Danger Days: The True Lives of The Feminine Killjoys

Revenge vs Ghoul

We stood there in silence for a while. Neither team saying anything, just staring at the other. Then all of a sudden, the room erupted into activity. Without hesitating, my arm shot out to stop Revenge and the other pulled Dreamers wrist backward as she lunged forwards. Jet Star wrapped his arms around Fun Ghoul as he bounded away from the rest of his team. Kobra's hand clamped onto Party Poison's shoulder to prevent him from moving anywhere. Luckily, Angel had frozen in place because I'd run out of hands to hold people back with. Before I could calm my girls down, the Doctor moved quickly between the two groups.

"Cool it girls." I said to my group. I increased the pressure on my grip slightly and pushed backward on Revenge. After both shooting me dangerous looks, they slacked slightly and stepped back.

"Easy." Kobra whispered barely audibly and carefully to Poison and Star calmed Ghoul. Once everything was settled, we all stood still and the tension was stifling. I felt the awkward nature of the room steadily increase as more time passed with no one making a move to break the silence. Suddenly, Ghoul bounded forward, escaping from Jet Star and collided with me, wrapping his arms around my waist. Despite being a year younger than him, I stood taller than his small frame. I smiled to myself, hoping the rest of the team couldn't see me do so and hugged him back. Even though I had fallen out with the group as a whole, I had no problem with Ghoul.

"You okay about all this?" He asked looking back at me. "It sounds horrific. I don't know how you're coping really." He went back to looking down as he released me.

"It's alright. I'm coping." I murmured back a little unsure of my response as inside I was tearing myself apart. My girls gave me looks of horror as if they couldn't believe that I had willingly hugged Ghoul back. I would have to explain myself a little more later.

"So I guess you all know why you're here now. We want One back and you will go get her. Please put aside whatever differences and squabbles you have and just do this to save One." the Doctor explained, looking from one group to another as he spoke, trying to gauge our responses.

"Careful doc," Poison joked. "You sound like October."

"I don't care Poison." the Doctor shot back and I scoffed as the rest of my team and Ghoul muffled giggles. He shot us glares, leaving the strongest to me and our giggles intensified. Doctor Death, ignoring us, proceeded to hand us our modifiers and we wordlessly clipped them onto the barrels of our guns, the seriousness of our situation hitting everyone all over again. I felt a brief pang of pain but shoved it back down. He handed a map to myself and Poison then a radio kit to Jet Star. No one argued as Star was easily the best with that sort of tech. Once everything seemed sorted, he called for Electric who raced from our home in record time and, surprisingly, Last Crash wandered in for the Fabulous Killjoys. We got set up with ear pieces to allow us to communicate with the base and each other. I tried shooting tentative glances and smiles at Last Crash but she seemed to be ignoring me. I shrugged it off, as I did most things now, and refastened my gun round my leg and adjusted my jacket over my shoulders. I noticed Poison staring at my neck tattoo and to avoid having to discuss it again, I tied my orange bandanna round my neck. As soon as everyone else was set, we thanked Doctor Death and left to find my sister.

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As we left base, I could practically feel the stares bearing into me. I straightened my back and stalked forward, regardless of the looks we were getting. I noticed the readily clenched fists of my teammates and new unwilling teammates, and flexed my own to make sure I, if no-one else, appeared calm. Dreamer seemed to be off in her own little world as she kept stumbling into one of us. She would apologise afterwards then go straight back to whatever she was thinking of. I was worried that she felt betrayed or hurt by their joining us, despite not being able to change it. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Ghoul skipped along smiling at everyone. That was so like him. Ghoul never seemed to have a problem with anyone due to his overly cheerful mannerisms and general openness. Except I was one of very few that knew Revenge hated Ghoul for some reason. Thinking this I looked for her to find she was trailing behind and I dropped back to speak with her.