The Killjoy from Yesterday

Chapter 9- Confrontation

"Then fire away." The blue haired killjoy smirked.

"Who are you?" He asked. "Really."

Alkaline laughed and shook her head. "I'd tell you the truth but you already know, you just refuse to believe it."

"There is no way you're Cassadee." He growled. "You're too wild, too reckless."

"Well that's what happens to those who live through hell every day. Especially in the hands of Better fucking Living." She snapped, yanking up one of the sleeves on her jacket. Her forearm was wrapped in white sterilized gauze which was patched with blood. "You want to see what they actually do to people like me?" Her voice was filled with pain and hate. She grabbed the bandage and ripped it off her skin to reveal something that Mikey thought he'd never see on his girlfriend's skin. Her entire forearm was covered in cuts. They were still fresh, only a few days old.

Mikey stepped back in shock. "What the hell?"

"Yea." Alkaline responded, pulling her sleeve back down. "The truth hurts. Doesn't it? I was taken in and tortured for days. I was on the brink of breaking and telling everything when Kobra Kid, you, busted me out."

Mikey stared at the killjoy. He noticed that the look in her dark brown eyes wasn't overconfidence or arrogance, it was something else. Not pain, not anger, not hate, but safety. She knew she was safe here, which was something she hadn't felt in god knows how long.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Als, everything okay?" Fun Ghoul called out.

"Yea." Alkaline called back, "We'll be out in a second." She turned back to Mikey. "Look, I may not seem like Cassadee to you and I can tell that you aren't all fuzzy and happy about any of this and we aren't either, but whatever grudge you have against us, get the fuck over it."

After that, she stepped back out to join the rest of the Killjoys with Mikey following close behind. They were dead silent and staring at the two of them.

"You guys heard all of that, didn't you?" Alkaline asked.

"Yep." Both Party Poisons said at the same time.

"So now what do we do?" Jet Star asked.

"I think I have an idea." Cassadee spoke up, pulling a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket and handing it to Alkaline. It was an address. "Jack gave this to me earlier today. He said there was something he wanted to show me."

"How do we know we can trust him though?" Alkaline asked. "Keep in mind what he did not only to us but to the guys too." She pointed to the Fab Four.

"I don't know." She shook her head. "It's too risky to go alone. But from they way he looked around when he wrote this down, he seemed like he wanted me to come alone."

"This is a gigantic lead though." Kobra spoke up. "We can't let this pass us by." He was right. If they had any chance to get back home, or figure out what was happening to Alkaline and Cassadee, this was that chance.

"What if we sent someone to follow Cassadee and help her if things go Costa Rica?" Black-jacket Party suggested.

"That could work. But who?" Mikey added. "Carraway knows my connection to Cassadee, the two of you would be caught the moment you step outside, if Alkaline goes after her we could be giving him exactly what he wants, and he may get suspicious if we send Fun Ghoul because of his occupation here." That left only one person left. The whole room turned to Jet Star.

"What are you guys thinking" He sounded suspicious.

"You're the only one that Carraway wouldn't associate with me." Cassadee answered.

Jet's eyes widened. "No way. That happened once and look where it landed us."

"What?" Mikey said.

"Jet and I went on a mission for Doctor D once and I ended up getting caught. You know the rest of the story from there." Alkaine explained. "Jet, you have to. This may be our shot at figuring out what is happening and how to get home."

Jet knew there was no way around this. He was the only one who relatively stayed the same in appearance after the Helium Wars. Party and Kobra both changed their hair colors to blonde and red from their natural dark brown and Fun Ghoul had more tattoos than any Killjoy in the Zones. If Alkaline was right, they were one step closer to finding him.

"Fine. I'll do it."