𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 (An Emo Quartet Crossover AU)

Chapter 10

~Wilson's POV~

To my surprise, there are a ton of people in Las Vegas. They are all milling about, seeming to be living normal lives, save for one thing:

Many are wearing dark blue armbands, and most of them are armed.

Despite the fact that we are intruders in their city, we get little more than a passing glance. Visitors must be common.

"Where should we go now?" Violet asks. She looks a little bit lost.
"From what I can see, we appear to be getting somewhat close to the coordinates." I answer. "I'd say we keep going, then figure it out when we get there."

While we press on, I glance at the buildings around us. Though most are a bit run-down, they are pretty much fully intact. Why didn't we know there were people living in Vegas, when there was such a big community of survivors? Where did they come from? What do the arm bands mean?

I hear scattered conversations from passerby. Many are talking about a 'coalition', and I've heard a few mention Dream Boy, Lemongrass, and Winter, whoever they are. I hear some wondering when the next raid is, and one person says that "the council is planning something."

"Where do you reckon we go now?" I wonder once we reach the coordinates on Mona's DGA.
"Maybe we should go into one of the buildings nearby," Mona says. "What about that smoothie shop?"
Violet and I turn towards where she's pointing. Sure enough, there's a building with a sign that says "Tropical Smoothie Cafe". Inside, there appears to be people.
"Great idea, Mona," Violet responds, and we walk into the Cafe.

Once we get inside, I see a few people sitting at tables, chatting and eating food. At the counter, here are a few people organizing food, currency, and talking. One, standing at the counter, looks up at us and smiles.

"Hi, welcome to Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Are you visiting Vegas?"
"Yes, we're here from California." Mona answers, stepping up to the front. "Can I speak to Otto or Conan?"

Once she says this, the man's smile drops, looking us over. "Are you three from the Zones?"
"Yes," she answers. "I think that they can give us some answers."
"Follow me," he says quietly, and he gestures for us to come behind the counter. He gives a look to one of his coworkers, signing something quickly. They give him a surprised look, then nod and turn back to their work. The three of us follow the guy into a back room.
"Mona, can you please explain what's going on?" I ask as we go through a door and down a flight of stairs.
"Back in the Zones, I got a tip from someone on an old cell phone I saved from before the Helium Wars. They told me to come here and ask for certain people."
"And you did exactly that," the man says. "I'm Conan, by the way."
"I'm Wilson Benzedrine, and this is Violet Renegade. That's Mona Lisa."
"This are all definitely Zone names," he laughs, and we continue into a dimly lit hallway for several minutes.
"So, Conan," Violet starts. "Do you know why we're here?"
"Well, I presume it's because you got the messages we left for you. We had to be discreet, since S.I.L.E.N.C.E. has people keeping tabs on you."
"Sorry, what?" I ask.
"Oh, S.I.L.E.N.C.E.? You'll learn about them later. Either way, there's a crazy scheme being hatched as we speak, and we had to get in touch with you, since it involves the Killjoys, the Youngbloods, the Sinners. We're still trying to contact the Banditos—you've heard of them, right?—but I think they're getting close-ish. They're much closer to the Blackout Zone than we are, so we may have to meet them in Colorado.

"Either way, we're going to the Arena right now, so you three can meet the council and get the run-down of the situation."
"I don't know if this is important," Mona comments, "but we have more people outside the city that are waiting for us."
"Thanks for letting me know. I'll tell someone to go get them and bring them down to the Arena." He pulls out a walkie-talkie and starts speaking to someone.

A few minutes later, we reach the end of the hallway and are met by a closed set of doors. There is a panel to the left that appears to be a speaker. Conan presses a button beneath it, and a voice emanates from the speaker.

"State your name and business."
"It's Conan. They're here." There's a brief pause and a bit of quiet discourse and shuffling that comes from the speaker.
"Come on in."

The doors unlock and slide apart, opening up to reveal another hallway. This one appears to be circular, and there are open doorways that lead down into a giant arena.

"Where are we?" I ask in awe.
"This is Coalition Headquarters. We have all our council meetings and debriefings here, and we throw awesome parties." He leads us out of the main hall to a hallway of old offices, dressing rooms, and locker rooms. He goes to the end of a hallway and uses a keycard to unlock a door. He opens it to reveal a room with about a dozen people in it. They all appear to be in their early-to-mid twenties.

"This is where the council meets," Conan says. "Everyone, this is Violet Renegade, Mona Lisa, and Wilson Benzedrine, and they're the current leaders of the Zones."

There are a few hushed words exchanged. Out of the soft buzz, a voice speaks up.

"Welcome, my name's Dodie." The brunette smiles, her British accent warm and kind. "We have a lot of business to attend to."

****
~Alyssa's POV~

And suddenly I'm walking back to DEMA for a third time. This time around, though, I don't feel anxious. I just want to find answers and get my friends back.

We sneak quietly into the city, snuffing out our torches and putting them in our bags. I pull my knife out of my jacket and clutch it in my hand. The tunnel comes out in the Listo district, since Josh, the first Bandito, was assigned to Listo. We slowly creep towards the center of the city, then find a place to watch from. We split into pairs, but try to stay in sight of each other. Jericho and I are sitting in an alley, looking for any clues we can find.

"Have you remembered anything new recently?" I ask, my voice low.
"Sort of," he answers. "I remember that I was living with three guys my age, and four kids. I'm pretty sure we used code names instead of our actual names, but I don't remember them." He pauses, then his eyes widen. "I think my alias was Kobra Kid."

We are pulled out of our conversation by a door opening across the courtyard. We step further into the shadows, looking on. A person walks out, wearing gray. Their dark, previously dyed hair falls into their face, and they brush it away. He looks around frantically, then turns to see us. He locks eyes with Jericho.

"Mikey?," he cries out softly. Jericho gasps quietly. Before we can do anything else, people come out of the building and grab onto the man, trying to subdue him. They put a syringe in his neck, causing him to fall unconscious. After carrying him back into the building and shutting the door, I turn to Jericho, who is breathing heavily.

"Jericho, you okay?" I ask, putting my hand on his shoulder. He sits down and leans against the wall, eyes wide.
"That was my brother."

****
yeet skeet i'm working on the next chapter

-amy