Detonators (Gerard Way/Party Poison)

Chapter 26

Song to listen to while reading: My Only One by All Time Low

It was two months since Kobra Kid and I's talk, and we had started to adjust. Our new "normal" was unsettling. There were no more dracs, so going on patrol was useless. Our whole lives had been  centered around taking down Better Living, and now that we had, it seemed largely anticlimactic.

I turned my attitude around. Faking a smile was better than not smiling at all. Around Ghoul and Kobra, I settled back into my old self. After a while, it became much too tiring to keep being sad, and the three of us had decided that we were done; we had to keep going.

It took a while, but we slowly began piecing ourselves back together. Despite what Kobra had said, my hallucinations never completely left.

During the day, we were all strained smiles and forced laughter, but at night, things were different. That's when we fell apart. In the dead of night, I could hear Kobra Kid's agonizing screams for his brother. Ghoul would let out strangled cries for Jet and Silver, his sobs echoing around the empty diner.

I would lay silently, begging for sleep, when my dreams were as vivid as the present. But I feel into an old habit, and would not be able to sleep without seeing the moon. It seemed trivial after all that had happened, but I really didn't care. So I would often find myself on the roof of the old diner, my feet hanging off of the ledge as I looked up at the moon, all alone. It was peaceful.

"Toxic Torrent! What the hell are you doing on the roof?" A voice yelled from below, waking me from the first peaceful sleep I've had in months.

I groggily opened my eyes and felt the warm rays of the morning sun on my face. I slowly sat up from my position on the roof and peeked over the edge, looking down to see the small figure of Fun Ghoul looking up at me.

"Why did you wake me up? I was perfectly content up here until you showed up!" I sassed.

"You are freaking insane, Tox. You could've fallen off, and then Kobra would've made me clean up your guts and that's just gross. Plus, then I'd have to live all alone with him, and we both know that you're the only person who keeps us from killing each other sometimes, and then-"

"Okay, okay, I'll try not to fall asleep up here again. Better?"

"Yes,"

"You two are impossible sometimes. Do I need to come down now?"

"Yes,"

I rolled my eyes before climbing down and meeting Ghoul and Kobra in the diner.

"This better be important," I said. "Because he woke me up, and we all know how wonderful I can be after waking up."

"Killjoys are rebuilding Battery City," Kobra voiced quietly.

That shut me up real quick. But then I got curious.  "What? Like with the citizens? Are they trying to build a functioning society? How? Are they going to-"

"I don't know," he continued, cutting me off. "I was wondering if you guys wanted to go check it out, see if we could help or at least see what they're doing."

"No." I said, with more edge than I had intended. "I'm not going back there."

"Toxic, we should at least see if," Ghoul added.

"No." I repeated. "I'm not going back there . You two can go, I'll stay here. But I can't go back there. I can't fall apart again, there's so much there."

"But-" Ghoul started, but quickly shut up when Kobra gave him a death glare.

"We understand," the blonde said, giving me a small smile. "We're going to go check it out. We should be back by tomorrow night. Will you be okay?"

I nodded. "I'm sorry guys. But you have to tell me how they're doing out there, and tell Radio I say hi," I mentioned, referring to an old acquaintance of mine.

"Will do, don't do anything stupid." Ghoul said.

"When have I ever done anything stupid?" I laughed.

They both gave me a glare before laughing and piling into the trans-am.

"Seriously Tox, you'll be okay?" Kobra asked from the driver's seat. I nodded. "Okay, we'll be back soon."

And then they sped off into the heated desert, Ghoul obnoxiously screaming, "I LOVE YOU, TOXIC!" out of his window. I watched them fade into the landscape before turning back into the diner to decide what I would do with the rest of my day.

I ended up taking my motorcycle out for a ride through the zones, which were all empty now due to all of the Killjoys going into Battery City. It was quite peaceful, not having to worry about draculoids or S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W trying to track me down and kill me. It was weird, but I almost missed the rush of a good patrol or trying to beat the dracs. Maybe I really was going crazy.

I started to run out of fuel about an hour later, and began to head back home. Once it started to get dark, I decided to turn in early, and, in compliance to the promise I had made the boys, slept in my room, not on the top of the roof. I had tried to sleep in the room as little as possible since Party Poison died, since it just wasn't the same, but decided I would try tonight.

"Don't worry, we'll be together soon," the redheaded boy said from the other side of the room.

"Are implying that I'm going to die soon, Party Poison?" I remarked.

"It could mean a variety of things,"

"When in the hell did you get so cryptic? And I better not die soon-the boys can't take care of themselves, you know that."

He laughed, his hazel eyes lighting up. It had been weeks since I had last seen him, and he looked so real this time. It was painful, but I played along, letting my sanity go for a few minutes.

"Why'd you have to leave?" I asked, turning the mood somber. His smile fell.

"There's some things we'll never understand." he said sadly, walking over to me, and sitting next to me on our bed. We filled the night with laughter and small talk, ignoring reality.

I eventually fell asleep, and my bright haired boy left, saying that he needed to "Go back." Whatever that meant.

I awoke to the chatter of voices, and decided that it was Ghoul and Kobra, who had probably returned from their trip to Bat City. But their was another voice that sounded all too familiar. Maybe it was an old friend of mine from before the wars, Radio Silence.

"I don't know if we should tell her..." I heard Kobra Kid's voice say.

"Why not? I think I should be able to see her!" The other voice, who I had yet to pinpoint, fought.

"No, you don't understand. She's... Changed." Ghoul added.

"Maybe we should wait a little bit before we let Toxic know," Kobra continued. The other voice fought against him, but Kobra shut him down yet again.  "I want to tell her too, but I don't think it's smart!"

Tired of listening to the boys try to think for me, I walked into the diner, determined to find out who I wasn't supposed to see.

"Toxic!" Ghoul and Kobra said at once as I walked in.

I looked at the Killjoy who had invaded our small diner. A ball of lead dropped in my stomach. I felt sick.

"Um, hi, Toxic Torrent," the Killjoy says softly, with a small wave and an unsure smile.

"Party Poison?"

A/N: I know, this is fillery and suckish, and I'm sorry.  But, in other news, I really love cliffhangers.  Like reallllyyyyyyy love writing them, and I'm sorry.  But things are going to get very interesting, and we are almost at the end of this fic!  

But guys, I'm seeing All Time Low and Sleeping with Sirens next week and I'm so excited I can't even.

School sucks, so you can blame my teachers and homework for my lack of updates.  

Also, EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES?!  Beebo is amazing I hate him he is ruining my life.  

Stay rad!

~S