A Couple Days Later

Recovery from the morning the other day had quickly come over me, as we quickly had to get back into normal Killjoy routine and planning the final demise. There was no telling if or when I could die at the hands of my mom or dad, so I had to plan to have them die at the hands of me. I've been safe from them these few days, and as long as I know they're away, I will be safer. Not that safe, but safer than if they were around.

Our team encountered a crowd of Scarecrows on our musical ride out today, but there was one group of three people there already fighting them. One had red hair just like Poison's, and the other two looked like twins, one with bright pink hair and one with teal hair. "Let's give them a hand!" exclaimed Jet after we braked our vehicles quickly.
          We split up, me with Kobes, Ghoul with Rainbow, and Kid with Poison and Jet, to finish off the Scarecrows. The redhead from the other group, however, dropped his jaw at the sight of Poison. He didn't utter a word, but I could tell he was a fan. A fan would be an understatement, actually.
          After all the Scarecrows were killed, Jet helped heal a wound that Ghoul had gotten in his hand. The other group ran over to us, all in shock now.
          "Party Poison!?" screeched the other redhead, trying to shake Poison's hand, give them an unwanted hug, and invade their space. They tried to be nice but was visibly annoyed.
          "Wow, thanks for the hand guys!" exclaimed the pink-haired one, who then looked back at the ripoff redhead, then back at us. "Ignore that guy, he's kind of a dick."
          "I can tell," Poison agreed, pushing the ripoff redhead away.
          Ripoff Redhead sighed with a snobby sniff. "But Party Poison! I've always wanted to meet you and be like you! You're my idol, you can't just ignore me like this!"

Pink Hair and Teal Hair sighed at Ripoff Redhead, turning to our team. "Anyway, thank you guys for the help! It's so cool to meet the Fabulous Killjoys finally! We love you guys," said Teal Hair.
          "I'm always glad to meet a respectful fan," laughed Poison, emphasizing "respectful" and giving a dirty look at Ripoff Redhead.
          "I'm Vaya, and pink-hair here is Vamos," Teal Hair introduced themself.
          Pink Hair smirked and dropped their jaw at me and Kobes. "Does Kobey Kid have a girlfriend!?"
          Both of us playfully rolled our eyes and sighed. "Yeah," said Kobes. "Meet Fireball Frenzy!"
          I shook both Vaya and Vamos's hands with my free hand. "Heyyy. I just joined the Fabulous Killjoys over a month ago, and we kinda just fell in love not too long ago." Then Kobes and I smirked and winked at one another. I love when Kobes brags about having me as his girlfriend.
          "How cute!" a sarcastic Ripoff Redhead yelled from behind Vaya and Vamos.

He really was a dick. Even Kid was confused and scared of this new guy, despite how cool he thinks he looks and made himself out to be. "Who even are you?" she asked, trying to hide the fear by imitating Poison's sass.
          "The name's Val Velocity," he declared. "Leader of the Ultra-Vs with Vaya and Vamos here. Don't worry, we hate BLI too."
          "Then why not take our side?" asked Ghoul, getting up from the ground after Jet finished. "I thought an enemy of the enemy was a friend."
          Val, being a snob, sniffled then pushed his teammates on each side of him. "I'm fine on my own with these fuckers now that I know what kind of snob Party Poison is."
          "You're calling me a snob!?" sassed Poison. "Listen to yourself."
          "Hey now! I thought you guys wanted more people on your side!"
          "Not someone who acts like you."
          The stalling and arguing continued between the two, as the rest of us battled more Dracs that had surrounded the area. Soon enough, Poison joined in the battle while Val only stood and watched.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Dr. D and an eccentrically dressed young person on rollerskates. They rolled and skated over to us, overseeing the encounter. "Now what in hell is happening here!?" I overheard them asked loudly to no one in particular.
          "I don't know, Pony. Looks like the Killjoys ran into the Ultra-V's, and Val is being his usual self," said Dr. D.
          "We oughta make him do something in this battle. He's just standing around!" said the skater kid. They then skated over to Val, shooting down one of the Dracs along the way.

Kobra's POV

The battle was soon over, and our team all high-fived one another to finish off the accomplishment. I noticed Show Pony, who's normally always in a good mood, completely chewing out Val: "You must be part of the problem if you're not helping them!"
          "Why would I help Party Poison now that I know he's an asshole?" Val whined.
          "Tell me how they were being an asshole, then."
          "I was just trying to catch his attention because I was a huge fan, but he ignored me then called me a dick!"
          "You're the one who invaded their personal space, Val!" I jumped in. "Maybe he would have been nicer if you were nicer first."
          Suddenly, everyone was standing in a circle to confront Val. "Val," Dr D began, "do you want to win this revolution?"
          "Obviously!"
          "Then you have to get along with the others on your side and put in the work."
          "Yeah Val," Poison gave him a dirty look, "Even your former teammates are against you now."
          A slightly confused Fireball grimaced at Val. "You're just jealous that you'll never be them. Why can't you just be yourself? Unless being yourself only consists of being an asshole, Ripoff Redhead."

That got everyone laughing, clapping, and "oooh'ing", especially me, at Val. Fireball gave me a smirk, biting her lip. I smirked back, putting my arm around her shoulder tightly. That's my girl.
          "I don't even know you," said Show Pony to Fireball, "but I like you already!"
          Val was now fuming, targeting Fireball. "Now listen here, Fuckup Frenzy-"
          "Why are you more concerned about being called a ripoff when you're the one never ready for a firefight?" Fireball interrupted. "And you're calling me the fuckup?"
          "There comes a point when you just gotta give up!"
          "Not the time for that," Ghoul jumped in.
          "You know it's time for you to get your head out of the clouds when you're choosing not to help fight the oppressive government you claim to hate so much," said Dr D, looking straight into Val's eyes. He rolled back to try getting out of his way, but all too slow to save himself.

There went the boom of a ray shot from Val's gun, so fast and too sudden for anyone to try to hold him back from it. This still won't be the end of our story, even with Dr. D dead. Our jaws dropped, all of our team could only stand in shock with no words. "You guys really wanna salute the dead now with your stupid radio host gone!?" asked Val coldly, trying to impress Vaya and Vamos and flex what he just pulled.
          Vaya stood with their arms crossed in pure anger. "Get the fuck away from us, Val."
          Vamos was about to cry, but managed to keep the tears in for the moment. "You're on your own now."
          Poison confronted Val close in his face, pointing in his chest. "You can leave this world and leave it all behind if you so want. But what you can't leave behind is the fact that you are entitled and selfish by killing one on our side who could have done more had you left him alone."
          Val, with an angry sigh, walked away and left the rest of us alone to mourn and deal with Dr D's body. I tried to help bury him, but I could barely see through the tears welling up behind my sunglasses. Vaya and Vamos both spent the time seriously apologizing on Val's behalf, while the rest of us buried Dr. D in too wide a range of negative emotions.
          Fireball comforted me through it, still confused. "I hadn't known him long or too well," she said during the burial, rubbing my back, "but I do know from you guys that he was great. I miss him too; I can't begin to imagine how you guys, who've known and worked with him for so long, are feeling."
          "It's tough, honey," I nodded in the same confusion, "But nonetheless let's all carry on his legacy. He would want us to keep fighting on without him."

A few days later, at the "funeral," we finished off the grave by placing bouquets of fake store flowers around it. The message on the grave read, "be a burning star if it takes all night." He used to always say that to us Killjoys way back, long before Fireball joined us. This time, I thought extra about it. "Good night, Dr. Death," I cried silently to myself.
          "He was a useless piece of shit whose time was coming anyway!" yelled Val as he approached the scene.
          "If you're complicit in doing anything to help stop the danger that could kill us all, Val Velocity," argued Poison to him, "that puts you on the side of the oppressor."