The Sound Of My Vendetta (A Killjoy Stori/Fanfiction)

Killjoys

Stepping away from the mirror and past my parents' bodies, I walked out of the room and into the hallway where Gordon and Lucy waited. I still clutched tight to the mask I'd found with my mother. Lucy smiled a little.
"Who do I speak with," I began, trying not to let my voice crack, "about becoming a Killjoy?" Gray-eyed Gordon sighed and motioned for me to follow. I was taken to a room in which a man was sitting up in a hospital bed with an IV stuck into his arm. I shivered. I hate needles.
"Is this their daughter?" he asked the Sympathizers. I recognized his smooth voice from the radio. Lucy stepped forward to introduce me, but I beat her to it.
"My name is Nellie Arké. I am the daughter of Kayla and Joseph Arké. I don't know how formal I'm supposed to be, but I want to be a Killjoy." The room fell silent once I finished. All eyes were on me. Finally, Dr. Death Defying spoke.
"Why? Vengence? Killjoys are not about vengeance."
"I want to keep BL/Ind from hurting any more people and their families!" I protested.
"And kill Korse. I can see it in your eyes."
I didn't know what to say to that. It was true, but what I said was true as well.
"However, I have no doubt that you are the one to do it. To kill Korse, or at least out smart him," Dr Death said, "Still, I'm not the one you need to speak to." He smiled sympathetically.
"Then who?" I asked. He nodded to someone behind me. I looked back and then returned my attention to him.
"I'm going to speak on your behalf to the Killjoys in the zones," he told me as someone brought him some sort of radio device, "It's up to their leader." I nodded and sat in a nearby chair. As he punched the transmission through, he covered the speaking piece and looked over at me. "He's going to want a name," Dr. D said, "Come up with something really quick."
"Like what?" I frown.
He shrugged. "Something individual. That's the whole point."
I stepped outside and sat on the ground outside my parents' room for a while. I played with the string on the mask as I thought. So much love had been shown to me when Owen was dusted. Now the Sympathizers were showing me love just like a family. Like it was toxic. Then I had it.
I put on the mask, got up, and returned to Dr. Death Defying.
"She wants to be a Killjoy," he was saying into the radio. He looked at me in my mask and chuckled as he awaited a response. I held back a frown. I was serious. This was serious. I stepped over to his bedside and pulled up a chair for me to sit in.
"I've chosen my name. Toxic Love," I told him. He smiled a little and nodded.
"Cool." I shifted in my chair, meeting his gaze. "It would be best if you only be known by the name Toxic Love. I can't tell you what to do, because I'm just a radio host who likes to help out the few Killjoys I got, but it would be wise if you don't tell anyone your given name. It's just safest," he advised, "Alright?"
I nodded, raising my right hand. "I swear that from now on I shall be known as Toxic Love. I will tell no one on the outside what my birth name is."
Dr. Death Defying laughed, "All you had to say was 'yes'." I shrugged with a small smile.
"Name? Has she got one?" the voice crackled through the radio.
"Toxic Love," he answered, "She in?" He paused to wait for a response. Laughter sounded from the other end.
"Is she a hippie?" one voice asked.
Another scolded, "Shut up! Transmission's on the line! Yeah, she's good. Send her out. Remind her I don't do this often, she better feel special. Best behavior." The transmission ended there.
Dr. D put the radio on the table next to him and looked at me. "You heard him, feel special," he laughed. He sat back and continued on. "Okay, the number one rule they're going to tell you is always travel with another killjoy. Always, no matter how pointless it may seem. You're gonna have leave your home and your former life behind you. Fear nothing, because nothing is going to fear you. Be prepared to kill."
I swallowed and nodded. I wanted this. I had to accept the responsibilities I'd asked for.
"You will be escorted back to your home to pack up any belongings you wish to take with you. Travel light. You're going to be at a place in the desert. That's all they got. Your fellow Killjoys will explain everything from there," he informed me. I nodded and thanked him again as I walked out the door with Lucy and Gordon.
I drove home, the Sympathizers following behind me. I parked my car in the drive way next to my parents' car and went into the house. I had been told I would recieve clothes when I got to where I was going, so there wasn't really need to pack any of those except maybe underwear. I packed a picture of my parents, a picture of my brother, a few writing journals, (including the one I'm writing in at this moment) and my raygun. All my other memories would have to stay.
I walked out of the house and into the backyard to put the key in its hiding place. I came back around the front of the house and got in the car with the other two. I was on my way to a new start and a new home.
We arrived at the diner at about 5:25 AM in the middle of the desert. I had never seen anything like it. The lights inside the diner were out. Above the door, I'd imagine the awning once housed the word 'DINER' but the N and the R were gone, spelling, instead, the word 'DIE'.
Gordon opened the door, feeling the lock first to see if it was unlocked. He growled when it wasnt. "Look alive sunshine!" he called into the establishment. Peering through the door, I noticed that it looked like any regular old-fashioned diner. Behind the counter, however, there was a hallway. On that hall was the door to the kitchen and the restrooms. Beyond that was another hall that ran parallel to the dining room area. On that hall, I later found out, were the bedrooms in which the killjoys slept.
Shuffling could be heard from those back rooms as four men came running out of their rooms and down the hall. None of them looked much older than me.
"Party Poison, why was the door unlocked?" Gordon demanded, "You're going to get yourselves killed."
"We don't usually lock the doors when we're here," one of the men answered. He, Party Poison, was a good four inches taller than me, and he didn't look that much older either. His answer rang with a smart-ass tone.
"Were you asleep?" Lucy asked coolly.
"No."
"Why were the lights out?" she inquired.
"We don't want every exterminator in the zone knowing we're out here, do we? The sun is going down! We're not stupid!" another one protested. Party Poison turned back and put a hand on the guy's shoulder.
"Its alright, Kobra Kid. Don't worry about it," he comforted. He turned back to the three of us calmly. "As my dear brother said." He turned his attention to me, appearing to be interested. "Is this her?"
Gordon handed me my backpack, wished me luck, and went back to the car while Lucy introduced me. "This is Toxic Love."
"I spoke with Dr. Death," he told her, looking at me, "Well, Toxic Love, welcome to the diner," Party Poison announced with a smirk and a grand bow. He straightened and pointed to each man in turn. "That's Kobra Kid, Jet Star, and Fun Ghoul. I'm Party Poison, leader of the Killjoys." We shook hands.
"I'm entrusting her into your care, Party Poison. That means all of you," Lucy declared.
"Alright, Lucy! She'd in good hands!" Jet Star assured her, pulling me towards the four of them and shaking my hand. I smiled at his firm grip and nodded at Lucy. She mouthed 'good luck' and waved to the boys as she walked out the door.
"So, Toxic Love, you need a room," said Party Poison, "Let's see what we got behind the counter." Everyone followed him behind the counter and down the hallway. "Guys, you can go back to your rooms if you want," he told the other Killjoys. Kobra Kid and Jet Star turned left at the junction. I followed Party Poison to the right and Fun Ghoul followed behind us.
"That's Party's room," Fun Ghoul stated, pointing at a door as we passed, "Mine's on the other end with Kobra's and Jet's." I recognized his voice as the one who had asked if I was a hippie, but decided that I liked Fun Ghoul. He seemed nice.
Party Poison stopped with a welcoming smile on his face. "And this is yours. It's nothing special, but it's somewhere to sleep. And you can fix it up how you want." He opened the door. The room was average size with a bed and a desk. The desk was nothing more than a table with a billboard behind it. There was a small closet with a vest, a shirt, and a pair of jeans.
"Sorry it's so plain," Fun apologized, "Everyone else's is pretty much the same, though."
"Its perfect," I sighed as I walked in. And It really was.
The boys grinned at each other. "Good, I'm glad you like it," Party said.
I smiled at them. "You don't have to stay," I assured them, not feeling out of place. Fun nodded, bidding me goodnight, and ran down the hallway. Party stayed for a moment. He smirked and then strolled down the hall and back into the main room. I watched as he disappeared around the corner.
I put my notebooks and raygun down on the desk. I took some thumb tacks and pinned the photos I'd brought with me to the billboard. I let my eyes fall to the raygun. I'd had it for two years and then some. I arranged some pegs on the wall with my photos. All that time, and I'd never fired it. I didn't want to waste it. I wanted to keep the raygun forever, like a memento. But that's not what it was for. It was for shooting. And one day I knew I'd use it for just that.
I walked over to the closet and changed out of my gray sweat pants and into the extremely faded gray jeans on the hanger. The next thing I put on was the white camisole. I wasn't comfortable yet wearing just that, so I put my tee-shirt on over it. I looked up again. There was a red vest there with two black stripes printed across it diagonally. I put that on and glanced down at the line of boots along the back wall that I hadn't noticed before. There was every size in mens and womens that you could possible have. The mens in my size was gone. I picked up the womans and slid them on. They went comfortably over my jeans.
I positioned my mom's mask on my face. I stepped outside my room, feeling ridiculous. Slowly, I walked back out to the main room. When he heard me approach, Party looked over at me and laughed.
"I see you found the clothes.." he chuckled, "You don't have to wear all that all the time. That's the zones-wear.." He smirked, giving me the once-over. I looked down at myself. He was a laughing to himself when I looked back up at him.
His hair was red. As in red red. I smiled at his rebellion. He wasn't much taller than me either, so I could almost look him in the eye. That was good. I found myself blushing, though I didn't know why. Thank goodness the sun was down. It was dark, so no one could see my slightly rosy cheeks.
"Did you even look in the mirror before you came out here?" he laughed.
"Mirror?" I inquired, "What mirror?"
Party scoffed and got up from where he'd been perched on the table of one of the booths. He grabbed my wrist as he past, pulling me back to my room. Once we were both inside, he closed the closet door. Sure enough, there was a mirror there.
"Man, I look stupid.." I muttered, biting my lip in embarrassment. He laughed, grinning at me.
"At least you got the right boots," he chuckled, looking at the reflection of my feet, "That vest doesn't look good. Your mask is orange, and that doesn't go with red. Maybe a purple or green. Let's go look in my room. More variety." He went out of the room and darted into his own. I followed behind him, entering his room shortly after.
"Wow, they are all just alike.." I mumbled. Party Poison threw open his closet and inspected the array of jackets he had. He pulled out a blue jacket and held it up.
"Take off the vest and try this," he commanded, holding the jacket out to me. I did as I was told, replacing the vest with the jacket. "That's better. Keep it. But.." he went over to a drawer in his desk and rummaged through it.
"What are you looking for?" I asked, stepping closer.
He threw something on the floor and held up a pair of sunglass, examining the lenses from the front. "Those," he said, pointing to the things on the floor, "Are for you. Put them on your hands. And take off your mask really quick."
I hesitantly followed orders. "Why?"
"Because," he sighed, sliding the sunglasses onto my nose and into place, "you don't wear your bandana with a mask." He picked up a bandana out of his drawer and tied it behind my head so it covered the lower half of my face. When he was finished, he smiled an amazing sideways smile and turned me around to face the mirror.
"That looks a lot better.." I whispered.
"I'll say." Party Poison winked in the mirror. I was glad for the bandana. It hid my blush.
"Hey," I said, turning back to him, "Do you have any paper? And a pencil?"
"Uh, yeah, here," he replied, going over to his desk and retrieving a stack of paper and a cup full of pencils. "Keep them. You probably need them more than me. Gotta have something to write to loved ones on, right?"
"I don't have any loved ones left.." I murmured. He paused. I guess he hadn't been expecting that. I picked up the gloves and was about to walk out when he spoke.
"I know how you feel." I turned to look back, only to find him staring at the wall. "The only person I have left is my brother, Kobra." I walked back toward him slowly, silently asking what happened. I guess he picked up on that, because he went on. "Our parents died getting us to safety from the wars..and we didn't really have anyone but each other. I fell in love with this girl..she was amazing. And I seriously loved her. But you remember that riot that happed in the square a couple years back?"
The riot was something to do with some malcontented customers shouting at peddler. Officers came out to break it up quietly. When the customer wouldn't comply, someone was shot, and the whole square broke out in a frenzy. I nodded, remembering that day well.
"We were in the square that day. There was a rush of Dracs and pigs. Everyone was screaming. We were separated, and when the crowd dispersed, she was no where to be found. I never saw her again. We were really young..we were sixteen. But we were in love. I think I've just gotten to a point where I can say I've let go," he explained.
I nodded. I'd only ever had one boyfriend and his family moved out of Battery City in search of some hopeful place shortly after we all emerged from the underground shelter. I hadn't heard from him since, but I didn't keep my hopes up. He probably died years ago. I sighed.
"My brother died. He was beaten to death by BL/Ind..pigs, as you call them.." I chuckled a little. I didn't want to cry, but I could feel tears stinging my eyes at the memory. "My parents were Sympathizers. They were captured defending the radio station..and then they were killed," I shared, "It only happened just recently, but I feel like I shouldn't be sad for them."
"Well, I'm glad you can remember without mourning," Party said with a little smile. "Who's the paper for? Your boyfriend?" he teased. I shook my head.
"No. My first and only boyfriend ventured outside the sixth zone with his family. They're probably dead now. We don't know what's out there.." I trailed off, not sure that there was anything out there. He put a hand on my shoulder.
"Maybe some day we'll find out," he whispered, smirking at me. I smiled back and nodded, getting up. I walked out of his room and back into my own. I sat down and wrote a letter to my parents. Then one to Owen. Finally, I copied all the sayings off the back of my mother's mask.
"There," I muttered as I finished. I heard a staticky sound above me. Looking up, I realized there was a speaker on my ceiling that was now crackling to life.
"Look alive, sunshine. 109 in the sky.." It was Dr. Death Defying waking up the Killjoys.
"Patrol! Come on Jet!" I heard Party Poison call. He sounded like we hadn't been talking a little while ago. He ran up to my door. "Toxic, you too, let's go. You need patrol experience!" He ran off again down the hall as I grabbed my mask and ran out after him, sliding on my gloves as I went.
"Where's your weapon?" Jet asked calmly. I felt around my waist. I didn't have a holster. I raised my hands in an 'I don't know' gesture. "That's alright, that's what this is for," he told me, punching a venting machine with graffiti on it. He hit a button with a raygun symbol and handed the weapon that came out to me.
"I have nowhere to put this," I confessed.
"Toxic!" Party shouted, "Here! I knew you were missing something.." He threw me a holster that went down the side of my leg. "Let's get going, Kobra and Fun will watch the diner while we're out there."
"We'll be in the zones for three days unless we're attacked before then," Jet explained to me. I kept my face nonchalant as I examined a can I'd been handed. It said 'Power Pup' on it. Of course it was BL/Ind brand.
"Pack it up! Let's go!" Party ordered. We did as told. When we stepped outside, I saw the car. It was a pre-apocalypse car. A lot of cars were, but post-apocalypse cars were becoming more popular. It was a dusty white Trans-Am with a giant spider on the hood and the american flag painted vaguely on the front of the driver's side of the car. It was amazing.
"What's with the spider?" I asked as we loaded in.
"Its the American Widow. Its the symbol for the Killjoys," Party informed me with pride, "Well, it is to me anyway."
"Oh, ok. Now which one of you is going to explain this patrol to me?"
Jet turned to face me from the passenger seat as we pulled away. "We patrol the zones for Dracs. When we find them, unless we're being shot at, we don't shoot until we have instructions from our leading Killjoy," Jet said.
"Unless you're the Killjoy in charge," Party interjected.
"Right. In this case, we wait for Party's command. Um.." Jet paused and glanced at Party, "Toxic, there's someone you should know about. His name is.."
"Korse," I interrupted.
"You know about Korse?" Party asked, glancing at me in the rearview mirror.
"He's the reason my parents are dead."