Keep Running (Killjoy)

14

D.A.'s POV:
A tap on my back brought me out of my anxious thoughts as I turned to face the killjoy behind me. Her youthful face was spotted with light freckles and a puffy, almost cloud-like, mass of brown hair were her most noticeable features. Her deep brown eyes made her look even more adorable than she did standing there.

"Hey, what's going on?" I asked with a gentle smile not to scare her.

"Dr. Death-Defying sent me to bring you to him. He has to talk to you about something." She replied with a soft voice.

"Oh okay, lead the way."

She took my hand and pulled my hand along behind her.

"So what's your name?" I said to break the silence.

"Missile Kid. You?"

"Destructive Ambrosia. Or as Party Poison calls me, Destroya."

"Cool."

"You're a young killjoy. That's really awesome...and pretty rare. How'd you end up here?"

"The Fabulous Four saved me from BL/Ind, well...from my dad really."

"Oh, who's he?"

"Korse."

"Woah, I'm sorry. How've you been living here with the rest of us crazy rebels?"

"It's fun. It's like having a huge family and everyone loves you."

"Well, I'm glad you can handle us."

"Yeah, Party acted kinda like my dad for a while which was nice since I was like 5. Anyways, we're here."

"That was nice of him...oh, thanks for bringing me here. See you around." I waved as I went into Dr. D's office space.

The dark room was overflowing with various notes, documents, CD's, and posters that looked like they'd been abandonned there for a while. The radio broadcaster was sitting in his usual seat, fixing the bandana over his forehead. I sat down in the only other seat in the room behind him, the old chair's cushion slumping down when I made contact with it. Dr. D turned when he noticed me there and started speaking.

"Hey there, roughrider. You're Ambrosia, right?" He asked.

"Yup." I nodded awkwardly, half afraid of what he called me in for.

"I hate doing this, but we have to discuss something before anything bad happens." He sighed.

"Oh, like what?"

"Well, you know how the Dracs sometimes take in stronger killjoys as hostages to turn into their brainless workers?"

"I was in that position about a week ago."

"Yeah, and they target weaknesses based off what their scan tells them. So in order for that to not happen-"

"We shouldn't get too attached to each other."

"Exactly. Do you see what I'm saying here yet?"

"You don't want me and Party to be so closely involved with each other."

"Sorry, but that's what I'm suggesting. You two are both such strong fighters that it would really screw with our forces if one of you was lost to Better Living."

"How did you find out about us? We haven't officially been together at all and we've only been like this for less than a week."

"Word spreads, especially about the Fab Four or new killjoys. You got both working for you here and Fun Ghoul loves to gossip."

"So, I have to break it apart?"

"No, no! Just put it off for a little since we're still fighting BL/Ind and it's a risky situation."

"But we don't know how much longer this will take! And I don't want to hurt him or make things weird. I can't stop this, and I don't want to either."

"Stubborn girl. Hopefully, you'll think this through and find that putting it on pause is smart for now. I'll let you go with your friends now. Thanks for listening." He finished, turning his chair around to the soundboard on the table.

I sighed and left the room, not even thinking about changing my mind about what Dr. D had said. Missile Kid was still just outside the door and I smiled at the sight of her. She seemed so light-hearted, even with her dad being Korse (of all people). I was hoping she'd relieve the mood a little for me and I could possibly get to know more about her or what it was like here earlier.

"Hi again." She greeted.

"Hey, Missile. Wanna have some lunch?"

"Sure. They're serving stuff now so we better get there quickly."

"Eh, lots of the killjoys aren't back yet so there won't be too many people around there."

"Oh, are they okay?"

"I don't know, haven't heard much about them. There are quite a few Better Living forces out today."

She frowned and kept her eyes at the ground.

"You upset?" I questioned.

"It's just that I can't imagine losing any of the guys. They were the closest people to me for ever. They saved me from being on my dad's side and cared for me. Anything happening to any one of them would be so hard to move on from."

"Well, Kobra's still hanging around here somewhere since his arm's still healing."

"I know, but I really care about the other three too and it just wouldn't be the same. Party even let me sleep in his bed all the time from nightmares I'd had for about a year and a half."

"Wow, you guys are definitely close. Let's move on to a happier topic, though, okay?"

"Yeah this is kinda depressing. I like your hair color!" She complimented and grabbed a flimsy paper plate of plain pizza.

"Thanks, but I need to get it re-done since you can see a little bit of my actual hair. What dye color do you think I should use?"

"Hmm...purple! Like, maroon-ish purple."

"Is that your favorite color?"

"Yeah..." She smiled bashfully.

"Have you been planning on doing anything to yours?" I gestured towards her Jet Star-like fro of hair.

"Nah, I think it's wild enough already. That's why I'm happy to choose your hair color since it would be like me choosing my own hair, but on you so mine doesn't look like a cotton candy cloud."

"Ahh, alright. You should go talk to Kobra, I think the both of you could console each other on worrying over the rest of the Fab Four." I suggested, assuming she was getting bored with me.

She smiled and waved, bouncing in the direction of Kobra's room to go have a chat with him. This gave me time to think over what she'd said about Party taking over being a parental figure for her. That was incredibly sweet and thoughtful of him to take her in since she was so young and only had Korse as a father from her life before Better Living took over. Immediately, my mind began conjuring imaginary scenes of him taking care of a younger version of Missile with adorable loads of caution. I subconsciously smiled at him being worried over a little girl that wasn't even his actual daughter and trying to upkeep her life in the hectic situation we were all in with BL/Ind. But these thoughts also brought an aching sadness towards Missile's completely abnormal childhood that she didn't deserve at all.