(Venom Nightmare’s POV)
I’d managed to get Violet Tiger back to camp and conscious enough for us both to get to fight class. She refused to tell me how she ended up passed out in the desert. I don’t ask too many questions, knowing it’s not my place. If Violet doesn’t want to tell me everything there isn’t anything I can do about it. I just hope that if it’s something serious she’ll eventually open up. She’s too tough for her own good.

A girl with bright red hair appears in front of us. A murmur goes up through the students. Neon Sun is supposed to teach this class. What the hell had happened to keep her away? A stern look from the female in front of us quickly quiets the recruits.

“Welcome to fight class! I’m Atomic Bomb. This is your very first class, so - ” Fun Ghoul walks up behind her –“as Ghoul will tell you, much like after you sleep with a stripper, prepare to get tested!”

She looks to the black haired teacher, smiling at him. He crinkles up his nose at her but says nothing. Violet Tiger shifts her weight from foot to foot, eyes fixed on the ground. She’s been fidgety and weird ever since she woke up in the barracks. Maybe I shouldn’t have moved her, but it didn’t look like she was going to wake up anytime soon and I was worried that she’d get heat stroke if I just let her lie in the sun. I thought about telling one of the teachers, but decided against it. The older blonde seems to not mind having me around and I don’t want to change that. She’ll be a good ally to have.

“So, who’s ready to get their butts handed to them?” Ghoul questions, a smile plastered on his face.

“Me,” I answer, stepping forward. “I doubt you’ll kick me anywhere.”

“Atomic,” Ghoul gestures to me. “This one is Neon’s protégés.”

The redhead gives me a mischievous smile. I keep direct eye contact as I quickly pull my blonde hair into a high ponytail. Thinking she can catch me off guard, the teacher lunges. I step out of the way a second before impact, sending her flying face first into the dirt. I fake a bored yawn.

Atomic Bomb jumps to her feet, throwing a punch. I grab her hand, and pull her arm behind her back. Her foot makes contact with my shin. The female spins out of my hold, trying to kick me in the side. I grab her foot and twist it around. As she starts to fall Atomic grabs me, twisting in the air so that I land on my back. Rolling her over I keep her pinned down.

“Good job,” Fun Ghoul says as I climb off the instructor.

I shrug before taking my place beside Violet. She smirks at me, obviously seeing that I’d given Ghoul the cold shoulder.

“You’re amazing,” Violet mumbled to me, picking at the skin around her nails. “Honestly, I’m really impressed.”

“I don’t appreciate the sarcasm,” I answer back.

Violet abandons her nails to fix her eyes on me. They still kind of freak me out, especially when I wake up in the middle of the night and see them glowing in the little light that filters into the barracks. “I’m not being sarcastic, Venom. I mean that. You’re amazing. I hope you can give Neon a run for her money when she’s brave enough to show her face in class.”

“What happened with her and Party?”

Violet shrugs, “I’m not really sure I’m supposed to say.”

I roll my eyes at her, frustrated that she doesn’t trust me with this secret. I’ve not told anyone about the extra food she gives me, “Honestly?”

Violet puts her lips close to my ear, tickling me just a little, “He hit her.”

I let out a shocked gasp. Party Poison hit Neon Sun? He just doesn’t seem like that type. I try to wrap my head around what Violet Tiger has said as more kids are cycled through the fighting. Tiger is the last one. Shrugging out of her vest, the blonde walks forward in just her shorts and half tank.

Atomic Bomb steps forward but my friend shakes her head, turning to look at Fun Ghoul. The female instructor goes to protest but Ghoul has already stepped forward, accepting Violet’s challenge. I hope she beats his ass. From what I’ve gathered he was none to nice to her after what went down this morning.

I watch as Violet flies at our male teacher. He isn’t prepared and she gets him on the ground. He rolls his weight, flipping her on her back. I push forward in the crowd to get a better view.

“That’s more like it,” Fun Ghoul quips at her. “I always have enjoyed being on top.”

Violet brings her knee to her chest, kicking Fun Ghoul in the stomach, “Really? I pegged you more as a bottom.”

“You’re such a brat!” Ghoul answer back, before lunging at the blonde’s feet. She falls backwards, twisting in the air so that she lands on her shoulder.

The both of them scramble to their feet. Fun Ghoul is just a second faster than Violet Tiger. He goes to kick her but she gets hold of his foot, flipping him as she gets to her feet. Instead of pinning him down my friend lets the male instructor stand back up, obviously not done with him yet.

“Round two?”

“Is there any other way to do it?” Violet questions with a wink before spinning around and getting Fun Ghoul in the butt.

He growls before throwing a punch. Violet ducks, Ghoul’s fist barely missing her face. Violet throws her foot out but Fun jumps over it, twisting around in the air, trying to grab Violet and bring her down. She steps out of the way, causing the teacher to fall to the ground.

“Tired yet?” she questions.

“You wish.”

Violet smirks, “Oh…this was just a warm up.” Her fist flies forward, making contact with Fun Ghoul’s jaw. For a second he actually looks shocked, as if he didn’t think that Tiger would actually punch him.

I laugh a little.

Violet uses this moment of shock to her advantage, she throws herself at Fun Ghoul. Bringing them both to the ground. She makes sure he lands on his back. Ghoul throws his fist up, a punch landing on Violet’s cheek. A few kids gasp but the blonde doesn’t seem phased. She punches him back.

Atomic steps in, “Okay….” She looks like she doesn’t really know how to handle the situation. I wonder how old she is.

“Done already?” Fun Ghoul says to Violet, a smirk set on her face.

As she walks back to the group she glances over her shoulder, “To be honest you just weren’t holding my attention.”

She collapses into my hug, the two of us breaking into a fit of giggles. I make eye contact with a very shocked looking Fun Ghoul, flipping him off. “Don’t fuck with her.” I mouth.

He thrusts his hips back and forth, receiving a slap in the back of his head from Atomic Bomb. She mumbles something about behaving appropriately in front of students.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me you were capable of that?!” I demand of Violet as we’re all dismissed.

She laughs a little, flopping down across her bunk before answering me. “Wasn’t me showing you a lot more fun that me telling you?”

A granola bar is fished out of her bin under the bed. She breaks it in a half, giving me one. For a little we sit on the bed. Violet has got the pillow I stole from Fun Ghoul’s room propped against the bars that act as a headboard – ladder combination. She’s still worried he’s going to come in here and get her in trouble for having it. I’d take the fall if it came down to that.

“How’s your face?” I question. Violet Tiger has a nice bruise forming where Fun Ghoul’s fist made contact.

She shrugs, “Honestly I don’t feel any pain.”

I frown at her, wondering if she’s just putting on a tough act.

“Honestly Venom, I’m fine,” Violet says, obviously seeing my skeptical look.

“You two, come with me,” the voice of a male cuts through the block. I whip my head around seeing Party Poison standing in the doorway. Violet links her pinky with mine as we head towards whatever hell is awaiting us on the other side of the door.

(Violet Tiger’s POV)
We’re escorted into a large room. There are four chairs lined up with spotlights hanging over them. Two other kids are already sitting in the creaky looking wooden chairs. Party Poison’s hand curls around my shoulder as I’m roughly pushed down into the seat. It groans its protest but holds. This must be the interrogation portion of our initial training process. I heard a few kids talking about it earlier in the block.

“Easy, Party…wouldn’t want to damage the merchandise.” Fun Ghoul walks out of the dark, moving a few strands of my hair away from my face, his fingers lingering on my neck for a second too long. I let my teeth morph into razors before going to bite him. The man, who is wearing his Frankenstein mask, a few of his dark hairs sticking out from under the purplely plastic, pulls his hand away quickly.

“Someone’s feisty,” he says before stepping back.

I growl at him as my hands are tied behind my back. While this happens I glance over at Venom Nightmare. She looks bored, as if this whole thing is beneath her. I’m glad this isn’t freaking her out. I can only imagine how some of the younger kids are going to react to the interrogation training.

“Much like ideas, training can be forced on you. Get over it now!” Party Poison says in a rather cheery voice. I’d like that slap that half smile off his face. How the hell is he enjoying this? Then again he’s not the one tied to a chair.

“So, let’s get right to it,” that’s Atomic Bomb. She comes out of the shadows carrying a big metal bucket. She stops in front of Lithium Flame. He keeps his eyes on the ground, breathing heavily. “So, first question. What is you name?”


“Dan-” She throws the contents of the bucket on him. Thankfully is looks like it’ just water.

“Wrong answer!” She yells, putting her face within inches of his. Jet Star comes and collects the empty bucket, bringing it back a few seconds later; it’s full again. “What. Is. Your. Name.”

“It’s Daniel!” the boy yells. I watch as Atomic slaps Lithium across his face. He looks stunned. I don’ know why he can’t get it through his head that you’re never supposed to give BLI your real name. Once they have that they can destroy you, finding anyone who is close to you and using them as a weapon to break you down.

“Wrong answer! I’ll ask you one more time!” Party Poison has taken over from Atomic Bomb now. “What’s your name?”

“I told you its Daniel!” he yells back. “Daniel Jacobs!” Party’s hand lands on Flame’s cheek.

“Wrong answer!” Party growls.

“Remember, you don’t ever tell the enemy your real name,” Jet Star coaches as Party Poison slowly walks up and down our row of seats.

He gets in my face. I stare back as him, a defiant look on my face. He can try whatever he wants. None of this is going to faze me. Once you’ve experienced the real thing no simulation could even come close. A figure dressed in a grey trench coat moves from the shadows. Suddenly, I’m face to face with Korse. How in the hell? I try to reason through this. Someone I’ve not seen at the Academy must look similar. Maybe this is someone from the towns. Shifting my gaze around I notice a colorful piece of string wrapped around Korse’s wrist. Clever trick.

“Where’s the Academy?” the fake Korse demands. “Tell me or I’ll have your family killed.”

“You’d have to bring them all back from whatever hole in the ground you buried them in the first time. And, if you’re referring to my traitor of a brother, well – ” I let out a quick laugh – “well if you find him I’ll gladly kill him for you. Besides, Neon Sun, you don’t scare me.”

“How did you know?” she asks.

“Maybe next time you should remember to take all your bracelets off,” I answer. Her hand flies to her wrist, fingers curling around the piece of string.

Neon Sun transforms back into her normal self. She’s got a slightly swollen eye, but whatever kind of modifications that allow her to change her image have obviously come in handy with hiding whatever damage Party Poison did to her earlier.

Sun hold out her hand, “Jet Star, may I have your lighter.”

He digs around in his pocket for a second before pulling it out. Neon Sun flips it open, producing a flame. She brings it close to Venom Nightmares face. Venom jerks away a little but if she’s scared of the exercise there isn’t any evidence on her face.

“What is the purpose of the Academy?”

“To fuck up people like you!” Venom answers, spitting in Neon’s face.

Suddenly all the lights in the room come on. Our hands are untied. I stand up slowly, waiting for there to be more. Lithium Flame and another boy that I’ve never seen before leave; Venom and I are the only ones left. I stare at Fun Ghoul, waiting for the teachers to advance on us or start more interrogation. Nothing happens.

“You two are middleclassjoys which means you can’t live in the KIT block anymore. You’ll be moved to Block I along with the other protégés. We expect you to be moved in by the time your next training exercise starts,” Party Poison informs us.

“And when is that?” I question.

Fun Ghoul smirks at me, “That’s for us to know and you to figure out.”

I flip him off, starting to head past him. Before I can the instructor catches my arm, spinning me around so that I’m facing him.

“I want my pillow back,” Ghoul hisses at me.

I blink back up at him, “I’ve not the slightest idea what you’re talking about.” With that I head towards the door, twirling around to give him a wink and blow a kiss before heading out of the building and back into the afternoon sun.

Venom and I gather up what little belongings we have, shoving them into my bag. Block I is almost all the way across the camp from the KIT barracks.

Our new block looks almost identical to the KIT block. Instead of bunk beds there are cots lining the walls. In the middle of the room is a row of shelves. There are milk crates sitting on them, each with a number. The number matches the bed number. I shove my stuff in basket number 1. Dumping some of my snacks onto the corresponding bed. There are a few fans in the corners of the building. Although it isn’t the air conditioning in the instructor’s block, it helps fight off some of the heat.

“Well, I guess it’s an improvement on where we used to live,” Venom laughs as I place Fun Ghoul’s pillow on my bed. “At least I won’t have to let all the blood run to my head when I want to talk to you.”

I laugh at her comment, “Want to get lunch?”

“More Power Pup? I think I’ll pass,” Venom Nightmare scrunches up her nose.

Rolling my eyes I pull out a tube of peanut butter and hold it out for her, “At least come sit with me so I don’t look like a loser with no friends.”

“You could sit with Fun Ghoul,” she answers with a laugh as we head towards the mess hall. “Or on him, if you prefer that.”

I slap her in the shoulder, “You’re disgusting.”

(Fun Ghoul’s POV)
I sit in the mess hall, my spoon continuing to stir the contents of my can around. Usually, I’m hungry enough to get over the sandy re-fried bean texture but today I just can’t. My stomach is doing somersaults and my head pounds. Someone, probably a student, told Neon Sun about the comments Violet Tiger and I exchanged during fight training this morning. I was told she would be talking to me later today. I can only imagine how that’s going to go.

The blonde seems to be oblivious. She’s sitting at the middleclassjoy table with a green-eyed girl. They’re laughing about something, Violet Tiger, leaning her shoulder against her friends. The other blonde tucks a strip of her hair under her nose, holding it in place by curling her upper lip a little. The girls fall into another fit of laughter.

This ends quickly as Party Poison approaches them. Violet stands up, her eyes shifting in my direction. She looks worried, an emotion I’ve not ever seen on her before. It’s different and not in a good way. Party motions for me to follow them as he walks past; he looks angry.

“What’s going on?” Violet Tiger asks we as we follow behind my best friend.

“We’re in trouble for comments that were made during fight,” I respond, keeping my voice low. I’m positive we aren’t supposed to be talking to each other right now.

Party leads us towards the small building where the council is located. Upon walking in I see Neon, Jet, and Kobra already sitting behind a fold out table. Gerard pulls out two chairs for Violet and myself before taking his seat on the council. It feels weird to be on this side of it. I now understand why most kids are terrified to get called in. The instructors look pretty fucking intimidating under the row of lights.

Kobra Kid stands up, clearing his throat, “Fun Ghoul and Violet Tiger…you have been called in front of the Killjoy council due to actions deemed inappropriate between a teacher and a student. Would either of you like to say anything on your behalf before the council decides you punishment?”

“Yeah, this is bullshit,” Violet answers her arms crossed over her chest, one foot resting on the edge of her chair. “I’m not even sure why I’m here because Ghoul was the one who started it this morning at training.”

“You challenged me,” I protest. There’s no way she’s forcing me to take all the blame for this.

“You accepted. Shouldn’t you have stepped down and insisted that I fight Atomic Bomb?”

“You just wanted an excuse to roll around on the ground with me.”

“If I wanted to roll around on the ground with you all I’d need to do is ask, and we both know it!” Violet answers back, standing up, her chair falling backwards and hitting the floor.

“You wish! You think you’re so hot. Has it ever occurred to you that I might not be interested?”

“Well if you aren’t you’re doing a terrible job of showing it.”

She’s inches away from me now. I could reach out and take a handful of her hair and pull her lips to mine. For a second I think about it, wondering what the consequences would be. Exile? Fine, we’d both be kicked out together. I wouldn’t have to hide the fact that all I want to do is press my lips to her cherry red ones; that all I want is to hear her moan under my touch.

“Both of you stop!” Neon’s voice cuts through the tension in the air like a knife. She’s standing, eyes a blood red color. “This is ridiculous. If I were the only instructor up here right now I’d kick you both out. The others don’t agree.”

I turn to look at the blonde standing behind the table.

Violet turns to Neon, “You’re just upset because he’s finally getting over you!”

“That’s it!” Party Poison snarls. “Violet Tiger you will get up and begin your run thirty minutes before everyone else…Jet Star will over see this. Fun Ghoul for the next month you will run with me anytime I want. Until further notice the two of you are not to be alone together. Any time you are going for training there will be another instructor or student with you. Neon will decide when she thinks the both of you can control yourselves enough to be able to conduct normal protégé training.”

To be honest I’m not as upset by this outcome as I thought I’d be. A usual punishment for any kind of inappropriate behavior between a student and teacher is the student getting expelled. At least Violet gets to stay and we still get to see each other. For some reason Party has decided to go easy on both of us. Maybe because we didn’t actually do anything but shoot a few sexual innuendos at each other.

Violet kicks over my chair before stalking towards the door. I almost follow her, but am stopped by Party Poison. He places his hands on my shoulders, hazel eyes set on mine. After everyone else leaves he begins to talk. “Frank, what the hell are you thinking? She’s a student…a student that all of us are watching very closely. Atomic told us about the comments. Honestly I wasn’t shocked, but it sat wrong with a few of the other instructors. Especially Neon Sun.”

“Why am I not surprised,” I respond, avoiding making eye contact with my best friend. He’s obviously trying to teach me a lesson here and I’m not interested in learning. I want to find Violet before she does something stupid or runs away.

“Just follow the rules we set up, Fun. You have no idea how hard I had to fight to keep you both here.”

I sigh, finally looking into Gerard’s eyes, “Why?”

He chews on his bottom lip for a second, “I just want you to be happy. You’ve been so upset about what happened between you and Sun. I know that you’re just flirting with that girl to try and make her jealous. Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

“What if I really like her Party? What if she reminds me of someone who used to make me really happy?”

Gerard scrunches up his nose, his lips purse together like they always do when he’s thinking. We both know whom I’m talking about, even if he doesn’t want to admit it. “Just please follow the rules, Frank. We can discuss an exception once Sun decides you two can handle yourselves,” with that he turns and walks towards the door.

“Yeah,” I mumble under my breath, running my hand through my hair, “like that’ll happen anytime soon.”

Notes