Ruin // Danger Days (Book 3)

12.

Sunset ran out of the room gleefully, probably to find Val.

Storm sighed. My little sister. He remembered when they were kids and she would talk about boys for hours and he would listen intently, hoping that one day she'd find the right guy. And he was so happy that she finally did.

Storm was actually not surprised. The two of them had been inseparable since the Vs had first been rescued.

Storm realized that he'd been expecting this. But what he wasn't expecting was to be happy for her. It was Val Velocity they were talking about, and he'd been a dick to both him and Alien, but never to Sunset. He'd always been kind to her and always protected her. If he was being completely honest with himself, he'd known about his love for her for a while now.

And then, as always, when he closed his eyes, a certain pair of bright hazel eyes appeared on his eyelids. He remembered how those eyes used to look at him: as if he was the most wonderful thing they'd ever seen.

He didn't want to think about Poison now; it never ended well, but he really couldn't help it. He was the best thing that had ever happened to him, and he'd lost him.

But all in all, he was lucky that he'd gotten to spend a few months of his life with him. Even though it was short-lived, those months were the best months of his entire life.

I miss you, Gerard.

🌩

"IKEA! Open the hell up!"

"General? You fell asleep again."

Storm's head shot up off of his desk for the fifth time this week. "Come in, I guess."

Sonic Revolution threw the door open. "Mornin' Sleeping Beauty! Or should I say afternoon?"

"What were you even doing last night?" Cherri Cola stepped in as well, looking concerned. Your light was still on at like three AM."

Storm yawned. "Diggin' around on the... BLI database."

'You haven't found anything in months, man," Revolution said, "chill out. You need just as much sleep as the rest of us."

"And sleeping in an actual bed wouldn't be a bad idea either," Cola added.

"So why are you here, again?" Storm asked, stretching.

"You have a debate tonight, remember, dumbass?" Revolution raised an eyebrow. "With Riptide."

"A debate? About what?" Storm asked, confused.

Cola shrugged. "Whatever the people want. I got Tommy Chow Mein to ask everyone who came into his store for questions to ask you guys, and he's gonna ask them tonight. He was the best choice, 'cause he's neutral in all this."

"So what do I do?" Storm wondered, floundering a bit. "I've never done anything like that before."

"Just be honest," Revolution advised. "Go with your gut. Say what you feel. Al had no clue what she was doing the whole time she ran; just do what she did."

"But she's funny, and loud, and opinionated, and I'm none of those things. I'm not Al."

"You don't have to be," Cola told him. "Just be Storm."

🌩

"Hyper Thrust?" Revolution laughed. "Seriously? That place is a toilet!"

Cola sighed. "I get that. But I want to get the word out. It's on the West side of the Zones, we'll be able to reach more people."

"But it's a strip club," Storm complained.

"With a stage, lots of space for an audience, and good acoustics," Cola argued. "Nothing will happen, I promise."

The three of them pulled up outside the barn-looking building, parked, and walked in. it was a very wide, open space, with a stage at one end and a runway jutting out from it. The runway had a stripping pole at the end of it, but a person had just pulled it from the runway and was carrying it backstage. There were a few more people scattered around, sweeping and placing mismatched chairs in rows.

A man with many piercings and multicolored hair walked up to them with a suggestive smirk on his face. "Hello there Cherri," he said with a wink, looking him over. "Long time no see."

"No funny business, Blood," Cola responded. "Storm, SIR, this is Blood Dance, our host." he did not look happy to be talking to this guy.

"Alright, alright," Blood held his hands up. "I promised I wouldn't do anything crazy, didn't I? Now, head backstage, sweetheart, we start at 1800." he strutted away, most likely moving his hips excessively on purpose.

"That guy's a creep," Cola whispered. "Avoid him at any cost."

"I heard that once, he was on stage, and he asked everyone in the crowd to give him their bras," Revolution said, scrunching their face. "Definitely a creep."

"Let's just go backstage," Storm said stressfully, and headed towards a door that he assumed was the way back, and the two other Killjoys followed.

As soon as they got backstage to one of the dressing rooms, Storm flopped onto a couch and sighed. "What the hell am I gonna do? I mean, I know I should just go with it, but how am I—"

"Oh, shut up," Revolution interrupted. "You're overthinking. Just take some deep breaths, think happy thoughts, think about your favorite song, whatever. Just calm down, or else you'll freeze up on stage and it'll go to shit."

"That's true," Cola added.

Storm took a few breaths, as advised, and took in the silence. He remembered one day, years ago, when Poison had brought him into the studio and played a song with Jet for him. It was called Summertime, and Poison wrote the song for him. The melody put itself on repeat in his head, calming him.

Cola left the room to gauge time for when he should go on. And soon, the building was completely full of Killjoys waiting to watch the debate.

And then, Tommy Chow Mein walked onto the stage. He was a salesman from North Zone Five. He wasn't a Killjoy and wasn't BLI either, which made him the perfect person to referee a debate for General of the Killjoy Army. He was also Alien's brother. "'Alright, you fuckers are here to watch a debate between the candidates for General," he said, and the crowd cheered. "So I won't talk anymore. Let's get it started!"

Cola poked his head into the dressing room. "General," he said, "you're on."

"Break a leg," Rev said, laughing.

"Fuck you," he chuckled in reply. Then he stood up and took a deep breath. "Let's do this."

Then he gathered his composure and stepped onto the stage.