Danger Days [ON HOLD]

Rainbow Sticks

*Party Poison’s POV*

 I laughed at the girls’ expressions as they stared with wide eyes at Missile Kid. I untied my bandana and tucked it into my pocket; for now we were safe here.

 “Dude, get out! As if we’re fucking meeting the Missile Kid on the same fucking day we met My fucking Chemical fucking Romance?” Day Blade exclaimed, and she jumped up and down, clapping her hands together like an excited child.

 “D’you want to say fucking in front of a child one more time?” Ghost Speaker said, rolling her eyes.

 “Ghost, please, don’t use such profanity in front of the Missile Kid.” Blade said, and Ghost shot her an exasperated look.

 “As you can probably tell, we’re very glad to meet you.” Rev said, leaning down and shaking hands with Missile Kid.

 “You’re so talented to be able to write those songs at such a young age.” Poison said.

 “Well, I wouldn’t be able to do it without these guys.” Missile said in an honest tone, looking at me and the other Fabulous Killjoys. “They’re the Mad Gear.”

 I honestly thought that Day Blade was going to faint from happiness.

 “How’s the tour going, Kid? Taking your message to the people?” Jet Star asked her with a smile. Everyone smiled at Missile Kid. She was so damn adorable.

 “Good thanks, we had a little rally in Zone Three the other day, which was fun, but nothing compares to when all the Rebels come together at the concerts.” she said, her eyes gleaming.

 Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Dr. D. switch a single bulb on a string of fairy lights from a clear white to a yellow one, and then he left the room. This was his signal to me, so I excused myself from the group conversation and followed him. The room we went into was the store cupboard, stocked with food; any Rebel who came to see Dr. D. could get resources.

 “How’s everything looking, sir?” I asked him. He sighed.

 “Not good, Party. The food in here is all I have at the moment and I don’t know when I’ll be able to get more in. I also can’t find anywhere to get more guns… they’re cutting us off, bit by bit.” he said. I frowned at this news. “I did however manage to land some rainbow sticks.”

 He handed me the small box and a lighter and I thanked him. He continued to talk about the rebellion, the news getting worse and worse; more people were dead, the Exterminators were continuing with their searches for any and all Rebel camps… soon enough they would descend upon the transmition station again.

 Not that they hadn’t before. We just happened to be particularly good at fighting back.

 “What’re you going to do about these girls, Party?” he asked. He opened the door a little and through the gap I could see Rev, her exquisite smile on her face as she spoke with Missile Kid. “You’re getting attached.”

 “I know that. I just…” I couldn’t find the words.

 “I’m not trying to stop you from doing what you want. All I’m saying is that you guys have to remember that all Rebels are targets to the Dracs, but if these girls are with you guys… I wouldn’t doubt they’ve already been added to the Exterminate list.” Dr. D. said, his tone grave.

 Dr. D., Show Pony, Fun Ghoul, Jet Star, Kobra Kid and I made up the Exterminate list. Our faces were everywhere in Battery City; on newspapers, posters, leaflets, all with captions saying that we must either be shot on sight or detained until people from Better Living Industries could get there. Anyone who did as such would be rewarded with who knows how many Carbons- they’d become as rich as Korse.

 “It’s been so long, though. So long since we had new friends.” I sighed.

 “All the Rebels are your friends, Party-”

 “No they’re not, they’re our followers.” I spat, suddenly seething with anger. “They follow us blindly into war and get killed because of us.”

 “It’s still the same with these girls, though.” he said quietly. “And we all remember what happened last time.”

 He looked me in the eye and I had to bow my head. He patted me on the shoulder and left the room. I followed him, but instead of rejoining the group I went outside. I lit up one of the rainbow sticks and inhaled upon it, exhaling multicoloured smoke. Rainbow sticks had been invented by a group of Rebels in Zone Six, a way to satisfy a smoker’s need without damaging the lungs. And also the bright colours were pretty awesome for us Rebels. I kept quite close to the building so that if anyone came by I’d have time to put on my bandana before they saw my face. I squinted up at the bright sun as I exhaled more rainbow smoke and watched as it drifted off into a sky the colour of blue zircon.

 “You shouldn’t do that, y’know.” Rev’s voice made me jump and I turned to see her standing a metre or so away. She nodded to the rainbow stick. “Smoking’s bad for you. You won’t be able to run so well.”

 I held out the rainbow stick for her to see, flicking it so that multicoloured ash fell to the ground. “No, this is a rainbow stick. It’s totally awesome and totally healthy.”

 I showed her by inhaling and then exhaling the bright fumes and she grinned and followed the smoke to the sky with her eyes. She stepped back a little more and turned slowly once on the spot, looking at the sun and sky. She had perfect, golden skin- everyone tanned in the desert, you were always at war with the sun- and her dark hair shone in the light. She looked like a mirage, unreal. I dropped the stick and stamped it out before walking towards her slowly. She turned her attention back to me, the breathtaking smile still on her face.

 “You’re beautiful.” I told her before I could stop myself. Her smile faltered slightly and I felt myself blush as I realised what I had said.

 “T-Thank-you, Party.” she stammered. She bowed her head. “I’m not… but thank-you.”

 “How can you say that? You’re so…”

 Once again I found myself unable to find the right words, which is kind of unsettling for such a creative person such as myself, especially considering I’m a lyricist. But I hadn’t seen someone as exquisitely stunning as Adrenaline Revolver since-

 No. Don’t think about that… It’s too late. I can’t stop the images flash through my mind, the fires, the screams, my family screaming, friends screaming, my love-

 “You only think I am beautiful because- besides the girls in my gang- there’s no other girl to compare me too. And still, you’ve only gone for me because the other girls are taken by your guys.” she muttered, kicking a stone into a crack in the compact sand and stomping down on it so it became trapped. I stepped towards her quickly and swiftly grabbed hold of her hand.

 “You can’t see what I see.”

 She looked into my eyes.

 “Uh, guys? Dr. D. would like to speak to everyone.” Kobra Kid said awkwardly, ducking his head round the door.

 I released her hand quickly and turned to thank my brother for his message. I walked to the door and pushed it open, about to leave Rev standing in the sun… but I turned and offered her my hand which she took and together we went inside.