They would not open. I was awake. I heard the soft crackling of the fire, the occasional soft breathing and shuffling, but my eyes simply refused to open. Someone else was awake. I struggled to open one of my eyes, and a blue Dead Pegasus jacket was maybe a foot away., It smelled like burnt marshmallows.

Mmm... Marshmallows. It's been forever since I've had one of those. I never really liked them that much. I was weird.

I sat up, still unused to the bright sunlight pouring into by eyes.

Party turned to look at me, "Look alive, Sunshine, he barely said, looking at me quizzically. I still had one eye open. I smiled awkwardly and tucked my unruly hair behind my ear. I didn’t like looking him directly in the eyes.

I picked up a can of power pup. It looked gross, as usual, and I was a bit unsure after what happened last time. It was pretty bad, but I picked up a spoon and brought it almost to my mouth when Party said, "Wait. Hold on." He took the opened can from my hands and placed it over the fire, "Give it a second." In five minutes, he had grabbed the container with his jacket sleeve and handed it to me. It's not so bad anymore.

I pulled the spoon close to my mouth and felt the warmth. It was cold last night... And then my taste buds smiled a little bit. Not much, but just enough. It tasted less like chewy milk and gravy, but more like slightly warm, uncooked beans. Not bad, Poison. Not bad.

"So, I guess we should call you something until you get an official name."

"Yeah, I guess. I don't think 'you' or 'she' or 'her' is working very well."

Party contemplated for a moment, "Hmm... How about Sassypants?"

"Really?" I said, throwing him a look. I'm pretty sure we already had a sass master in this little group, but I wasn't going to say anything. I didn't want the nickname to stick.

"Maybe I should just get a real name. Or tell you my current one."

"Nah! Maybe by the end of the day you'll have a name or something... Ooh, I've got an idea.
Let's go into Bat City. I heard there is someone there who works from the inside. And they've got chick clothes."

"Wow!" I exclaimed in mock excitement, "CHICK CLOTHES! That idea sounds fabulous!"

Party took on a really goofy-looking smile, "I know right!"

"Look at you two lovebirds," said Ghoul.

"What?" I asked, puzzled by the stupidity of his comment, "Ok, I'm pretty sure we are about four feet from each other, and Party just called me a Sassypants."

Ghoul only smiled and continued, "Exactly. You two are in love."

I was about to high five Ghoul in the face, with my foot, "Ok, so... that means that you and Jet are in love too, right," Party snickered, and I struggled to hold a straight face, "I mean, you two do banter a lot. You make fun of him. You salute him just get on his nerves, just like I'm doing this to get on your nerves. Is it working? Are we in love?" I smirked and looked at him. By the time I finished, Ghoul looked genuinely sorry.

"No..." And so the puppy dogs eyes hit me.

I facepalmed and sighed, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to suggest that you two were... or anything..."

"No, it's ok. Don't worry about it. I'll get over it. Pfft! I've been shot before! Would words really hurt me?"

"Yes." I felt really bad. I need to stop with these blasted mood swings.

"Seriously, stop," Ghoul said.

Party wasn't looking anymore. He kind of blushed a bit as he stared into the fire, "Yeah, we have enough mayhem out here, we don't need some dumb argument getting between us."

I sighed, "You're right. I hate it when you do that, you know."

"Do what? Be right? Better get used to it, Sweetheart. Happens a lot out here in the zones.
You're not the smartest anymore." He smiled and I felt my face heat up a bit. Nope. Not happening.

Ghoul laughed, "I can see the sparks.They are all in her face."

"Gee, thanks," I retorted, and Party's laughing stopped. Okay...

"We are going to Battery City. Just for a bit. We have to get these Crash Queens out of this... stuff they are wearing."

"Okay, should we let the others sleep?" Ghoul asked.

"I think they've slept long enough. Dracs are gonna be around soon," he looked up, "Yeah, it's about that time." Party poured the rest of his dog food onto the fire and it was out. That was interesting.

Kobra and Jet woke up without a hitch. We saw Abby and were all a bit freaked out. She had blood coming out of here eyes.

"Ummm... what?"

"Oh- Oh my god. What- what do we do. Oh, crap Abby. What happened?"

"..."

"She'll be ok." Kobra said.

"What?"

Abby woke up from all the commotion, "Wh- What? What are you all looking at?"

Party pointed to her eyes, and she sighed a bit. "Whew, you guys scared me for a bit. I have this new rare disease thing that if I have really bad nightmares, my eyes will... bleed. It isn't that big of a deal. Gosh." She still looked a little worries, but I wasn't going to say anything. She was alright for now.

"That's what I meant," Kobra sighed and started walking towards the car.


"Ummm... What?" Ghoul looked like an idiot, and Jet couldn't help but start laughing like a hyena. It was pretty weird.

Party, Ghoul, and I just walked away slowly. Jet Star eventually figured out and joined us in the car.

---

Battery City. My Home. I wondered if my friends miss me? I wondered if they ever gave me a second’s thought. Probably not. They were probably filled with pharmaceuticals and toxins. I cannot believe Better Living Industries would do something so terrible. It sickened me. On the car ride there, I got nauseated pretty quickly, and we had to stop, but I got over it.

Party looked over and grinned at me mischievously. I was really starting to like that smile.

Jet Star parked in one Better Living’s blind spots. They would never know we were here.

Now, I know I am exaggerating a bit, but Battery City was massive. The towering skyscrapers soared over us like vultures closing in on their prey. The people pushed past each other loudly, not caring about the little children raising their open, filthy palms towards them.

BL/I must have upgraded the pills. Last time I was in a city like this, a person could walk for miles before seeing any other signs of life. Now people swarmed the streets like rats in a sewer. We walked in nonchalantly. No one noticed except for a few cameras. Alarms must have been going off somewhere.

I wondered if my mom was watching one of those screens, smiling that her little girl was ok. That she was on the good guys’ side… Probably not. If she was even still alive, my mom would be just another face in the endless, emotionless crowd. She would be another robot for Better Living’s purposes.

I wiped a tear from my dirt-streaked face, when Abby grabbed my hand, pulling me into the alley behind her, “C’mon, Slowpoke,” Did she just used her own nickname on me? That wasn’t fair, “They aren’t gonna wait for us, you know.” I followed quickly behind, silently moving in and out of obscure alleyways and hectic streets.

Finally we reached a bright, neon sign reading “Gentleman’s Club.”

I looked towards Abby exasperatedly, “These guys better not put us in Princess Leia costumes.”

She smiled, “It’s been forever since I have thought about Star Wars, and don’t worry about them. They aren’t perverts. Well, most of them…” she whispered eyeing Ghoul.

“How would you know? You just met them yesterday. You may have known them in a past life, but how are we supposed to know that you didn’t work here? We don’t know anything about who you were, Abby.”

“Who?”

“Abby!” I whisper-yelled, “That is your name, isn’t it?”

She smiled perhaps the most insincere smile, “Yeah. It is. Sorry about that.” I simpl sighed and looked at Kobra imploringly, but he was too busy looking at Abby like a lovestruck fool. She returned the gaze in a slightly less creepy way. They were so cute.
Inside was exactly what I expected it to be: a bunch of… colorful characters looking at each other in the most sincere or false of ways. A nice little hideaway though. Perfect for someone to stay out of sight.

The back wasn’t quite as scarring as I had expected, but I won’t go into too much detail. A door to the left and down a flight of stairs and we were there. The “place with chick clothes.” They weren’t terribly racy.

A girl appeared in front of me, “Hi there,” she chirped. I jumped back and tried to control my breathing.

“How the-“

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, interrupting me. My nerves were already shot, and her voice was not helping much.

“Umm…” I said trying to mute my irritation, “I guess I need-“

Successfully interrupting me again, she nearly yelled, “Clothes? Yeah, hold on a second.”
My chest tightened, and her head looked like a petite little wishbone, easy to break. Stop being so hormonal, Hero. You can do this. Just try not to pay attention to her.

And then I was fine. The girl, whose name was Ninja Star, got me a butt load of clothes and I tried on all of them. They all smelled bad and swallowed my undernourished body whole.

Finally, her shift was over and I was left to myself. I found a loose, light, black shirt. It had the word “IMPOSSIBLE” written across it in white on top of a neon blue gas mask. I equipped myself with a similar blue vest. I found a pair of white skinny jeans, similar to Party Poison’s. By finally donning a combat boots with their lovely matching black belt and holster, I felt like I could conquer the world.

Everyone else was worried about their own personal agendas. Clothes, androids, drinks. Something or other. Abby was the first to notice my new ensemble. I didn’t realize it was her tackle hugging me until she got out of my face and grinned, “You look hot.”

I nodded, “Thaaat’s wierd.”

“Yeah, it does sound a bit… creepy doesn’t it?”

“Yes.”

She smiled at me like before, “You really do look great, Hero.”

“Thanks” I smiled.

Fun Ghoul whistled from across the room.

“Wow, you really need to work on that, Ghoul.”

He winked and looked away, forever smirking.

Party walked toward us, veiling his eyes, “Is everyone decent over here?”

“Oh come on, Party. We’ve heard the rumours,” Abby joked, slapping him playfully. I hadn’t
heard the rumours. What was she talking about?

Party had obviously understood her. He blushed furiously and looked at Ghoul accusingly. I was still really lost.

He uncovered his eyes and looked at the two of us for a minute. I hadn’t even noticed Abby’s
outfit. It was a cherry red shirt with white words written on it. It said something Silence. I couldn’t read the first word. Suicide, maybe? Yeah, that sounded right. It looked right. She was wearing dark denim skinny jeans, and red combat boots with an awesome holster built into the left one.
Party nodded in approval as Kobra came from behind her and hugged her. He enjoyed the moment, as did she which was weird since yesterday she was weirded out by him doing just hugging her. Why does it seem like I am the only outsider?

Then Party’s intense eyes settled on me.

“…” Oh boy. If Abby started this commotion for no reason, I may die.

“…” I’m going to die today.

I was beginning to turn around, giving up, “You look,” I paused, “You look… beau-adass.”

“What is beau-adass?” I said, laughing so hard, I could feel my lungs in my throat.

“… Well, I could have said something else,” he smirked.

“Gee, thanks,” I replied. This was the second time he went silent when I said that. I was expecting at least a chuckle, but no, just silence, “Are you okay, Party?”

“What?” he replied. “Ok, you guys look ready. It’s time we got around to your name. We obviously know that you,” he indicated Abby, “are Shadow Chaser, so now all we need is yours…” I looked at him. Curious about the method by which I will receive it. “Let’s head back to the car.”

Will I ever be given a name?

The streets of Battery City at night were just as intimidating as during the day and ten times scarier. Poison and Ghoul had half-dressed androids coming up to them asking them how they were. I was quite irked by that, so I carried on behind poor Jet and Kobra, who must have scared the robotic women or something. It must have been Jet Star’s eye patch. It scared me sometimes, too, especially when he was sulking like this. Kobra seemed okay, though. Shadow was standing close next to him, probably trying to warm up. I was freezing.

Party was suddenly next to me, “Hey, Sassy, how’d you like that?” Oi.

“Well, I couldn’t stand Ninja Star. Her voice was too high-pitched and chirpy,” he nodded,
amused, “but after she left I could finally look through the clothes like a normal person and uh…” I looked down at my new outfit, “I had fun today. Thanks.”

When Ghoul had finally joined us in the car, I was quite pissed, “Where have you been for the last twenty minutes?” I shouted.

He smiled nauseatingly, and replied, “Just a little detour, Sassypants.” I reached for my blaster, irritated. It wasn’t there.

“What?” I looked down, beginning to get worried. My ray gun had disappeared. “No no.
Nononononono. Nope. Not happeni-“

“Shhh,” I felt fingers over my lips, but they weren’t mine. It was weird. “I have your gun right
here.”

“Prtyyy…” I mumbled, still irritable and tired. It was only eight o’clock or so, “Gve. It. Bck.”
“He needed to take it,” replied Jet from the front, “For all dramatic purposes, of course.”

“Pls,” I was pleading now.

“Ok, but you have to tell me something.”

“Wht?”

“In order to be a true Killjoy you need to name you gun.”

“Nme my gn?”

“Yeah,” he replied, letting go of my lips and handing me my gun.

“Ummm… I don’t know. I guess something that isn’t too weird. Maybe Diesel Bite?” They all shook their heads no. Okay then.... “Diesel… Bunny?”

They all smiled. “Welcome to the family, Bunny,” said the satisfied Party Poison.

“What?”

“Yep, your new name is Deisel Bunny. Whatever you would name your blaster, is your name.”

“Well, that’s weird,” I said, the happiness spreading onto my lips, “Diesel Bunny… I like it. It sounds super shiny.”

Ghoul hit the gas, “Time to celebrate!” He yelled over the revving engines.

Oh god. It was nine o’clock, and I was ready to head back. Where were these Waveheads taking me now?

Notes

Readers
Look you guys! I'm not dead! I love ya'll, and I would never leave you. I would just take three months to update. :)
MyChemicalRomance