"Party!"

Gerard turned away from the city to see Fun Ghoul rushing towards him from where the cars rested. When he was just a few feet away, Fun Ghoul nearly tripped as he slowed himself. Gerard looked the killjoy over, noting a deep cut on Fun Ghoul's cheek, as well as, purple forming around one of his eyes.

"Party..." Fun Ghoul kneeled beside Gerard, reaching out and swiping at something with his thumb. "You're bleeding."

Gerard nodded. So the trickling down his face must have been blood. That made sense.

Fun Ghoul ripped the bandanna he usually wore away from his neck. He dabbed it gently along the size of Gerard's face before reaching up to tie it around his head. "You look like you took a hard hit, my motor baby."

Gerard shut his eyes. The bandanna stung against the spot he must have been bleeding from.

"Party, talk to me." Fun Ghoul's hand cupped Gerard's cheek. "Are you okay? You're scaring me."

Gerard opened his eyes. Fun Ghoul was right in front of him. His concerned expression eased just slightly when Gerard met his eyes.

Gerard opened his mouth, but shut it before uttering a word. Was he okay? Was anyone okay? His eyes flicked to the crash scene behind Fun Ghoul. "The others..." His voice came out cracked.

"They're back there." Fun Ghoul assured Gerard as he slid his thumb back and forth over the red head's cheek. "Some scrapes, some unconscious, but all alive."

Gerard nodded. Alive was good.

Fun Ghoul assisted Gerard to his feet, catching him when his legs threatened to buckle underneath him.

"You were right, Party." Fun Ghoul attempted to laugh as they slowly moved towards the vehicles, "That damn city was on the other side of the storm. It was some kind of super nature barrier."

As they drew closer to the vehicles, Gerard could begin to see his other friends. Ghosted Disturbance was under the hood of one of the less demolished cars while Silent Stike watched in a way that somehow seemed teasing by the way he angled himself. Demonic Devotee had an arm around Northern Downpour as the brown haired killjoy held his head with a look of pain on his face. The lenses on one of his sets of welder's goggles were cracked. Jet Star sat beside Rebel, who was slowly beginning to push herself upright.

Everyone was alive.

"Party Poison." Jet Star hurried to his feet as soon as he saw Fun Ghoul and Gerard approaching. "You were thrown so far, sir."

"I'll manage." Gerard flashed a weak smile. He leaned against one of the more beat up vehicles, shuddering at the chill it shot through him. He looked around at the others. "How is everyone?"

"Ready to Party, Mr. Poison." Silent declaired with a wink in Gerard's direction.

"We're still alive." Jet Star crossed his arms over his chest. "Northern was thrown out of his car too. Landed rough. Demonic's still checking him out."

Fun Ghoul made a noise that sort of sounded like a laugh. "Does he even have any med training?"

"More than you, asshole." Demonic shot back with a glare.

"Enough Bickering!" Gerard snapped. Fun Ghoul, who was already in the process of a retort, quickly shut his mouth. Gerard turned his attention to Ghosted. "Will we be able to take a car into the city?"

Silent leaned across the open hood of the car to tap Ghosted's back. The killjoy pulled himself out of the car. He was covered in dark oil and grease smudges that only spread as he attempted to wipe some of it off of his face. "What was that, sir?"

"Are any of the cars drivable?" Fun Ghoul repeated the question for Gerard.

Ghosted pushed his fingers through his hair. "I think this one," He patted the car he had been buried in just moments ago, "but yours is totaled and I haven't even checked Demonic's yet."

"Check it as soon as you can." Gerard ordered. His head felt fuzzy. The spot that was bleeding was beginning to throb. Maybe shock was wearing off? Had he been in shock?

"Yes, sir, Party Poison." Ghosted nodded.

"Do you need to sit down, sir?" Jet Star asked, looking Gerard up and down. Gerard bit the inside of his lip. He probably looked like shit.

Fun Ghoul stepped next to Gerard, leaning in to whisper in his ear. "Just say the word and we'll both start running."

Gerard's heart leapt with the words. It could be just the two of them in this universe, just like it always was... No... It wasn't always like this... He needed to get home, which was out of this universe.

"We'll make camp." Gerard declared. He needed time to collect himself and push the growing false memories away from his organic ones. "Ghosted needs time to check the cars and we could all use some rest before we barge into Battery City."

Fun Ghoul and Jet Star nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good." Gerard nodded, bringing his hand up to hold against his head. The throbbing was dull, but it was still a pain. He pushed off of the car he had been leaning against, stumbling just slightly. Before anyone could fuss over him, Gerard moved across the dust colored ground before setting himself down beside where Demonic and Northern were sitting.

Northern looked overly tired. He swayed where he sat while Demonic rubbed his back. Being up close to the two, Gerard could see additional scrapes and bruises that littered their exposed skin. His gut wrenched as he looked between them.

"How are you both?" Gerard asked.

Demonic shook his head. "I blacked out for a bit, but I'm fine." He turned to Northern. "He got it worse than I did."

"'M okay..." Northern mumbled, his eyelids drooping as he spoke.

"Liar." Demonic muttered, allowing a look of worry to flash over his expression before vanishing back into his usual hard expression.

Northern's head dropped forward before he snapped back upright. He seemed to be fighting to stay awake. It reminded Gerard of times before this when Ryan would fight to stay awake through whatever movie marathon the group would watching well into the night. He would always struggle to keep his head up, usually resorting to leaning on someone's shoulder until the inevitable loss of consciousness.

"At least he's alive." Gerard offered. At least they were all alive... Despite whatever 'better living' this game master wanted.

Demonic nodded. "That's somewhat of a bright side." He agreed.

They sat in silence for a few minutes after that. Fun Ghoul and Jet Star were locked in a discussion back by the second car. Silent still watched Ghosted work on the first car, making sly remarks that Gerard couldn't hear from where he sat. Rebel sat off from the group, looking towards the city with a blank expression.

Gerard shut his eyes. He wondered if she remembered like Ryan. She had said his name, his real name.

"Hey, Demonic!"

Gerard opened his eyes as many of the killjoys stood near the flipped car.

Silent wore a grin on his face as he focused his sight on Demonic. "We could use some of that supernatural strength, Demonic Devotee." He winked.

Demonic raised an eyebrow, but didn't move. Gerard noticed that he had also paused the movement of his hand on Northern's back.

"I'll watch him." Gerard offered, "I'm still a bit dizzy, otherwise I'd help."

Demonic looked unsure, but eventually nodded. "Thanks..." He muttered, quickly moving to avoid Gerard's gaze. He rose to his feet and hurried over to where the other killjoys stood, attempting to push the car back onto it wheels.

Gerard turned his gaze to Northern. The killjoy still swayed tiredly as he stared blankly at the sand. "You there?" Gerard asked, scooting closer to his friend.

The killjoy nodded. "Where else would I be?"

Gerard couldn't help the grin that tugged at his lips. "Who exactly am I talking to? Ryan or Northern?"

The killjoy blinked. "I... I don't know." He shut his eyes. "I... I know who Ryan is but... But is that me?"

The killjoy's hand shook at his side. Gerard reached out, placing his hand on top of his friend's trembling one. "Just focus on Ryan." Gerard urged. He could really use Ryan right now to help keep his grip with reality.

"I..." His eyes shut tighter, "I can't, Gerard..."

"Please, Ryan..." Gerard felt like begging. He was so sick of this twisted game. He just wanted his friends back. "Can you at least tell me about Better Living?"

Ryan's eyes snapped open at the mention of Better Living. "He's close." Ryan whispered.

"How close?" Gerard whispered his question, leaning closer to better hear Ryan. The other killjoys were being loud in their efforts to flip the car back onto its wheels.

Ryan lifted his head, shifting his gaze to look at the looming city ahead. "He knows you're coming, Gerard."

Gerard sucked in a breath. Ryan's gaze may have been on the city, but his eyes were so far away. "How do you know? How did he get in your head, Ryan?"

Ryan slowly shook his head. His eyelids drooped once again and his mouth barely moved as he muttered, "Better Living..."

"Ryan, please." Gerard brought his hand up Ryan's arm to grip his shoulder. "Fight it. Whatever he's doing to you, fight it!"

Ryan turned to face Gerard. He looked so lost and tired. "I've tried." He mumbled again before beginning to fall forward.

Gerard caught him before he could hit the ground, gently guiding his body to rest against the earth. What the hell had happened to Ryan?

Gerard gulped as a second question came to mind. Was that the path that he could be facing if he didn't escape?

"Is he alright?"

Rebel's voice didn't allow Gerard to dwell on the thought for very long. There was a sadness in her eyes as she crawled over.

"He reminds me of the strays, when they were first found..." She reached out and brushed some of Northern's wavy hair away from his face. "Exhausted. Disoriented. Lost..."

"Very lost..." Gerard agreed, "Though, I think we're all a bit lost."

Rebel sat next to Gerard, but didn't look at him. "I always feel it."

"Lost?"

Rebel nodded. "Sometimes I daydream of another life with another name where thing just feel..." She shrugged, "Better."

"What kind of name?" Gerard asked as Rebel rested her head against his shoulder. He had hope building in his chest as their conversation continued. How did she get sucked into this self awareness that he and Ryan felt? Could she help connect them?

Rebel sighed. "Nothing special. Just something that I can call mine, given to me by someone I love, rather than a title I chose for myself to survive."

Gerard wanted to ask more. He wanted to know if she actually knew her name. Why she had known his name. How she-

Gerard's thoughts were interrupted by the killjoys successfully flipping the car over and cheering.

Hopefully it would still run.

Gerard turned back to Rebel, hoping for some kind of answer to his questions, but her eyes were closed. Their conversation had come to a close before anything could truly be answered.