After breakfast, Fun Ghoul came up to me. “Wanna see something awesome?”
“Sure!” I smiled.
“Okay, but we have to be all sneaky-like.”
“O...kay?” I followed him out of the main room and there was a smaller room filled with more beds, all decorated with blankets and what not to show possession. I followed him to a door that led to a downstairs. Down there was a master piece. A room filled with art. All over there were manikins and paints and all kinds of fabric and extra clothes. It was the Art Lab I dreamed about as a kid. I walked in, close to happy tears. Fun Ghouls sauntered to a safe, unlocked it, and brought out a white lazer gun. I gasped. Surely he wouldn't kill me after all I had done! No, what a ridiculous idea. He took to end and held the handle out to me. I took it. A tingling sense of power and happiness shot through me.
“Now you have to be careful with it, don't shoot anyone.” He winked. “But here you customize your gun.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” He pulled out his gun. It was green with all types of zany writings and pictures on it. “I did mine when I first got my gun, and now everyone does it.”
“Awesome.” I gazed at the gun. So many possibilities. So many things I could do with it.
Fun Ghoul laughed. “Yeah, I know what you are thinking, 'what to do with it?' All of us took about a week to perfect our guns, so don't think you will be getting something right off the bat.”
“What if I've been thinking about it all week, before you even showed me it?”
“Well, then you are a right good planner, and what are you doing here?”
“True.” I smiled. He was right, if I was that good of a planner, then there was no reason to be a Killjoy.
“I guess I'll leave you to do your thing...hey, you want some music?”
“Sure!” I always loved working to music as a kid.
“Well we have this boom box and a Mad Gear and Missile Kid cd. Wanna try that out?”
“I always had a saying I like to use, 'I'll try anything at least once.”
“Cool, well, I'll put it on. We don't have anything much other then the radio.”
“ Awesome. I'll listen to it.” Fun Ghoul put the CD on and I started working, first I sketched up a few ideas, and at first, nothing, then, little by little, I got an idea. It grew and grew until I finally had my idea. I worked for hours, trying to get it all perfect. Yes, I'm a perfectionist. Finally, after a whole day's work, I had it finished. Fun Ghoul came down, took one look, grinned, and then ran to a cupboard.
“Shoulder or leg?”
“What?”
“Shoulder or leg holster?”
“Really? My own holster?”
“Well, if you want to keep it in your pocket, I mean, it might shoot you accidentally, but if you really don't want a holster...”
“No! No, no, no, I want a holster. I don't want to get shot. I definitely want a holster.”
“That's what I thought. Now, shoulder or leg?”
“Which works best?”
“Well, I have a shoulder one here, see? But Poison and Kobra have leg ones. I prefer the shoulder, but it's your choice.”
“Hmm, I think I'll take the leg one.”
“Of course.” He rolled his eyes and grabbed one for me. “Enjoy.”
I put on the holster, slid in the gun, and out on my sunglasses and my bandanna. I was a killjoy now. Nothing could stand in my way...I hoped. I came back upstairs. Karma loved my gun, and everyone thought it was awesome I finally had one. Now, they said, I could really fight. That idea was scary to me, killing agents that were trying to hurt us, while a good thing, was scary to think I would actually be doing it.
Life went on. I helped cook, when there was food and time to cook. I helped clean, though it was hard with a floor always covered in dust, and I helped fix things. I even got to work on target practice, but I was not near as good as Karma, Fun Ghoul, or Party Poison. I was trained by Jet Star and Fun Ghoul, and training sessions were the highlight of my day. Fun Ghoul always made it fun, and Jet Star made sure I learned something. I was set all the way.
The day came when Party Poison came to talk to me. He lead me into the back of the station where there was old car supplies.
“It's time for you,” He smiled, “to start coming with us to watch the Zones. I'll station you with Karma to start you up, but eventually you will have to work with at least everyone once.”
I smiled and nodded, I knew what he was implying, and I knew I could handle it. I was part of the family now. I had some who liked me less but I was used to it.
“Can you handle that? Being with people, for a whole day, without anyone else to talk to?”
“I can handle myself very nicely, thank you.”
“Fine, fine.”
Something was up, Poison was acting too weird. He wasn't the happy go-to guy I usually saw.
“Hey, is there something going on?” I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help.
“What? No, not really. Do I seem anxious? That's normal for me, especially when I haven't had much sleep.”
“Is that all?”
“Yep”
“Okay.”
He walked off. I stood there, perplexed. Why would he want to tell me about Zone Strutting (what we call checking the Zones) and then just leave it at that? Was there something going on? Was I causing trouble? He didn't look mad at me, but then, he was really good at poker face. I knew someone who wasn't, though. Jet Star. He would tell me what was on Poison's mind. I walked into the station and I saw Purple Pixie standing at the counter, eating leftovers from last night. I liked Purple alright, but she always seemed distant. She and I talked a lot about our past lives. Before the war. She used to be a singer, and she strutted the stage. Then the war came and she was almost killed. When Battery City was built, she was not allowed to sing. She and I were the only two to escape the city. The rest of the killjoys were never in the city. Party Poison, Fun Ghoul, Kobra Kid, and Jet Star had raided the city only once and almost died in the effort. The fact of that caused all the other killjoys to worry about going into the city.
