers? He led you yesterday didn't he and today you trust someone else?"

"Who the fuck are you?" Another Killjoy repeated their demand, getting to his feet. She walked to him and shoved at his shoulder.

"Sit the fuck down. I've seen a lot of complacent assholes making accusations in the last week and I've done enough sitting idly by and listening. If you thought your leader was corrupt why did you follow him to begin with? Hmm?" No one responded to her.

Disco Bitch listened to Frenzy talk for a moment and then started to look around for something. There was a pile of debris behind the building. The cleanup crew must have decided to dump the broken bits of the guard tower there. Disco grabbed an armful of wooden debris, and anything else she thought was flammable. She began to creep around in Fire Frenzy's wake, smelling out where the gasoline was. She laid down bits of the debris in the gasoline, hoping it would catch when Frenzy eventually lit the match that would send the gas up in flames.

"Don't…" Alpaca grabbed her arm as she came back for more. "She's creating a diversion, she's giving us a chance to go. We should leave while they're distracted."

"I'm not leaving her here. Not to those pigs."

"But you would've left me with them?"

"I was only going to let you stew for a minute and learn your lesson…" Disco hissed. "Then I would've come back for you. It was a joke Alpaca." Agent Alpaca let her go as she continued to grab more wooden debris.

"If you didn't like how he was running things you should've gotten off of your lazy asses and told him so. You think he's unreasonable? Overpower him. He's one man, you are ten, at least here sitting around the fire. You're cowardice consumes you doesn't it? You follow whatever or whoever's strongest right? A bunch of loyal worker bees buzzing along in whatever way you can to keep out of the fray. You like to talk a big game but when it comes down to actually making a difference and fighting the fight, you'd rather someone else do the dirty work. Even now, you point your guns at me but you don't pull the trigger. You're all secretly hoping that someone else will do it and shut me up so you don't have to hate the face you'll see in the mirror before bed tonight."

"You have no right…" Another Killjoy began in a wary voice that suggested she spoke the truth.

"You're just as bad as the Dracs… At least they have an excuse. At least we know they're so brainwashed no logic could ever reach them. You're all pathetic." Frenzy dropped the can of gasoline, feeling that it had become empty a few moments prior. She had gasoline on her feet and her hands. When she set the match she'd catch fire like half of the fuckers in front of her. Some of the Killjoys were dropping their weapons but others were cocking them and preparing to aim and fire. "You might as well go back to Battery City… Take the drugs, work each day in a factory for a life dictated by Better Living. You claim to be Killjoys? You're the reason that people don't trust them to begin with. Fucking weak traitors, the whole lot of you."

Black Cherrybomb could see what Disco Bitch was thinking and pulled Alpaca back and whispered to him. "She's helping, get ready to run okay?" Alpaca nodded his head though he was unclear as to what was happening.

"Her legs are covered in the gasoline." Disco returned to Alpaca and Cherrybomb. "You have to be quick. Black Cherrybomb crept up behind Fire Frenzy, watching her give her speech.

Frenzy was backing up. She's smarter than I thought. She knew she'd catch if she stood too close to the gasoline she was lighting.

"I'm going to teach you all a lesson. Maybe after this you'll rethink yourselves. Maybe after this you'll change. I doubt it, but everyone gets one chance before I kill them." The Killjoys rose and fired but Frenzy ducked and flicked her lighter and hit the gasoline trail on the ground, her netted gloves catching on fire at the same time. She clapped her hands together to put out the fire then yelped in surprise as Black Cherrybomb lifted her off of her feet and pulled her away from the fire. He put her down after he got far enough away from the flames to make sure she wouldn't catch. The blaze had instantly spread around the group of Killjoys and to several buildings around the area. Frenzy was staring with wide eyes at the beautiful flames, but not bewitched by them like she was with the fire coming from her lighter. She hadn't thought that so much would catch on fire when she'd set the path of gasoline.

"I added some kindling… You know to give you time to escape too." Disco smirked and squeezed Frenzy's shoulder. "Let's get the fuck out of here!" Frenzy couldn't help but smile at how big the fire was and how her plan had worked out so well. She hadn't anticipated making it out so easily herself, but this was as good as any other way. She much preferred to avoid torture and captivity if she could.

"You guys are fucking crazy." Black Cherrybomb said as they made their way out of the camp. The fire had sufficiently caused enough chaos that nearly every Killjoy in the camp was trying to put it out now, giving them plenty of opportunity to make their way past the few guards that remained at the front gate. They took out the guards and headed out the gate and ran as far as they could until they were sure no one was coming after them.

They heard the sound of motor bikes approaching and soon could see Killjoys approaching from every angle. At first they were nervous to think that they had a guard outside of the perimeter but as they got closer, Disco could recognize a few of them.

"Cosmic Karma!" Disco laughed and waved her arms. "It's good guys, she's not a traitor! I know her better than anyone." The Killjoy on the motorbike stopped in front of them and smirked.

"Good to see more survivors. Come on, Jet-Star has a camp set up not too far from here!"
Chapter Eleven: Escape, Before Hope Is Lost

My titles are corny, but face it, you'll deal with it cause it doesn't matter. XD Anyway, we find out what happened to Jet-Star and the others at the camp while Party Poison was away. Frenzy, Cherrybomb, Alpaca, and Disco make quite the... explosive escape! That's it in a nutshell. (: Enjoy.

Again, borrowing Cosmic Karma from ~Storeh

ALSO check out some awesome art by my awesome possum friend ~ryuuenx
Party Poison and Tiger Beatdown
Disco Bitch and Agent Alpaca
Fire Frenzy and Black Cherrybomb

New Chapter every Monday unless I say otherwise XD!

Next: Chapter Twelve: Taking Back What's Mine
Previous: Chapter Ten: Anarchy, Rebellions, and Lessons Learned
First: Chapter One: Burn Down the Bar
© 2011 - 2024 Khadrimx
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Down-a-Rabbit-Hole's avatar
fucking love this story!
please never stop writing it :D
:clap: