Let Art Be Our Weapon: Frerard/Killjoys Epic

Never Let Them Take You Alive

        We arrive at the base as quickly as we can but the damage is already done. The diner shot up and smoking still. Small fires scatter the area. Cars were blown up and fallen bodies. Both White Suits and Killjoys. The devastation haunts me and we aren't even inside yet to see the real damage done. No one answers the radio and I have a feeling that the base isn't cleared up yet.
Running out of the car, we approach the entrance with caution. I look at the others and give a small nod, lowering my mask over my eyes. Taking out our blasters, we walk inside ready to fire on sight. White Suits lie stained with blood on the floor and the two guards are dead. The two guards that always took watch when I had insomniac nights. I would climb up to the roof and watch the sunrise. When I came back, they were the ones in the diner. They're both dead.
Addison makes her way behind the counter and Mikey looks out the windows for any signs of life. Frank starts stepping over in the garage and I cover his back. No one is up on this level. Addison gestures heading downstairs. The three of us start treading over to her when she takes a blast to the chest. She doesn't even have time to scream before she hits the ground motionless. Mikey shouts her name and runs over to her. I grab his jacket and pull him back as the blasts start shooting up the booths behind us.
Frank drops to the floor behind the counter next to us. Mikey fights me off him. We both know he's the better fighter. He wants to check on Addison but if he does, he will get hit. "Kobra, please. Just stop," I whisper but he doesn't listen. They start shooting again and we cover our heads. Frank slides back to the other side of the diner and tries to return fire without getting hit himself. Mikey breaks free from my grasp and bolts up. He runs behind a shelf and a trail of blasts follow after him. I have an opening. I ready my gun and stand over the counter but someone was waiting for me to do just that. As I turn around to start shooting, his gun strikes me on my head.
Frank takes a step towards me when they start shooting at him. He crouches low and stumbles back into the garage for cover. One Drac keeps him busy and the other engages in combat with Mikey, leaving, of course, me with Korse.
I quickly get up but he is already standing over me. He grabs my head with both of his hands and shakes me around like a rag doll. Dizzy from the hit on the head, this only worsens my condition. Where is the hell my gun? Korse throws me against the door frame. "Now that we're alone," he chuckles, "you're in time for the show. Party Poison, you the one that I need. Well, you are also the one that I loathe. You defeated death and I'm the executor. Where does that put us?"
"You tell me," I spit. "You can try and watch me corrode but it'll never happen. I love all the poison and Killjoys never die."
"Killjoys never die," he repeats mockingly. "That's peculiar because the ones here surely did." I try resisting him but he holds me firm. "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You can't leave so quickly." I wish he just got it over with as fast as he does in my nightmares instead of monologuing. Frank and the Drac are still shooting at each other and I assume Mikey and the other Drac are still fighting. "There's this place in the dark were my associate goes. You can come with. Take off your leather and mask."
"Shut up," I mutter. He leans his elbow over my throat and I can't speak anymore.
"No, no. I talk, you listen." He gestures in the direction I assume is where Mikey is. "Who was she?" he asks. No, not Mikey. Addison. "She was pretty cute. Too cute in fact. I couldn't kill her. She your girlfriend?" First of all, I wouldn't have answered that question even if I was able to. I'm not telling him anything. And second, I can't talk while being suffocated. Korse stares at me hard and reads my thoughts almost. "No, she's not your sweetheart. But she has to be someone's." He starts smiling and glances over at Mikey. "Well, Juliet surely love to get beat up. I'm willing to bet she was leading you guys. After all, she was the one behind the counter. Does she lust command? Tell her Romeo to drop the dagger or he'll lather her blood in his hands."
"Stop being so theatrical," I wheeze. "There's no shows. You're gonna die."
"Oh, how are you so certain I am the one to die. I was actually on my way out when you, the famous Party Poison made a noble appearance. Always end up killing your team members? Last time was quite eventful. I'm sure that must hurt you a lot. But don't you worry. Before I leave, I'll give you a shot that you'll remember and it will help take all the pain away." I try resisting him again but he only uses more force to hold me back. "I would say I'm sorry but I'm not and I really need to leave. So why don't you blow me a kiss before I go?" he laughs.
"Like hell," I mutter.
"Like hell is exactly what I had in mind. I will push you into a darkness you can't escape. You will just be running around and around until you finally hit rock bottom. The only light you will see in your dark life is the one burning all the empire. The fires will burn so bright that the even sun will be ashamed to rise again. And let me tell you, I will surrender but not until after you fall in love with all of these vampires. You will side with the Draculoids and Bounty Hunters before I die. You will betray your allies and leave you like the sane abandoned me. You'll always be running, Killjoy." He pauses in his speech and looks at me. "I'm dying to see the face of the next executor." I tense up as he reaches his hand for my mask. I hold my breath. He'll take the most important thing from me. My identity.
My shoulder takes a blast and my body is thrown from the force. Frank shoots at Korse but he dodges out of the way and runs out of the diner. My vision doubles but I know I see him running away with several other Dracs. Where they came from I don't know. I remember his words. But don't you worry. Before I leave, I'll give you a shot that you'll remember and it will help take all the pain away. Before I can respond I take another blast, this time closer to my abdomen than my arm. I fall to my knees and shout back at him. "Fuck you!"
The surviving Dracs and Korse compact into one cruiser and drive away from the scene. My eyes fixate on the car and I'm hoisted up to my feet. "Gee? Gee, can you hear me?" Frank asks. He's definitely shot up too and has a few scraps here and there. The Drac he was shooting at is killed and the one Mikey was battling lies bashed in on the floor.
Frank drags me to the counter where Mikey holds Addison in his arms. "She's not dead," I mutter.
Mikey looks at me. "How.. how do you know?" he asks.
"Korse said he didn't want to kill her."
"What? And you believe that she's not dead just because some sociopath said he didn't want to kill her who also happened to be the same person that shot her?"
"Mikey, there's no blood. He really didn't kill her, she's stunned." He doesn't seem convinced. "Korse shot me, that's why I'm bleeding. She's not because he stunned her."
He looks down at her body and slowly realizes that she's not dead but stunned. Frank helps me down the stairs. A burning sensation stings my eyes and I give a little choke. The devastation is far worse than imagined. "They didn't get the kids out," Frank says in horror. And he's right. They didn't have time for protocol. The attack came too fast. There are hundreds of Killjoys, both out in the zones or at the base. About half of the ones at the base are killed, most of them, the inexperienced children that didn't have time to hidden.
"Where's Grace-Jeanette?" I ask. She couldn't come with us on this mission. As much as I wanted her to stay at my side, I couldn't have her come so close to Korse. It's bad enough that he's alive but I couldn't risk her being so close to the Unit. She was at the base.
"Gee, hold on," Frank says lowering me on the ground. He starts checking the children's pulses but the growing look of pain on his face shows that not one of them is alive. "We got to find survivors. Let's go." He helps me back to my feet. He drags me closer to the technician's lab and almost drops me. "Shit, I'm sorry."
I cling to his side to keep me from falling. "It's okay."
He lowers me on the ground again and runs over. "Bonnie? Bonnie, please," he whispers. She doesn't respond and Frank becomes more aggressive, shaking her more. "Damn it, please. Bonnie. Don't do this to me. Where's Mason? And Grace? Come on, Bonnie. Please don't leave me."
I don't have the strength or ability to lift myself up. I stare at Frank as he grows more and more desperate for Bonnie to respond. Either she has a pulse and he's trying to wake her up or he's in denial.
Someone touches my wound and I wince. "Party Poison?" a small voice shakes.
I turn and see a bruised and bleeding Grace-Jeanette with a rag over her mouth. "Oh my god, Grace? What happened?"
"The Dracs came and started shooting before the alarms sounded. They-they hurt a lot of us. Bonnie couldn't get me to the bunks so she hid me under the tables in the lab. They were still coming and we couldn't stop them. We were outnumbered so Bonnie started messing with the pipes. She filled the base with CO2 to knock them out. It was on a timer and turned off after a minute. Are you going to die, Party?"
"No, I'll be okay. How much damage they do?" My eyes continue to burn.
"A lot," she trails off. Except her mouth keeps moving. She's still talking but I can't hear her and everything blurs. Her face blanks and she starts shaking me, crying. Frank runs over and lifts me up. I don't know what's going on.