“Smile, good to see you up and about.” Dr. Death Defying grinned as the Killjoy limped into the kitchen. “You’ve been asleep for two days. I sent Party and Fun Ghoul out on patrol because they were driving me insane worrying about you.”
Smile blushed behind her helmet, wondering when people started caring about what happened to her as she waved her hand dismissively. She was sure the man was just exaggerating.
“Oh, you’re up.” The Kobra Kid wandered into the kitchen seconds after Smile, grinning at her. “Boom Box’ll be pleased.” He sat himself down at the table next to Dr. Death Defying, watching as Smile staggered about the room, determinedly hunting down peanut butter and jelly to make a sandwich.
“How are you feeling?” Dr. Death Defying asked, and Smile paused in her sandwich construction to put her hand on her side where the bandages were, shaking her head slightly. She definitely didn’t feel okay, even if she would be fine. She shrugged to let the men know she was just being honest, not complaining, and went back to her food, waving once she’d made her sandwich before disappearing back to her room, still unsteady on her feet.
“She’s really tough.” The Kobra Kid said, glancing at Dr. Death Defying out of the corner of his eyes. “Party thinks she’s just a kid.”
The radio DJ sighed, nodding. “He’s probably right, honestly. We’re going to have to talk to her about that.”

Later that night, Smile was sitting at the kitchen table with Boom Box, doodling a hanged man as the younger girl tried to guess letters for the word Smile was thinking of. Whatever the older girl had come up with, it was six letters, the fourth of which was ‘I’, the fifth being ‘A’.
The door flung open, but the two girls didn’t look away from their game until a wordless shout startled them and someone suddenly latched onto Smile.
Fun Ghoul hugged her hard, making the girl cough and hiss in pain until Party Poison yanked him off. “Careful!” He barked at his short friend, who immediately started pouting and apologizing. Smile just nodded, still coughing, one hand on her side.
“I really am sorry.” Fun Ghoul said sadly, and Smile tentatively reached out and pulled him into a quick hug to show there were no hard feelings. The man hugged her back- carefully, this time- then skipped off to go irritate the Kobra Kid and Jet Star, one of his favorite pastimes.
“How’re you doing, kid?” Party Poison asked, pulling out the chair next to Smile and straddling it backwards, crossing his arms on the back as he studied the young Killjoy.
Smile shrugged noncommittally, then looked at Boom Box, who guessed another wrong letter. She was only one off from hanging her man. Party Poison looked at the paper for a moment, then grinned.
“Word’s ‘guitar’.”
Smile sighed, then filled in the missing letters, trying not to smile as Boom Box pouted, unhappy that Party Poison had stolen her game. The older girl flipped to a clean page, dashing out spaces for a new word and drawing up a new set of gallows.
Boom Box and Party Poison both guessed a right letter, frowning at the word taking shape on the paper. Then the man took a wrong guess, and Boom Box squealed happily.
“Cooties!” She giggled, and Party Poison’s jaw dropped as Smile smugly filled in the letters, adding a few words before the one that had just been filled out. The paper now read ‘Party Poison has C-O-O-T-I-E-S.’
“I do not!” Party Poison contested hotly, crossing his arms and glaring at the two girls, both of whom were snickering, though Smile was doing so from behind the safety of her visor.
“Yes, you do!” Boom Box giggled as Smile nodded, then the two high fived.
“No way!” He protested, and Jet Star poked his head into the kitchen to see what was going on. “I don’t have cooties!”
Jet Star sighed, rolling his eyes, wondering just what grade Party Poison thought he was in. “Really? Cooties? Boom Box, I thought you grew out of that phase years ago.”
“Smile wrote it!” The young girl giggled, and Smile scribbled a quick note to her.
Traitor, you told on me! She’d drawn a little smiley face sticking out its tongue, too, to show she was kidding, making the little girl laugh even harder.

A week later, Smile was finally back to normal, training with the boys and making Boom Box giggle over the stupidest things. She’d been working hard to get back into the routine after a week of doing nothing, but she was good at adjusting.
“Let’s patrol Zone 5 today.” Jet Star suggested, and Fun Ghoul agreed, Smile nodding amicably. The three of them were being sent out today, the first time Smile would actually be seeing action since her mission in Battery City.
They got in the van, Jet Star driving with Smile riding shotgun, blasting the radio way too loud. Dr. Death Defying was playing some awesome jams just for them, including some of Smile’s favorites; ‘Savior’ by Rise Against, ‘Famous Last Words’ by My Chemical Romance (the Killjoys themselves!), and ‘Monster’ by Skillet. The two boys sang along loudly, whooping when their song came through the speakers, rocking out with Smile, who just nodded to the beat, grinning behind her helmet.
“Look, Dracs! And an Exterminator!” Fun Ghoul pointed excitedly, and Jet Star slowed the car before sliding to a stop by the enemy. ‘Destroya’ was still pounding out of the stereo as the three Killjoys leapt out of the van, quickly taking out four of the seven Dracs. The Exterminator, a tall, thin man, took cover behind the expendable Draculoids, firing at the Killjoys whenever he could.
I don’t believe in God…
The Dracs went down quickly, their poorly aimed laser blasts missing the Killjoys, who started their first shootout with an Exterminator.
You don’t believe in luck…
He was fighting hard to stay alive, ducking a dodging laser beams as well as any real Killjoy, firing back with deadly precision.
They don’t believe in us…
At the same instant, Jet Star and Smile rushed forward, shooting at the Exterminator, and collided, knocking each other over. Smile’s blast hit the Exterminator’s knee, making him drop to kneel in the sand as she and Jet Star tumbled into the dust, both of their helmets knocking off. Fun Ghoul laughed at them as he shot the Exterminator, finishing him off, then picked up the helmet nearest him. His eyes widened as he realized it was Smile’s and he grinned as he turned around.
Jet Star and Smile were still lying in the dust, weak with laughter, and Fun Ghoul froze when he saw the girl’s face. It didn’t register in his mind that she was only seventeen, all he saw were the piercings.
Three rings in each earlobe, one ring at the top of her left ear, a stud in her nose, and a snakebite.
But I believe we’re the enemy.
“Ray! She’s an Exterminator!” Fun Ghoul yelled, dropping her helmet in surprise as he fumbled for his gun. Jet Star’s eyes snapped open in shock both at hearing his name and what his friend had said, and he stared at the pale girl in the dust next to him, then scrambled away on his back, gaping in horror.
Smile was even paler than was normal for a Drac, her own face horrified and scared as she watched Jet Star get as far away from her as fast as he could, then she turned to Fun Ghoul, starting to prop herself up on her hands.
Her eyes widened as she found herself staring up the barrel of Fun Ghoul’s gun, and she looked up, meeting his eyes for an instant before she saw the flash of a laser blast.
The two Killjoys stood there for a minute, staring at the Exterminator. She seemed smaller than ever without her helmet, so pale against her black clothes and makeup, so young compared to everyone else on the desert.
“Gee was right, she’s just a kid.” Jet Star said quietly, getting shakily to his feet as Fun Ghoul took a step back from the girl in the dust, unable to take his eyes off of her. “But… she was one of them. It was how she made it out off all those suicide missions alive.”
“Let’s go.” Fun Ghoul muttered after shooting her over the heart to make sure she really was dead, climbing into the passenger seat of the van and shutting off the radio, waiting impatiently as Jet Star wandered to his seat in a daze. The two were silent as they drove away from the bodies on the desert floor; the Dracs, the Exterminator, and the Killjoy.