Scarecrow and the Rainbow Solution

The stairs down into the bowels of the building were stark white and silent.
They couldn’t hear anything from outside although the battle still had to be raging and there was not fifty three minutes on that clock. Rainbow hoped that all of the killjoys were on the way out and following the plan to the letter. In a way she hoped that they took at least some of the people from the city with them, killing innocents wasn’t something she particularly felt comfortable with but the people outside were innocent too and not everyone could live out the night. If some were persuaded to leave the order and drugs behind it would be a small mercy to alleviate the guilt.
“Bottom floor, exit to the sewers. Fuck, we might just make this shit work.”
Crimson grinned, the effect of whiskey mixed with the ridiculous amount of pain medication.
“Yeah, if we can kill Korse before he gives the order.”
They paused at the door to the lab. The whole place had been deserted, either the rats were leaving a sinking ship or they had just walked into one enormous clusterfuck. Crim disappeared under the cloak of the stealth suit as Rainbow listened at the door. They planned to feint around and take Korse from either side, electricity combined with surprise would be the only shot they had at taking him down.
“Take the right and don’t do anything stupid Crim, we got one shot.”
“We kill the bitch, it’s all that matters.”
Rainbow pulled the whiskey bottle from the invisible space in front of her and tucked it into the rucksack as she ducked left into the silent and dark labs. There were rows of freezers and locked cabinets which all bore nasty looking biohazard signs which made her wonder just what else BLI was cooking up down here. There were abandoned hazmat suits, weapons and even vials of chemicals just left lying on benches. When the order to evacuate came it had been immediate.
Part of Rainbow wondered if they were already too late, if Korse was drawing them in to kill them despite having already given the order to release the weapon. She shivered and moved on, eyes searching for any sign of movement.
“Come and face me properly. I have been watching you since you entered the building. We should talk, after all you sent your men away in an effort to face me alone.”
Rainbow shivered at the voice, all the memories of that silky tone telling her to give in to the pain, to surrender to the torture being inflicted on her body by his machines and never had his voice risen above a whisper. Rage pushed her forward and now she saw him, his back to her as he looked out on a large underground chamber. There was no sign of Crimson.
“Give it up Korse. We can take the city now and you know it.”
He turned, the white face skull like as he broke into a wide smile. Inhuman and terrifying despite the dandy outfit and the grace with which he moved. Rainbow kept back, the suit gloves crackling with charge as he lifted his hands from his guns.
“You really think that ? You think I haven’t already sent patrols out into the Zones ? I knew you would all come here although I admit I thought it would be Gerard and Frank I would be facing.”
“So why haven’t you done it ? You could have done it at any time in the last three weeks since you got back from Vegas.”
Korse continued to watch, a little hardness coming into his face as Rainbow stared him down. A dawning realisation crossed her face and she smiled a little.
“This was all a bluff wasn’t it Korse ? There was no delivery system that would work above ground and once you knew you would only get a select few of us by hitting the clubs and villages it became less of an option.”
“Still a potent weapon against you scum.”
Rainbow smirked, the pair of them now circling each other like duelling combatants. Something rattled up above and a little plaster came down. Whatever was happening outside was irrelevant and yet she knew that the deadline for the others leaving had passed. Now the decision was harder, they could get out without killing an entire city but the weapon still had the potential to kill thousands.
“I admit it would not have been as effective as Vegas but still I have enough of it now to burn you from the Zones slowly. BLI will still come out of this on top.”
“You think so ? Now we have shown we can get inside the city with a large enough force to cause havoc down there ? Your bosses won’t be too pleased about this and even the populace may have questions.”
Now he snarled, the white gun in his hand before Rainbow could fully react. She sent a burst of electricity his way as three rounds hit him from a point just behind his shoulder. Korse simply roared, his free hand swinging backwards as Rainbow continued to spike more and more electricity into his body. Crimson reappeared, thrown back against the window with enough force to deactivate the suit. She went down hard with a surprised grunt.
“What the fuck ?”
Korse grinned, the rigor mortis smile even wider.
“Your weapons won’t kill me, I am BLI’s greatest creation.”
Crimson spat blood onto the floor and stared up at the exposed circuitry on the man’s chest. Well that answered that question then. She emptied both ray guns into him as he lumbered towards Rainbow. They had wounded him but not enough to slow him down enough. Rainbow too had exhausted the suit, she scrambled back out of reach and stared wildly around the room for another weapon. Crimson crawled forward and picked up a chair, the last remaining energy she had sent it into his back and caused him to finally turn and look at her.
“Poor little Lily, dead already and yet still buzzing around like a particularly annoying fly.”
She grinned back, the pain now dizzying but determined that he was going to die with her if that’s what it took to finish it off.
“Fuck you bitch, Party’s gonna wipe any last trace of you from the Zones. It’s over Korse.”
He leant down and easily picked her up around the throat, Crimson already choking as her feet cleared the ground. She struggled and kicked as Rainbow ran forward with a yell, sinking Crimson’s blade through his throat with a scream. Korse jerked and strange screeching noises ripped free from him but still he didn’t let go. Rainbow could see Crim was on the verge of passing out, fresh blood dripping from her nose. With the last vestige of strength she tossed something at Rainbow and tried to smile.
Without even clearly seeing it Rainbow caught the object and flicked off the cap, dropping below the enraged cyborg’s free arm and leaning up, ramming the syringe between his ribs. A fresh scream broke from Korse and this time he dropped Crimson to the floor and staggered toward Rainbow. She avoided him with some ease and looked down at the silky black fluid remaining in the vial, realising now what Crim had done.
Korse had lost interest in them, stumbling around the room as the virus attacked the human parts of his system. The systems in his unit were metal and servos but the brain and heart were still human, the dreadful chemical reaction starting to dissolve cells in a burst of pain and blood. He started a low keening wail as Rainbow dropped down beside Crimson and started slapping her face.
“C’mon, you are not dying on me now.”
There was no answer, the tiniest of pulses the only thing indicating that her friend wasn’t dead yet although very close to it. Rainbow managed to get a hand under her shoulder and haul her up into a chair before tipping her head back and pouring whiskey down her throat. With a convulsive splutter, Crimson opened her eyes.
“We need to go.”
Crimson looked over at the figure dripping blood and pus onto the floor as it whirled against cabinets and lockers and managed a grim smile.
“Give me the bomb and go.”
Rainbow snorted and pulled her up, seeing the back exit in the corner. If they could get down to the sewer level and past the bomb proof doors there was still a chance of pulling this off. She removed the rucksack and staggered in that direction. Korse remained screaming and writhing in the room, its demented agony had taken him past seeing or knowing that the two women were even still there.
Crimson tried hard to help, managing to force her legs down the flights of stairs until they reached the sub-basement. It was impossible to breathe, everything now screaming to give up and let the cold darkness have her if only it meant the pain would stop. She half watched Rainbow prime and set the bomb, slipping in and out of consciousness.
“Just…go…tell him I love him.”
“No.”
“You won’t get out before it goes off. The timer is only ten minutes.”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP. I am not leaving you so save your energy.”
Rainbow slapped her hard and pointed at the word garage spray painted into the wall. She checked the bomb one last time and then hauled a protesting Crimson to her feet, almost dragging her through the door and into the damp underground car park. There were many vehicles, all of them dark and silent, the passage way to the blast doors and exits tantalisingly close if only she could get one of them to start.
Crimson finally passed out in the passenger seat, leaving Rainbow to rip the casing from the steering mount of the first car they came to. It was a Camaro like their own had been, normally wiring it would be easy but she was bleeding and her hands felt heavy and sweaty. It felt like precious moments were ticking away until the car finally roared into life. Slamming it into drive, Rainbow gunned the car down the passageway, searching for the way to the surface. It must have been five minutes now, the realisation that she might not make it made terror race through her veins even when the blast doors came into view.
Rainbow drove the car through and skidded to a halt, her hand flung out of the car to hit the close switch on the huge metal doors. They were feet thick and slow, she left the clanging metal still closing and pushed the pedal again. There was no guarantee that the door would hold, less that the passages would take the blast. If the dome above failed then everyone in a ten mile radius would die within seconds but it was too late now. The game would have to be played out.
“Crim ? Talk to me ? You still there ?”
There was no sound as the car broke out into the fresh air, the surrounding area seemed empty and dark. Only the interior of the dome showed flickering flames and dancing lights although the stars were out in the sky and in the distance Rainbow would see the dim lights of the settlements. She kept the car surging forward at ninety, desperate to put as much room between her and that city as she could before the bomb went off. She glanced at Crimson, terribly scared now that it was too late and all she was doing was bringing Party a body home to bury.
Still she drove, not even hearing the sound when the sky lit up like a thousand suns. Rainbow shut her eyes and screamed, the car veering wildly on the dirt road and then leaving it, tumbling and turning over and over until everything went black……………

“We leave letters in the mailbox for those we lost. I can’t tell you if it was a price that was worth paying. We have left too many letters here since Battery City burned and I will feel the guilt forever that not everyone made it out. As we commemorate the last of our brothers and sisters in this way and look to the future I can only tell you that I hope it was and they didn’t die in vain.”
Party Poison paused, his hazel eyes filled with pain as he surveyed his killjoy family in front of him. Kobra was on crutches, supported by Blood who was also bruised and battered but determined never to leave his side again. Jet stood to the other side alone, his face a mask of pain at having lost Cascade in the carnage of the battle. Those around him were fewer, the losses had been large but none to the bomb, they had all managed to get out in time. Dr D was there too, Show Pony sombre at the last ot ten ceremonies to remember the dead. Ghoul stood by the mailbox, the last of the letters pushed inside.
In the distance the pure black dome of Battery City still swirled and sparked like a huge snowglobe. They had emptied and fenced Zone One as a precaution against seeping radiation, the new Killjoy Council organising and ready for the BLI revenge when it came. The foe had not been vanquished, it remained powerful in other places but a bodyblow had been dealt and so far there had been no reprisals.
“The war isn’t over but remember, the aftermath is secondary. We go forward and we will live free for however long it takes.”
There were nods in the crowd and everyone seemed to pause, feeling the warm breeze on their skin. It was good to be alive, to remember the dead and celebrate the living. Party felt old, he was done with this and there had been too much loss. His train of thought was interrupted by the squal of car tyres and a very familiar voice.
“Will you fucking hurry up ? Neon opened up Hedonism again and I fucking need a drink Goddamn tight ass nurses won’t even left me have a snifter !”
“Crim, those nurses pulled enough shrapnel out of you to rebuild Korse. Show some gratitude.”
“I love you Rainbow but that car crash nearly took your head off and you got beer.”
Party pulled Ghoul up and started toward the Trans Am to end the argument. He had spent weeks watching over both of them and yet here they were. Crimson Suicide and Rainbow Revolver in all their glory, battered and bruised but never broken. Both men were smiling, Kobra and Jet joining them as Party pulled open the door and stared.
Crimson still had an IV in her arm and what looked like handcuffs on her wrist, Rainbow was driving his car with two black eyes and some suspicious alcoholic beverage tucked under her arm. He mock snarled.
“I am never letting you drive again. Now let’s go get pissed.”
The sun shone over the desert, whatever happened to the world now was in its own hands. The killjoys headed out into the future united and as one. The future was indeed bulletproof.

Notes

I hope you all enjoy :)