John

I breathed deeply as the images invaded my mind again. Instructions. Korse had been sure to implant them in my brain before he was… ghosted. I took another deep breath and looked around the murky cell. It was dark and damp. My stomach rolled as I felt the drug slowly beginning to wear off. Something was nagging at the back of my mind…. Something I was supposed to remember…. Something as if from a strange dream…. I poked at the memory, but quickly had to pull back. It was painful to even try. I was trying to remember my first day at the academy…. The day I met Fun Ghoul…. I had been sneaking behind some doors and had overheard something I wasn’t supposed to hear. Another person…. Yes…. Another person that would take over for Korse when….

Pain. I curled myself up into a ball as it ran through my whole body. I was heaving as I got an inhuman desire to throw up. Throw up… what? I didn’t have any food in my stomach at all. I was starving. I took hold of the bars in the cell with my right hand and dragged myself closer to them. Everything was blurry, but I could make out a dark shape.

“Can I… can I please have something to eat?”

The shake got closed to reveal Kobra’s outline. He crouched until he was face to face with me. There was a fire burning in his eyes.

“How do you feel?” He asked in a sugar voice.

All of my nerves quickly lit up. He sounded like…. Korse.

“Just let me out of here….”

“I won’t let you kill my brother. Suggest that again, and I’ll skin you alive.”

I gulped and brought my hand down from the bars. I was so tired….

“Just close your eyes and sleep already.” Kobra said softly.

I looked up.

“Korse would be so proud….” I whispered.

“SHUT UP!”

Kobra reached though the bars and grabbed me by my shirt collar. I was too tired to even gag. Kobra… Kobra… it had been something about Kobra…. Korse had been talking about…. I was pushed away from the memory and back into reality.

“Korse has always known you’re special.” I said to Kobra “Your brother is… fine…. But YOU have talent.”

A moment of doubt. His hand softened its grip.

“Just let me out…” I continued “I’ll never come back. I’ll tell you everything that you need to know and you’ll be the hero. They’ll have to look up to you. Face it, Poison won’t live for long if-“

His grip tightened and I tried something else.

“I’m just saying, you are more leader material than Poison. The killjoys need a leader. They’re breaking apart.”

“That’s not true.”

“If I see him, I might know how to get a cure…. He won’t have to die…. You’ll save him. He needs you. I’m fighting, Kobra. I promise not to hurt Party…. But you have to help ME before I can help YOU.”

I expected Kobra’s hand to tighten and finish choking me to death, but it softened. I fell to the cement ground as Kobra put his fingers on the lock. He had the keys in his hand.

“This is a trap…. And I’m falling for it, aren’t I?”

“You’re doing the right thing.” I assured him, my eyes on his shaking hands “I can help Party. Trust me.”

The lock clanked as the door swung open with a rusty creak. Kobra was standing outside, breathing hard and shaking his head. I gestured for him to help me up. He leaned down and took my hand. Then, he pulled me to my feet. The ground seemed so far away…. My stomach rolled again. I was supposed to do something now…. I saw my hand automatically moving to the back of his neck. There, I shoved my thumb into the base of his skull. He hissed and fell before he could do anything about it. I held on to the bars to keep myself on my feet. Why had I just done that? I needed to get him help….

I tried to move, but my feet refused to respond. My eyes were on the gun he wore on his belt. I reached for it and soon had it in my hands. It was so warm….

“No.” I said to my hands “Stop….”

But I couldn’t.

“I’M GOING TO KILL HIM!” I screamed as loud as I could.

A second of silence. If someone didn’t come down soon…. I pointed the gun at my own head.

No…. kill him. You’ll be free…. He didn’t do anything, he’s trying to help, please don’t make me do this…. You are going to kill him and then Poison. No, I won’t…. I’m not a murderer. You became a murdered the second you stepped in here. Kill him!

I fired the gun. A couple of inches away from his head. The voice in my head cussed and told me to aim again. I fired. Centimeters from his chest. I fired again, this time on my foot. Again and again.
It had all been a lie. I couldn’t save Party. I was sick myself. Any moment now, I would fade into the white and somebody else would take control of my body. Surely, Party’s wasn’t that advanced, but it would be soon. I pried the gun from my own hand and threw it across the room. Then, I held on to the bars to keep myself from going after it.

“Kobra….” I urged “You have to wake up…. I don’t know how much longer I can control myself.”

---

Missle Kid

I bounded into Party’s room. He lay in bed with his eyes closed. There was an ice pack on his forehead as his fever raged on. I shook his arm. He didn’t respond. I shook it again.

“Party…?”

His eyelids were twitching. I looked at the monitors. I didn’t know how to read them, but nothing looked out of the ordinary.

“Party…. You have to wake up. I have your medicine.”

He didn’t move. I took his hand. Still warm, but weak. I opened the small bottle and poured its contents into a spoon. I then poured it into Party’s mouth. His eyes still hadn’t opened. I shook him again.

“Party. You have to wake up now. DR.D!”

Dr. D wheeled into the room and looked at the machines. He frowned.

“There’s nothing wrong…. Party. Can you hear me? You need to wake up now.”

Nothing. Then, a scream. I covered my ears as the loudest scream I had ever heard erupted from Party’s mouth. A scream of pain, torture and pure utter terror. His hand tightened on mine as he began to toss and turn.

“Party! It’s a dream! You have to wake up!” I screamed, trying to wrench my hand from his grasp.

He was holding it too tightly and it was turning purple.

Then, his eyes opened. He blinked a couple of times, then released my hand.

“Party? How do you feel?”

“I….I….I…”

There were tears in his eyes. Dr.D wheeled out of the room while I held Party’s hand firmly. In less than a minute, the guys came back. All except Kobra. Pink ran to Party’s side and hugged him. He was out of breath and shaking still. We all sat around him quietly until he got his breath back.

“I… I couldn’t wake up… I COULDN’T WAKE UP! COULD HEAR YOU GUYS CALLING ME, BUT I COULDN’T WAKE UP!”

Everyone was worried. Party’s hear rate increased and he gritted his teeth.

“Party.” Dr. D asked “Are you in pain?”

A tear ran down Party’s eye. He nodded. There was cold sweat on his forehead.

“Just kill me. I can’t take this anymore. I won’t be myself the next time I wake up…. Dr. D.”

“Is that an order?”

“Yes. I’m still the leader. That’s an order.”

Notes