Luna stood silently on guard in the doorway of the infirmary, wishing she hadn’t left her raygun in her room, and hoping that whoever had just arrived at the complex was either friendly or not clever enough to find the hideout.
There was no noise from above to tell her if either option were true, which meant no shots had been fired yet, but still the only thing she could do was wait, and hope that the silence wasn’t because the boys had been captured.
It seemed like hours later when the trapdoor to the tunnels finally opened, letting in a thin shaft of light.
Luna ducked back into the doorway to the room, peeking out just enough to see whoever was coming in.
It was with relief that she noted it was Shadow who dropped in first, followed by an older man she had never seen before, then Wolf, and two others.
The small group started down the tunnel, passing close enough for Luna to see clearly that these were killjoys as well; three men who all looked older than Wolf’s group.
Feeling the nervous excitement and tension in the air, she decided to follow them, checking that Missy was sleeping comfortably one last time before ducking back into the long hallway.
Luna arrived in what must have passed as the main meeting room of the tunnels minutes later, having made a quick detour to her own room to collect the rest of her gear and her raygun, just in case.
There was no door on any of the tunnel rooms, but she paused outside for a moment, hoping she wouldn’t interrupt anything, before going on.
Inside she could hear urgent talking, and an occasional grim laugh from one of the men; they all stopped as she walked in, slowing as the attention turned to her.
A short silence ensued, making her feel distinctly awkward, until Shadow stood up and broke the stillness with a friendly grin.
“Guys, this is Mystery Eclipse,” he said first, motioning at Luna, who found herself too surprised at the name he used to introduce her to do anything but nod and smile shyly.
“Myst,” he continued, now pointing at each of the three newcomers in turn, “This is M Shadows, Synyster Gates, and Zacky Vengeance.”
The first man he pointed to was a tall, broad-shouldered man in a muscle shirt that showed off his bulky figure; the body-builder look was broken by the charming, dimpled smile he gave Luna – now known as Mystery Eclipse, rather – as she was introduced.
The second was another unusually tall man, though this one had a much smaller build, with tattoos from his wrists to his shoulders, and a cheeky smile beneath equally mischievous eyes, topped by dark hair that stood up from his head in messy spikes.
The last – Zacky, Luna recalled – was the only one of average height and size, with a fringe of black hair not quite covering striking, kind-looking green eyes, and various piercings scattered over a serious-looking face, that softened as he greeted her.
The tension broken, conversation slowly resumed; talk of a huge BLInd raid, just days ago, in which one of the new group of killjoys – known as the Deathbats, Luna discovered – had been ghosted, and another captured by the S.C.A.R.E.C.R.O.W.
They told the story bluntly, focusing on the bitter facts, rather than allowing themselves to become emotional – though Luna was sure that they were all mourning their dead comrade and fearing for the other, in their own way.
For now, though they were focussed on the future, M., the leader of the Deathbats concluded.
“The reason we came here, Wolf,” he went on, after a pause to let the account sink in, “is for help. We’re going to launch an attack on Battery City headquarters.”
Luna heard Shadow take a sharp intake of breath beside her, and glancing over, saw the concern on his usually calm face.
“But that’s a suicide mission!” he blurted out suddenly, breaking the silence hat had fallen as Wolf considered the proposition, and making everyone look up at him.
Synyster – known as Syn to the rest of the men around the table, Luna had noticed – just looked up at the younger man and nodded solemnly, then shrugged.
“We don’t have a choice,” he said, as calmly as ever, “They took JC, and if we don’t try to get him out soon, he’ll be dead, or worse.”
“And we know you’ve got a score to settle with BLInd,” Zacky added, looking over at Wolf as he leant back in his chair.
Shadow agreed, reluctantly, and stood back to let Wolf decide.
Luna just stood there in the midst of this world that she had been plunged into, watching as Wolf put a hand to his face, deep in thought and with a look of painful memories etched across his face.
Eventually he looked around at everyone in the room, and seemed to make a decision.
A vengeful light shone in his deep blue eyes as he turned to the three older men waiting patiently for his decision.
“When?”
