Show Pony

I had to hand Kobra Kid an oxygen mask to breathe into. He was still hyperventilating. Even after fifteen minutes, he was scared to death. It had taken me five tries to get him to settle down into a chair. John was lying in a small cot nearly next to Party. He was also in shock and breathing hard. We had found them both in the dark, screaming. There were scratch marks on Kobra’s arms and blood on his lips. Things just kept getting worse and worse….

Finally, we were all set. The guys had finally calmed down. Dr. D began to speak, but Kobra Kid cut him off.

“You said you can’t help me, John. But you can. How did you get sick?”

John’s eyes darted to Kobra and he gaped for a couple of seconds. Then, he hung his head and wrapped his arms around himself.

“About a month ago, Korse put something strange in my drink. He told me that something big was coming and that if I wanted to be a part of it, I should drink up. I… did. STUPID! I blacked out and woke up in my room two days later not being able to move my body, caked in blood and with my arms full of needles! The worst part, I don’t remember what happened. I don’t know what he did to me…. Or made me do….

John wrapped his arms tighter around himself and began to work suppressing sobs. There was a mad look in his eyes.

“So,” Kobra said “It was only one dose?”

“I don’t know. It could’ve been one; it could’ve been five… I never got those memories back.”

“When did you begin to… fade?” Dr. D asked softly.

“It was about two days later. I would black out in the middle of the day and wake up the next not remembering what I did. I told Korse about it. He said it was all part of the plan and that I shouldn’t try to remember anything….”

I stood up and put my hand on his back gently.

“Will that happen to Party?”

“I don’t know… very likely.”

Some coughing. Party was sitting up. I got away from John to help him. Everybody was tense as I propped him against the pillow. Coughs made him tremble. Then, he opened his eyes. A collective sigh of relief as we all saw the brilliant green iris.

“It’s me.” He said, looking around at all of us. Then, he looked at Dr. D “Will you do it, then?”

“I can’t do that, Party. We can still save you.”

“Promise me that if I lose it, you’ll kill me without a second thought.”

“NO!” Kobra roared.

I jumped out of the way as the chair crashed to the ground.

“Promise me Dr. D!” Party screamed.

The air froze as everybody looked from Kobra to Dr. D; A silent fight. Kobra’s eyes were shooting daggers. His fists were clenched. He was scary. Dr. D looked down at the floor.

“I promise, Party.”

“OH NO YOU DON’T! I WON’T LET YOU!”

“Kobra,” Party said “CALM THE FUCK DOWN! CAN’T YOU SEE WHY I’M DOING THIS?!”

“YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE US! NOT AFTER ALL WE’VE BEEN THROUGH!”

“You’re old enough to take care of yourself now. You don’t need me, Mikey.”

Kobra strutted up to the bed and pulled Party into a bone crushing hug.

“You’re my big brother…. I don’t wanna lose you…. I can’t let you die….”

The pain in his voice filled the room. Saw his eyes them wander over to Pink. She was silently staring at the floor. A flash of anger on Kobra’s face. He suddenly had her hair in his hands and she was screaming in pain. No one moved. No one wanted to cross Kobra.

“TALK HIM OUT OF IT!” he screamed into her face “YOU HAVE TO DO… something… please… do something…”

“Kobra,” Party said “There’s - “

His eyes went out of focus. Kobra released Pink, rushed to his brother, and laid him on the pillow. The heart monitor marked the slowing of Party’s heart rate. John screamed and buried his face into the pillow. We all looked at Party again. His face had picked up a sort of… malice. Then, as soon as it had arrived, it left. Party’s face was blank again, and then the eyes turned green.

“Kobra,” He said softly “I’m sorry, but when I lose myself completely, Dr. D is going to kill me. That’s final.”

“THAT’S NOT FAIR!” Kobra yelled, stomping his foot “YOU’RE VOLUNTARILY THROWING YOUR LIFE AWAY! HOW CAN YOU DO THIS? Don’t you… love me anymore? Don’t you love the killjoys?”

He then turned to Dr. D. and pursed his lips.

“That’s it, then? You’re just gonna let him commit suicide? I HATE YOU!”

Kobra ran out of the room. We all looked at the floor and Pink broke down.

“Everything will be fine.” Party said, stroking her hair “I won’t die. Not really. A true killjoy never dies….”

“Oh, stop it!” Pink screamed, pushing his hand away “We all need you! This has more to do than with being a killjoy! What about your killjoys? Your brother? What about… us?”

“I… I…” Party looked down at his hands.

This was all so….

“Pony?” Cherri whispered “You should go find Kobra. He needs somebody like you.

I nodded and stood up. Party still hadn’t answered Pink. Frustrated screams and sobs echoed off the hallways. Loud thumps. Poor thing… Party’s decision must be tearing him to shreds. I knocked on the door to his room softly. The noise stopped.

“LEAVE ME ALONE!”

“We need to talk.”

Without waiting for an answer, I stepped inside. things were thrown all about. Feathers from the pillows were everywhere. Kobra sat on the bed, with his arms full of new clawings and his face in his hands. I put one arm around his shoulder.

“He’s doing this because he wants to, you know.” I said, softly “It’s the first time he does something because he wants to. You HAVE to understand, Kobra.”

I could feel the strong quivers of Kobra sobbing softly into his hands. No sound. I pulled him close to me, wondering how I could possibly put him back together.

Notes

i pluck heartstrings