Hurricane // Danger Days (Book 2)

06.

In the light of the (supposed) upcoming meeting with the extremists, Cherri Cola ultimately insisted that General Alien should not go. He had very little trust in these people.

The general had insisted at first, then realized that her attempts were futile and let him go. He was nothing if not faithful to her, and she was grateful, but she hated that he constantly felt like he had to protect her when she didn't need it.

He gathered a group of Killjoys (Capricorn, Silent Storm, and Dr. Benzedrine) and set off in MARS's convertible, which Night Hunter had been reluctant to let them use.

Cola followed the familiar route to the Fabulous Four's diner. He knew that the extremists had chosen this location just to mess with them.

They stood outside of the diner. There were two motorcycles leaning on the outside of the building, which Cola knew were the extremists'.

Storm hadn't been to the diner since the Four had died. He tried not to reminisce about his time with Poison and focus on the task at hand.

"Okay, so how do we know if it's a trap or not?" Benzedrine asked tentatively.

"Well, I for one am not seeing any signs of it being a trap," Capricorn observed.

"Just for the record, let's be cautious about this," Cola told his group.

"Guys," Benzedrine said, "Are we sure they're even in there?"

"Their bikes are already out here," Capricorn told him, slowly moving towards the door. "We'd have to walk in and see."

"Dude, seriously?" Storm grabbed his friend's shoulder, holding him back. "You know how Toxic Revenge is, he could have set up a motion sensor that blows up the building while we're in there or something. And they'd just be hiding somewhere laughing at our stupidity."

"Wait," Cola said, turning away from the group. "Do you hear that?"

They all quieted to listen.

"Oh shit, that's an engine," Capricorn remarked, "and it doesn't sound like a Killjoy one."

As soon as he saw the BLI van, Cola yelled, "Get inside! NOW!"

The rest of the men didn't hesitate to run into the diner and jump behind the front wall, out of sight of the van.

Storm looked around the room, trying his best to resist his negative emotions. Then he saw a small flash of light, and his eyes followed it. He gasped, then turned to Cola. "There's a bomb on the wall over there!"

Cola saw it, and his mind immediately went to work. It would have gone off once we came in here if they wanted to kill us... but how does BLI know we're here... unless— "They're gonna blow us up as soon as BLI get in here to kill two birds with one stone! We have to get out, now!"

"But they'll see us," Capricorn said frantically.

"The back window," Storm remembered, "we could get out that way!"

"Go, now!" Cola ordered. The three others complied.

Storm held the door to the kitchen open for the rest of his group, and closed the door behind him.

Capricorn tugged on the window, and when it didn't open, he smashed the glass with the butt of his gun. He climbed out first, then Benzedrine followed.

Storm was about to climb out, but he spotted a flash of yellow in the corner of his eye.

Poison's mask.

"Storm! Come on!" Cola rushed him.

Storm hesitated, then ran across the room to grab the mask. He took it, and jumped out of the window as fast as he could manage.

Cola climbed out last, then the group ran as far away from the building as they could—

A sudden blast, and the four of them were blown forward.

The diner had been reduced to rubble.

"Come on, we have to get back to the car!" Cola yelled, and they all turned back toward where they knew their vehicle was.

They almost got to the car before ray gun blasts started to rain on them.

"Shit!" Capricorn yelled, and sped up.

Storm was already going at full speed, so he attempted to push himself even further.

But suddenly, Cola grunted in pain. He kept running for the sake of his friends, but his bicep was exploding with pain.

"Cola!" Storm called, "I'll drive!"

Cola got the hint, and when they got to the car, got into the passenger seat. Storm jumped into the driver's seat, and as soon as the other two Killjoys were in, he floored the gas pedal, and they sped away.

🌩

"So, that pretty much sums it up," Alien finished recapping the events of the past two years to Revolution. She sat on her desk while her friend listened from a chair across from her.

Revolution paused, taking everything in. "Wow," they said thoughtfully. "You guys had one hell of a ride two years ago. What happened to make everything stop for that long, though?"

"Well, you know how whole communities can sometimes get really depressed after a member dies?

"Yeah."

"I think that's what happened when the Four were ghosted," the general surmised. "They were everyone's heroes, therefore when they died, everyone got depressed. No one really had the motivation to do anything."

"Well, until these extremists popped up," Revolution added, eyebrows furrowing. "What's the deal with that anyway? Weren't you supposed to meet them for a truce or something?"

"Cola said it would be safer if he went instead. He said he wanted to make sure it wasn't a trap. He took Cap, Benz, and Storm."

"And what if it is a trap?"

Alien sighed. "Let's hope it isn't, for now. Anyways, what have you been up to?"

"Just running around, mostly. Hung out with my family-"

"How're they?" Alien interrupted.

"Pretty good, same old same old..." Revolution continued. "Actually, there is one thing I found that I thought you'd like. Have you ever heard of a band called Palaye Royale?"

Alien had. She laughed when she realized that she'd forgotten to include the three men who had been in BLI's prison with her in her story. "Yeah, I have."

"I've been keeping up with their music, and it's actually really good!" Revolution was grinning. "They're playing a show later on tonight, wanna go? You could probably get in free, being the general and all..."

"Hell yeah," Alien smiled back at her friend. "If nothing else comes up, that is."

Suddenly, the door opened, and a disheveled Cola fell into the doorframe. He stood there for a moment, then panted, "You would not believe the day I've had."