Rivals: The Killjoys vs. The Youngbloods

14. A Change of Command

Pete paced the roof of the building anxiously. His eyes continued to travel back to the phone he held tightly in his hand.

The message he had received from Mikey was still illuminated on the screen.

M: Need to talk, meet me on our roof on Ocean Avenue. Midnight.

When Pete tried to ask what was wrong, Mikey only sent a one word reply.

M: Please

Pete had tried to call; but after the 25th time he was sent to voicemail, he gave up.

Now, he was nervously walking the length of the roof so many times he could have hatched a 10k Pokémon egg.

So many questions were racing through his mind. And for every question spawned from worry, there was an equally anxiety-inducing answer.

It was a never ending cycle of panic.

And it didn't subside when Mikey showed up on the roof covered in blood.

"Mikey?" Pete ran to him. "What- what happened? Who's blood is that?"

"It's not mine." Mikey said quietly, almost robotically.

"Did you kill somebody?" Pete raised an eyebrow. "Do you need me to hide a body?"

Mikey threw himself at Pete, wrapping his arms around Pete's neck. He began to cry, broken, ugly sobs. "They killed him!"

Pete wrapped his arms around the younger boy. "Who killed who?" He rubbed Mikey's back.

Mikey clung to Pete, his fingers wrapped in his hoodie. "Gerard, they killed Gerard."

"They killed Gerard?" Pete said confused. "Wait, Gerard is-"

"Dead." Mikey said abruptly. "He's dead! I watched him die; there was so much blood." He said hysterically. "Oh God, the blood."

Mikey fell to his knees and vomited. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't get the image of his brother out of his head.

The thought brought on a fresh wave of nausea.

Pete dropped onto the ground beside Mikey and rubbed his shoulders. "Shh, I'm here. I got you."

Mikey turned his face into Pete's shoulder. His tears stained the fabric of Pete's jacket. "It was all so normal this morning, and then they shot him. They took him from me. They took my brother!"

"Who took your brother? Who killed him?" Pete asked softly, running his fingers through Mikey's messy hair.

"I don't know!" Mikey yelled. "BL/ind maybe. It's not like I stopped to ask them."

Pete's mind worked rapidly through the silence. Some unknown person had seemingly sniped Gerard. He knew right then and there that the logical explanation would be to blame the Youngbloods.

"We didn't do it." Pete said quickly. "We didn't kill him, I swear to you."

Mikey rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie. "I know, I know you would never do something like that. But Frank, he's been looking for an excuse ever since he found out about Jason."

"Who's Jason?" Pete raised an eyebrow.

"Ray's brother." Mikey whispered. "He was killed by Sean Anderson three years ago, during that whole uproar with the Resistance."

Pete had tried so hard to block the events of those few days three years. But one thing he absolutely could not forget were the haunting smiles of those kids before they attacked.