𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 (An Emo Quartet Crossover AU)

Chapter 3

~Violet Renegade POV~

"So," I start as we sit in a few of the booths. "What can you tell us?"

"It's not a lot, but it's enough," Wilson begins. "We've found a lead, of sorts."
"What's the lead?" Gear wonders.
Winona answers.

"Well, I was running a supply run to Bat City." A few sympathizers run a 'food pantry' of sorts on the outskirts of the City, so we get supplies from there. "As we got back to the base, we found a message spray painted on the wall."

"What was it?" I ask.
"All it said was 'You'll have to come and find me, find me,'" she says. "It was followed by a set of coordinates, a few different factions' signs, and...something else. We're not quite sure what it means."
"What does it look like?"
"Do you have a pen?"

Donnie happens to have one, so he hands it to Winona. She picks up a scattered napkin and draws a symbol:

||-//

After enclosing it in a circle, she presents it to the group.

"Do you know what it could mean?" She asks.
I set my mouth in a firm line. "I used to."

****

I walk down the hallway to the front of the diner, noticing that Party Poison and Kobra Kid are back.

"Party! Kobra!" I yell, running up to them.
"Hey, Ren," Party says as I wrap my small arms around him.
"What's up, Vi?" Kobra asks.
"Silver, Gear, and Missile are being their same old crazy selves," I reply.
"Didn't expect anything else." Party gives him a look. "Vi, could you give us a few minutes with Jet and Ghoul? We have something we need to discuss. Go find the others."
"Okay," I say, walking back down the hallway to Silver and I's room. As I walk in, Silver looks up.
"Apparently they're discussing 'important stuff' that we can't know about," I say.
"You wanna go eavesdrop?" She asks, standing up.
"Sure!"

We tiptoe down the hallway to the door that leads to the kitchen. We walk through there to the bar area, crouching underneath the counter.

"We have to keep them hidden," Party says. "If Korse finds out about them, they'll be in twice the danger we are. Sure, they may not be from our faction, but they're fighting the same battles as us, which is as noble a cause as they come."
"I understand that you want us to help," Ghoul says, "I'm totally fine with that. It's just, where do they go?"
"We have room here. They can stay with us until we can get them back home."
"If home even exists," Kobra chimes in.
"I don't know. We can figure everything out later. For now, let's do what we can."

Silver and I sneak back to our room.

"Who were they talking about?" Silver asks as I shut the door.
"I don't know. We're technically not supposed to know what they said. But we do, so for now let's just keep this between the two of us, Okay?"
"Okay."

****

The people the four of them had been talking about turned out to be two boys named Josh and Tyler, aged a few years older than us. They weren't with us for long, only a week or two. The two of them were like brothers, inseparable and fully trusting of the other. They were quiet and unobtrusive, keeping to themselves as the rest of us went about their daily lives.

The last I saw of them was the night they left. I remember Silver and I sitting across from them in a booth, talking quietly. We looked out the window and saw headlights in the distance, different from our own. I had gone to find Party, alerting him of the incoming people. By the time they approached, the five of us were standing outside, Tyler and Josh carrying their backpacks. One of the three riders, stepping off their motorcycle, walks up to us and nods their head to Party. Party tells Silver and I to go inside, so we do so and watch from one of the booths.

"Thank you, Party Poison, for your hospitality," the motorcyclist says.
"No problem, Laura. Our doors are always open."
"From now on, your people can consider the Banditos as allies."
"You can expect the same from the Killjoys. If you ever need anything, we'll help in any way we can."
Tyler and Josh walk over to Laura, and the three of them return to the three motorcyclists, Josh mounting behind Laura and Tyler behind another. As they leave, I notice something in Party's hand:

A piece of olive green cloth, emblazoned with this symbol in yellow:

||-//

****

"Silver, do you remember that night all those years ago when this people came by on motorcycles?"
"Wow, Ren," she says dryly. "Very specific."
"It was when we were like 12 or something."
"Oh, I think I know what you're talking about now."
"There was something that one of the people gave Party, but I don't know where it is."
"I do." The two of us turn to Missile Kid, who stands up and runs to what used to be Party's room.

A few minutes later, she runs back with an old wooden box that clearly hasn't been used in a while. After setting it down on the table, she wipes the dust off it and uses my pocketknife to pry the box open. When she does, we're shocked by what we see:

A pile of little flags, each emblazoned by a faction's symbol. Missile shuffles through them, pulling out the one from all those nights ago. It's still the same shade of olive green, the yellow markings bright.

"This what you were looking for?" She asks.
"Yes, do you know what it is?" I ask.
"No, I don't." Her eyebrows furrow. "There are like twenty more of these, each a different color and with a different faction's symbol. What could it mean?"
"I think I know," Wilson finally says. "They're part of a system that hasn't been used in years. We used to use these to show that our faction's were allies. If you look, you can see that you have one of our faction. We have one of yours back in Death Valley. We've had trade negotiations for ages now."
"I only recognize a couple of these, though," I comment. "There's yours, the Sinners, the Sparkers, and the Banditos? I think that was their name."
"Oh my goodness," Winona gasps. "I just realized, the Sinners' symbol was part of the message."
"So let me get this straight," I start. "The message had coordinates; the symbols of the Killjoys, Youngbloods, Sinners, and Banditos; and the instructions 'you'll have to come and find me, find me'?"
"Yes," she answers. "Your point?"
"There's got to be a reason why all four of our factions are a part of this."
"I agree," Wilson says. "What do we do with all this?"
"I think I have an idea," I reply. Everyone turns to me and I pause for a second. "We go to the Sinners and figure out what we can."

****
{Oh hai.

How's it going?

I'm good, thx.

I'm really tired, tho.

That's all I had to say.

Stay frosty, broskis.

-anaenae}