Toxic Ghost's POV
I did not have the energy to get up today. I felt way too upset. Korse and Charlotte's words were stuck in my head. I know I'm a murderer but I did it for a good reason!
There's never a good reason to kill somebody. You're a murderer. Deal with it.
A new voice spoke in my head. It sounded exactly like... me.
I was about to question it until Party Poison and Fun Ghoul came into the room.
"Hey, sugar," Party greeted kindly, "how are you feelin'?"
"Guilty," I answered honestly.
"Kid, um," Ghoul tried to think of something to say but gave up after some time, "Let's just go eat breakfast, alright? We got lucky charms and Cap'n Crunch. Which one do you want?"
"Both," I answered shortly.
"Then let's go get some."
Ghoul stuck out his hand for me and I took it. He led me to the main area of the diner where Jet Star and Kobra Kid were and we sat at the booth. We all sat in silence until Ghoul came over with a box of lucky charms and a box of Cap'n Crunch. I opened the box of lucky charms and ate a handful of the cereal.
"I missed this," I stated plainly.
"So," Party said, "I heard you had a pretty eventful day yesterday."
"Yeah."
"You went on a killing spree with the Vs?"
"Yeah."
"Listen, kid. Don't feel guilty about the people you kill out here. I know, in your mind, you think they have families and stuff, but they don't."
"They don't?" I asked hopefully.
"Nope!" Ghoul cut in, "BL/ind set them up with random people they've never met before, gave them some kids then called them a family. I doubt your parents were even married- let alone in love!"
"That's true," I said thoughtfully, "they never kissed or held hands. They don't act flirty around each other, they just act like... roommates."
"Because they technically were! And killing people out here is just survival. They are trying to hurt you! You're just defending yourself. And there is no possible way for you to not kill anyone out here in the zones. It's either kill or be killed. You don't need to feel guilty. What you need to feel is strong and brave. Like us!"
I smiled, feeling better already. The voices calling me a murderer seemed to quiet down.
"So... I'm not a murderer?" I asked for reassurance.
"Not even close, baby," Jet said and kissed my head.
"Oh!" I smiled brightly, "I feel so much better now! Thanks, Ghoul. Thanks, guys!"
The guys smiled at me.
"Wait, but, Toxic?" Kobra called for my attention.
"Yeah, K?" I answered.
"We need to tell you something that happened yesterday during your panic attack."
"Okay... what happened?"
"So, according to the Vs, you made the ground shake."
"What?"
"Not only that bit you were levitating and glowing purple."
"That's not possible..."
"Babe, we need to get you to your dad. We need to ask him about his."
"I did feel the ground shake, but I thought it was just my legs wobbling. I was levitating?"
"According to the Vs, you were."
I sat in silence for a moment to think, "So... what now?"
"Now," Ghoul stated, "we have to take you to Cherri, right away."
"Okay!" I said cheerfully.
I hopped off the seat and ran out of the diner toward the car. I looked behind me to see the Fab Four following me. I waited a bit for them to catch up with me. As they approached, Jet opened the door to the driver's seat, and Ghoul and Kobra climbed into the backseat. As I was wondering why Party wasn't driving, I suddenly felt hands grab both my arms and lift me. Not expecting this, I squealed in surprise and wiggled my arms around violently. As my arms moved, purple rays of light came out of my hands.
I was terrified of this and had no idea how to control it.
"Help!" I yelled, "I don't know how to stop it!"
The guys looked at me with astonishment. I couldn't control the ray coming out of my arms and I was terrified of it. I want it to stop. I don't want to have these powers.
"Toxic!" Party called from behind me.
I tried to turn around but I couldn't move.
"Toxic, please look at me..." Party pleaded quietly.
"I'm trying!" I cried, "I can't move!"
"Then, I'll come to you,"
Party walked in front of me and reached his arms out.
"I'm gonna hug you, okay?" He informed me.
"No!" I rejected him, "I'm gonna hurt you! I don't want to hurt you!"
Disregarding my pleas, Party took me into his arms.
"You could never hurt me, even if you tried," he whispered.
Although he was calming me, my arms were still flailing all over the place. The purple rays were shooting everywhere and I couldn't control the direction it was going. I was slowly calming down but what made me panic was when a ray hit Party directly in the chest.
"Oh god!" I cried harder, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!"
"It's alright! It's okay!" Party said, "It didn't even hurt."
I looked at Party and noticed he was unscathed. He had no wound from where I had accidentally shot him, he just had a smile on his face.
"See?" He said, "I'm perfectly fine. Now, I'm just gonna need you to take a deep breath, calm down, and stop moving."
I listened to him and took a couple of deep breaths. As I calmed down, the rays of purple beams stopped coming out of my hands. I breathed a sigh of relief and leaned into Party.
"All calm now?" He asked.
"Yeah."
"Ready to go see your dad?"
"Yeah."
"Then, let's go."
I moved out of Party's reach and followed him over to the passenger's side. He opened the door and sat down, and I followed, sitting on his lap. The other guys climbed into the car sending me comforting looks. Jet hopped into the driver's seat.
"To Cherri's?" He asked as Party nodded.
The whole car ride was filled with banter between Party and Ghoul. They were arguing about who the most responsible member of the group is. Once Ghoul said he was the most responsible, everyone shouted their disagreements at him which made me burst out into laughter. Before I knew it, we were at the radio station where Dr. D, Show Pony, and Cherri Cola live. As the car stopped, I immediately hopped out of Party's lap and ran to the door. I entered the radio station excitedly, spotting the person I was mainly excited to see.
"Dr. D!" I squealed in excitement.
"Olivia!" He greeted back.
"It's Toxic Ghost, now."
"Oh? How'd you come up with that?"
"She wanted to combine my name and Ghoul's name and make it her own," Party Poison explained, "She was jamming out to Bullet Proof Heart. Singing, dancing, just having a good time. She seemed like a kid with a normal life."
"I miss the days when I could freely listen and dance to your band, Party," I said, sadly.
"Don't worry-" a voice said from behind me.
The person who just spoke put a hand on my shoulder, which started me. I let out a squeal and moved my hand toward where I heard the voice as the purple beam shot out of it. The voice belonged to my dad, Cherri Cola, and the beam missed him by an inch and hit the window, burning a hole in it.
"Woah," Cherri, Show Pony, and Dr. D spoke at the same time.
"Yeah..." Jet spoke awkwardly, "That's why we're here..."
"We need to talk to you about this, Cherri," Party said.
"I never thought she'd inherit it..." Cherri said before trailing off.
"Inherit what, Dad?" I asked, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket.
He looked down at me, smiling slightly, "Come over here so I can talk to you guys, okay?"
We nodded and moved to sit around Dr. D's desk. Everyone pulled up a chair while Cherri leaned against a wall. I climbed into Party's lap and waited for Dad to tell us what we needed to hear.
"I'm gonna tell you everything," Cherri announced, "from when I met Olivia's mom, to when Olivia was taken from me. I met Liv's mom years before BL/ind was even a thing in our junior year of college. She was trying to make a neighborhood watch group. She was such a good person. She always wanted the best for animals and people's lives. We got married five years after college, and that's when I realized there was something special about her. She had anxiety and often had panic attacks. What I chose to ignore, because I didn't want it to falter our relationship, was the fact she could move the earth. Not only that but she had the same... power-orb-things that Liv has now, but a different color. Time skip to the war where she died, she gave birth to Olivia, during that, and she... her soul, it... exploded? I don't know exactly what happened, but I finally came to terms with her powers and stopped ignoring them. They helped us win that war but at the cost of her life... she became overwhelmed with all the power and emotions she had locked up inside of her and exploded. Her body just disappeared and went the essence of it just went into Olivia, somehow. Although I was depressed and confused, I knew I could never let anything happen to Olivia. So I took her and I ran. I ran as fast as I possibly could. We moved to a place where we thought BL/ind could never hurt us, Detroit. We spent three good years together, until..."
Dad looked as if he was going to cry, so I hopped off of Party's lap and embraced my dad.
"Until she was taken from you," Dr. D finished for him.
"Yeah," Dad sniffed, "I knew you'd inherit her powers, Olivia. That's why I never stopped looking for you. I wanted- no, I needed to protect you. You are my daughter and I love you no matter what."
When he said that, a smile appeared on my face and grew by the second. I've never felt more loved than whenever I'm with the Fab Four.
"Alright, enough of the sappy shit," Dr. D joked as we all chuckled, "I need to broadcast. Toxic, you can stay. Everyone else, get out of here!"
We laughed as the guys left the room and headed to the back. After making sure the room was clean and silent, we started broadcasting.
"Look alive, sunshine," Dr. D started.
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After finding out how I got my abilities, we decided to... test them.
"Alright, Toxic," Ghoul said in my ear, "We need you to focus and stay calm. Don't think your gonna hurt us, because you know you're not. Take a deep breath, focus on the cans, aim, then fire!"
I nodded and did what Ghoul said. I took a deep breath and aimed my hand toward the can. I wanted to at least lift the can a couple of inches, but instead, i knocked it over. I sighed in disappointment and turned to look at Dad and Party who were smiling proudly at me.
"I can't do it..." I sulked towards them.
"Of course, you can, Toxic!" Party cheered, "You're just trying too hard. I know you want to make us proud, but don't think about us. Just forget we're here and you've done this a million times. Pretend you're a natural at this, and I promise it'll work."
While taking a deep breath, I let Party's words sink in. I moved back to the can and lifted my arm.
"Just two inches," I whispered to myself, "that's my goal."
I closed my eyes and lifted my arm towards the can again. I tried to focus and not get distracted by the sound of the wind. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes again. A purple orb surrounded the can. As I lifted my arm, the can went in the same direction. I was lifting it! I stayed focused on the can instead of reacting to the cheering coming from the guys behind me. I swung the can around in the air for a couple of seconds, then turned and placed it in Dad's hand.
He was smiling at me and I smiled just as big back at him. Full of excitement, I ran toward him at full speed and jumped in his arms.
"I did it, Dad!" I squealed while hugging him.
"I know, baby, I saw!" He exclaimed, happily, "I'm so proud of you!"
Once we let go, I ran to Party and hugged him.
"Great job, mini killjoy!" He praised.
"Thanks, Party," I beamed at him.
"You wanna go home or stay here?"
"I wanna go home and practice on more things!"
"Let's go then."
I grabbed Party's hand and waved goodbye to Dad, Dr. D, and Show Pony. With my hand in Party's and the other three killjoys behind us and praising me, we made our way back to the Trans AM. Just when they were about to head into the car, Dr. D called Jet and Kobra back into the diner asking for their assistance on a mission leaving me, Party, and Ghoul to go home on our own.
I sat in the backseat as Party drove and Ghoul took the passenger's seat. During the ride home, we sang along to My Chemical Romance's Danger Days album on the radio. We told jokes and stories about our lives until we got back.
We arrived back at the diner and took a short dinner break to regain energy before helping me practice lifting things using my new abilities. We spent a couple of hours doing that until Jet and Kobra got back home. They told us about their mission before heading to bed. Today, was a great day.
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