FicWad

“Miss Brown?”

I looked up, startled. Ah crap. It was the headhunter herself, The Mega Bitch. She stood in the doorway to the classroom, a stupid, drug induced smile plastered onto her flabby face. I hastily pulled on my gloves before raising my hand, trying hard to control the slight shaking. She smiled sickly and said, “I need to speak with you in my office.” I almost froze in my spot. Shit. They knew. Whether it was the writing on my hands, my unsociable behaviour or my lower than average test scores, they had put it all together. No, I told myself sternly. You don’t know that, it could just be some extracurricular activity, or something about extra credit. Yeah, that’d be it. The headhunter was still smiling by the door, waiting for me to follow her. If this is about extra credit, I thought as I rose to my feet, then why does she look so pleased?

We walked down the blank white walls, with me staring down at the black and white tiled floor, dreading what was about to come. I didn’t know if I would be facing another week of detention or a Reassessment, but I knew it wouldn’t be pleasant.

“Here we are, then.” I stopped, startled. We were already at the Mega-Bitches door. I waited for her to enter first, but she just stood there, still smiling serenely.

“Erm ma’am, aren’t we going in?” I asked.

“Oh no, I’m not. But there is someone who wants to have a word with you inside.” I felt my heart jump up into my throat. Crap. This was getting worse by the second. The Super-Mega-Biatch (I decided she needed an upgrade after making me age about five years) was still waiting for me to go in. I took a deep, deep breath, before finally pushing open the door. I had no idea what I was about to face, but as the door swung shut and I saw who was sitting behind the desk, I wished I was back on the other side of the door with Super-Mega-Biatch all over again. All because the man sitting at the chair was any Killjoys worse nightmare. I knew his face from the countless BL/ind advertisements broadcasts, from the daily updates on WKIL about how many Killjoys he had killed that day. He was a field man, a killer, and he was smiling right at me.

Korse.

“Ah, Jessica. Why don’t you sit down and we can discuss why you’re here.” He smiled at me. Smiled. How could someone filled with so much hate for anything different from them ever do something as mundane as smile? Korse looked up at me from the file he was reading on the desk and I realised I was still standing there, gaping at him like a fish. I hastily pulled myself together and quickly sat down in front of the desk. Korse continued to pore over the file he was reading, which I had no doubt was mine. That file contained everything about me, my birth certificate, my school reports, my medication subscription (which I had conveniently been forgetting to take for a few weeks and found myself with a much clearer head because of it). It even described my “dangerous” behaviour, my Killjoy tendencies. I think I know why I’m here. They want to try and break me again. To make me another one of their cooperate slave, just like my parents, just like everyone else in this goddamn city. I remember the last time it had happened. In the middle of the night, dragged away by Drac’s and shoved into the back of a van, hearing her screaming after me . . .

“Right,” Korse’s voice brought me back to reality. He had put down my folder and was staring at me intently. Actually, if I was honest, it was more like a smirk.

“Now Jessica, some of the representatives from the School Board have become concerned about your behaviour,” he began, with a rather stern look on his face. I was currently trying very hard to keep my hands from shaking and show the fear that was screaming to find a way out. “You have become unresponsive in class, you’re neglecting your medication and your parents have become concerned that you’re becoming increasingly unsociable,” I shifted in my chair, trying to control my stuttering heart. He knows, he knows, he knows, went around and around in my head on replay, not helping to calm my nerves.

Korse suddenly smiled that unnatural smile again and asked me, “Do you think that you’re dangerous, Jessica?” His question startled me. Why was he asking? He knew I was dangerous, he had just read my file. But like any good citizen, I tried to reply calmly,

“Of course not, sir,” my voice came out too high pitched to be considered calm and I cursed myself for being so terrified. Korse only smiled again and stood up from his chair. He walked around to the front of the desk and leaned back against it, facing me. He lowered his voice, like we were discussing secret information.

“Are you sure, Jessica? Because I would hate it if you were lying to me,” his words sent shivers down my back. I knew first-hand how much he would hate it. I looked him straight in the eye and focused on sounding at least halfway confident.

“Yes sir. I’m positive,” I replied coolly, even managing to smile slightly. However, Korse’s smile only grew wider and there was a strange glint in his eye as he said, “Very well then, I must ask you one more thing before you return to your studies,” I was surprised, I hadn’t expected to get off this easily. Korse crossed his legs in front of him and said, “I’d like you to take off those gloves. I’d just like to check something.” Fuck! He had me and he knew it. Still, there was no way I was going down without a fight.

“I’m sorry sir, but I don’t understand. Why do I have to take off my gloves?”


“Jessica, it’s a simple request. If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear.”

"But I just don’t see why you need to see my ha-“

“I gave you an order!” Korse was suddenly right in my face, yelling at me. He was no longer smiling. Instead, he had taken on the face of a killer. I sat in my seat, frozen with fear, willing my limbs to move. To run away, to yell back, to punch, to kick. But I could only sit there, frozen with fear as Korse pulled out his ray gun and held it next to my temple.

“Now I’m going to say this one more time – take off the fucking gloves, or I’ll do it myself,” he whispered into my face. I knew I was caught. Either way I was dead. I took a deep breath, possibly my last and pulled off both of my gloves, revealing my rebellious nature. Korse sat back against the desk, replacing his ray gun, smirking once again. “Well, well, well, looks like we do have a wannabe Killjoy after all,” Without warning, he reached out and grabbed my wrist to further examine the words. “’Fuck this whole wide world’, ‘Turn up the fakes and lies’, do you even know what any of this shit means?” How dare he! Just because he didn’t understand! I looked him in the eyes and said, with definite pride in my voice, “It means that we don’t have to do anything you assholes tell us to.”

Korse only smiled again.

“Actually, it means that you’re showing far too much dedication to the Killjoys, so you’ll have to spend another few months being Reassessed,” he leaned in closer so he could whisper in my ear, “And I’m afraid that little sis’ just too much like her big sister to be allowed to get off that easily, so I suppose we’ll have to take her too.”

Over my dead fucking body! He would not drag my little sister into this! My fist was just about to connect with the side of his face when two Drac’s appeared out of nowhere and pinned my arms behind my back. I screamed out in pure frustration as Korse just continued to smirk.

“Come along then. We’ve already picked her up,” his words froze me. They already had her? I was still long enough for the Drac’s to drag me out of the building until we turned a corner and I saw my baby sister, scared and confused, being restrained by Drac’s just like me. I called out her name and I saw her turn with hope in her innocent eyes, then watched it crumble as she saw that I was being led away too. I watched a tear slide down her face and I called out to her again,

“GRACE! I’ll get us out of this Gracie! I’m always here, remember? I’ll never let them hurt you!”

Korse leaned in and said, “Strong words coming from someone who’s already failed her.” His words were like a punch to the gut. He was right, I had failed her. It was obvious from the gash on her left cheek that they had hurt her, which meant that I had failed her already. I hadn’t been there like I promised I would. I slumped in the Drac’s arms, ready to accept defeat.

And then all hell broke loose.

Suddenly, one of the Dracs gripping my arm fell forward with no warning. I gasped at the blackened hole in his back. If I squinted, I probably could have seen the pavement through his desecrated body. All around us, lasers from ray guns were being fired in all directions. I glanced around, hoping to catch sight of my saviours. Two more Dracs went down before I came to my senses and managed to punch the Drac still holding me straight in his stupid face. He staggered backwards and released his grasp on me. I darted through the on-going battle, my only thought being to find Grace. I swept my gaze over the fight. The Dracs had taken refuge behind their van, leaning around to shoot at their opponents who were crouched behind an old and colourful Trans-Am. If I had looked closer, I might have noticed the anti BL/ind statements covering the car, but in that moment in time, my one thought was finding Grace.

I glanced around again and my heart froze in my mouth as I saw her struggling with Korse. He was attempting to drag her into one of the nearby cars! Not my sister, you freak! screamed a voice in my head and without thinking, I charged over to them. My body collided with Korse’s and rammed him into the door of the car, forcing him to let go of my sister. It then became a wrestling match and I became vaguely aware of Grace calling my name, but Korse was much stronger and skilled than I was and had me pinned in a second. He grinned at me before once again placing his ray gun on my forehead. I fought as hard as I could, but he was too strong. Shit, shit, shit, fuck, Grace, Grace, Grace, was all that went round my head. I screwed my eyes shut, not wanting to see the end when it came.

There was a scuffle, then I felt Korse slump away from me. I slowly opened my eyes. I was huddled on the ground next to a BL/ind AutoMobile, with Korse unconscious next to me. There was a lump forming on the back of his head. Before I could take in any more, a small body flew at me, hugging me tightly. I gripped back just as firmly, refusing to let her go, ignoring her wild, curly hair that was tickling my nose.

“Oh god, Grace! Are you okay? I swear, I am never letting you go again! I was so scared! What happened, baby?” I held her at arm’s length, looking over her face for any more injuries. Other than the scratch on her cheek and a graze on her elbow, she seemed okay. Shaken, but unhurt. Grace gripped my hand and began to speak in a small, timid voice, sniffling as she tried to hold back the sobs.

“It was sniff horrible. I was sitting in my sniff classroom when all these sniff Drac’s came in. I sniff tried to sniff stop them, but sniff they were sniff, they were . . .” I felt the sobs wrack her small body and I hugged her tightly again as I tried to comfort her. “Sh, it’s okay now, it’s okay, I’m here now, you’re gonna be fine, we’re gonna be fine, it’s okay Grace, don’t cry,” I stroked her hair, carefully so I wouldn’t get my fingers tangled in it (it had happened before). Slowly, her sobs quieted, but I continued to hold her comfortingly. I swore to myself that I would never let her go again.

“Hate to break up the reunion, but the Dracs aren’t gonna wait for family portraits to be over,” “Kid, let them have a minute-““Come on man, we’ve gotta get outta here before Korse wakes up! I would have shot him myself if my battery hadn’t died,” I looked upwards to thank our saviours – and froze. No, it couldn’t be. There was no way it was them . . . but it was! I looked along the row, gazing into the faces that I had admired for so long.
Kobra Kid, Fun Ghoul, Jet Star and Party Poison.
The Fabulous Killjoys.