Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Inside an isolated city, on the farthest outskirts, there was a large, grey building. The inside was all polished whites and greys and blacks, and almost every room on each floor looked the same. In one of these identical rooms, there lived a little girl, around 7 years old.

 She had no name, but found no need for such a thing. The girl lived with a very serious man named Henry, and a tired woman she liked to call Auntie Emily, despite not really knowing why. 

They were very boring people. They didn’t like when she drew on the walls, or laughed, or talked to them about the stories she made up. They wore grey, and they looked grey too, like old people, but a little too soon, because they weren’t really old.

That was okay, though, because she had play dates with someone that listened to all her made-up adventures, grinned at her drawings, and barked with laughter when she told them the same jokes every day. They weren’t grey. In fact, they were green, with sharp teeth and shaggy hair that fell in their eyes and black clothes, and a big necklace with bright lights on it that she couldn’t touch. They didn’t talk, but their ‘coordinator’ said their name was Matteo. The girl hadn’t yet gotten a grasp of the word yet, so she called them Teo for short. 

She saw Teo a lot, and they had their own floor to themself and their coordinator. Teo’s floor had 5 rooms, and all of them had big, big windows for walls. The playroom was the only one she ever went into, but the other four were bedrooms, she thought. 

Nobody was in the other bedrooms, so it made it easy to see which one was Teo’s. It had a little bed, with a few worn-out toys on it. One of them was a little black dog with ears as big as its head, and the other was Mousekat, her friend from the television. Teo’s room also had a little table that never had anything on it, a clock way high up on the wall that was always right, and a whole lot of cameras. She only had one camera in her room, and it was only on sometimes, but Teo’s cameras were all over, and were never off, even when they weren’t in there.

There was a panel in Teo’s room on the wall where sometimes she saw their helpers putting bracelets into a pocket if she showed up early for their playdates. One time she caught a glimpse of a shiny mask in the wall pocket, and when she asked about it, her only helper said it was a ‘precaution.’ She didn’t know what that meant, but she hoped it wasn’t anything bad. 

The playroom was much more fun than Teo’s room, or even her own. The helpers let them put up their drawings, and got them new crayons if they broke or if Teo chewed on them, and there were more toys and games than she could even count. She couldn’t count that far, but it was still a whole lot. Her favorite was the one with snakes. 

They were in the middle of a play date when all the lights went red, and Teo got tense, shrinking away from the noise and dropping their dice. 

Henry and Auntie Emily came into the room quickly, along with some strangers in white that were talking about things the girl had never heard before- killjoys, bombs, protocols. Henry and Auntie Emily turned back around and left even quicker than they came, beckoning the girl to follow. She grabbed Teo’s hand and off they went, running through the loud halls as alarms echoed through the building, cut only by shouts and laughter and other noises that didn’t sound happy at all. 

The girl was scooped up by one of the white-clad strangers, and another seized Teo’s arm, and they split off from her escort, running down flights of stairs and tripping down dark corridors before they were packed into the back seat of a big car that drove too fast and turned widely and the girl closed her eyes and hugged her knees as Teo squirmed and cracked their knuckles and shook their head vigorously until she fell asleep, frightened, with tear streaks drying on her face. 

Chapter Text

Abruptly, after what could have been forever, the girl woke up with a jolt and blinked hard as her eyes were shielded by Teo, who unbuckled her seatbelt and pushed her out of the car, hoisting her up to hold close as they bounced in place, breathing hard.

Despite their efforts, she glanced back at the car they were in, gasping in horror at the remains of the front half. It was all smushed up, and it didn’t look like their driver was even there anymore. They had crashed into the wall of a building, and Teo held the girl tighter as four people exited. 

Something was muttered quietly, and after a moment of hesitation, Teo set the girl down, holding her hand tightly. 

Three of the people looked almost normal, clad in more colors than the girl had even thought possible. They all had masks or helmets on, which was a little silly. 

The first was a tall boy in what had to be the shortest shorts in the whole world, a pink tank top, and a green vest covered in pins and pieces of fabric. He had short hair with a white streak in the front, and he glared down at her from behind a mask that was pinker than pink and had black lightning bolts painted on it. One of his hands was at his chest, clutching a pretty necklace that didn’t look anything like Teo’s, and the other was at his hip, resting on a gun that was even pinker than his mask. He didn’t look very happy. 

The second was a girl that had a big monkey mask on, though the little girl could see blonde curls spilling out from underneath. She had big, light blue pants on that had holes all over, and was wearing a grey shirt with words on it that didn’t even cover her belly. She had her arms crossed and seemed to be waiting for someone else to speak first. 

The third didn’t really look like a girl or a boy. To start, they had an old tv for a head, and one of their arms looked all shiny under their puffy vest and bulky gloves, like a robot. Their clothes were all smudgy and covered in charms and chains and the girl got dizzy trying to figure out what all of it was. They turned their attention to the fourth person, and the other two followed suit. 

The girl wasn’t sure if the fourth person was a person at all. She was big and covered in feathers and bandages and golden jewelry and bracelets made of wooden beads. When She looked down at the girl, it seemed like She grew even bigger, stooping over her. She had a bone-white mask with lines on it, and when She spoke it felt like Her voice was coming from everywhere. 

“Good day, dear child. It is a pleasant surprise to see you return so early.” The almost-woman crooned, stooping lower. The girl didn’t know what she meant by that, and said so. 

“They call this place the Zones, though names mean little in the grand scheme of things.” 

Slowly, she looked up at Teo, tilting her head to one side and reaching out one hand, long fingers hooking around their necklace. They stiffened as it snapped apart and she pulled it away, the lights turning off. With her other hand, she placed a small blue necklace over their head as a replacement, and it fell loosely to rest on their collarbones. 

“They cannot get you here,” She murmured, and Teo nodded slowly, relaxing their death grip on the girl’s hand enough that she could slip out of it, stepping closer to the woman that was not a person. She asked who She was.

“I am the Phoenix Witch to those here.” She explained, holding out an arm to stop the boy in the pink mask from interrupting. 

“Are you evil?” The girl inquired, shying away again. “My Auntie Emily said that all witches are evil.” 

“No, I do not believe so,” The Phoenix Witch laughed, shaking her head. “Who is Auntie Emily?” 

“She’s not really my aunt. She looked after me back in there.” The girl jerked a thumb back toward the walled city behind her, and the Witch nodded solemnly. 

“Well, she is back there. That city’s rules do nothing out here. We have our own.” 

It was the girl’s turn to nod, then, and the Witch turned back to the strangers, whispering something to the one in the monkey mask. She disappeared into the building, returning with a small pair of red sneakers with white jewels across the toes, handing them over silently. 

“You’ll need better walking shoes than those for your journey ahead.” The Witch knelt, placing them at the girl’s feet. The child blushed, not having realized that her old slippers would be an issue at all. Carefully, she stepped out of them and into her new shoes, waiting as the Witch laced up and tied the glittery laces. 

“I want to go home.” The girl finally muttered, though she wasn’t sure if she meant it. 

“You cannot return to the city,” The Witch sighed, “But if you would like, you can follow the road towards another. It is larger, and a good friend of mine resides there. He is- if you were to put it in those terms- something of a wizard.” 

“Is he a good one?” The girl prompted, and the Witch laughed again. 

“He is good at what he does.” She replied knowingly. The girl didn’t know what that meant at all. 

“He can help you. I must stay here.” She pulled another necklace from what could be a pocket, placing it gently around the girl’s neck. It was simple, sporting nothing but a single black feather, but it was beautiful. 

“This will show those you pass by that you have my protection. They will not harm you. You and your friend will be safe along the road.” 

In short enough time, the three people had supplied the girl and Teo with some food and water and had bid them a safe journey. 

After a few steps toward the road, the girl turned back to say something more to the Phoenix Witch, only to discover She had vanished entirely, leaving only the people returning to their work inside the building. 

This was not very surprising to the girl, as that is what witches tend to do. 

Shrugging, she took Teo’s hand once more and started off in search of a road.

Chapter Text

It didn’t take much searching to find a road, since there was only one- paved with blacktop that was older than old and painted several wobbly colors, though it was mostly yellow. 

There were some buildings along the way, and as they walked, some people poked their heads out to smile or wave. 

It was very pretty out here, despite how broken the road was and how barren some of the landscape turned out to be. Along the way, there were flowers and other little plants, and tiny outposts of sorts that had water bottles and cans of dog food. She passed on the cans with a wrinkled nose and decided to ration her snacks a little more strictly.  

They walked and walked and walked until the sun started to go down and she came across a house with a garage that had a whole lot of people and music like she’d never heard before and laughter and flashing lights and all kinds of things. 

An older person, the oldest she’d seen so far out here, spotted them, and his plastic chair crackled as he set his bright red cup of something down and walked over, smiling behind two-toned glasses. 

He was big, and was the first person the girl had seen that actually looked a little like her. His clothes were all pinks and blues and his hair was all pointy and sticky-uppy, but he didn’t seem scary, not like the last guy in pink clothes they’d seen.

 He looked to Teo first, asking their name, laughing when the girl answered for them, and starting to move his hands deftly as he continued to speak. 

“Do you know ZSL?” He inquired, and the pair watched in awe as the moving hands seemed to match up with the spoken words. Teo shook their head slowly, and there was a beat of silence as the man tried to figure out his next steps.

“All they know is English, but they don’t speak any of it.” The girl explained, and the man nodded, crouching so he was level with her. 

“You talk for them? That’s really nice of you, kid.” He held out a hand, and she took it, shaking it vigorously. 

“I try to. Teo’s their own whole person on their own but since they don’t talk it doesn’t seem right just to leave everyone hanging.” She grinned up at her friend, who shot her a snaggle-toothed smile back, nodding at the stranger. 

“You’re awful small to be that wise,” The man frowned. “ And that nice. You got a name?” 

“Not yet!” She shook her head, “Should I get one?” 

“Only if you want one. What can I call you? Are you hungry, tired?” 

“I am!” The girl gasped. “We’re on our way to a big, big city, even though we just came from one, to see a wizard.” 

Conspiratorially, she leaned in to whisper in the stranger’s ear.

“A real witch told me so.” She said gravely, and he nodded once more, looking serious. 

“I see, I see. Well.” He clapped his hands, rolling back on his heels and standing. 

“I’m Lock. You can ask anybody for anything. If anyone questions you, send ‘em to me. Okay?” 

The pair nodded as he started to walk away. 

“Oh- and Teo?” He turned, moving his hands with his words again. “Get some shoes.” 

Teo saluted him, and that was that. 

They went into the mass of people, asking for food, water, and shoes. Eventually, they got all of that, plus some candy, and when it was really rather late, Lock resurfaced, showing them both to a little room inside the house, with cots and sleeping bags full of people already asleep. 

They piled into one cot to save room for anyone else coming in, and were soon fast asleep.

Chapter Text

The next morning, when they woke, a few people remained in the little room, but most had cleared out, and their bedding was all packed away, pushed against one wall. 

Lock had vanished entirely, so they decided it would be best to keep marching along the road. 

There was more shrubbery out and about this time, and the girl was dreadfully tempted by the idea of running through it, but she had a place to be and a wizard to meet, and she didn’t think Teo would like it that much, so she refrained. 

At least, she did until she saw a person standing in a patch of taller bushes with his arms out, waiting. 

As she approached, with a now-wary Teo in tow, she saw that he was not really standing, and she grew less afraid of him. She’d thought he was just really, really tall. 

The person looked an awful lot like a boy, around Teo’s age. He wasn’t holding his arms out, either- he was tied up to a post like that. He was rather tan, but his nose, cheeks, and hands were red and a little flakey. His hair was an unnatural, fried blonde, and hung in front of his face. His tattered clothing might have been white at some point, but had been covered in so much dirt and blood that it was all brownish, though the girl could make out a familiar symbol on his jacket. 

That was the badge the mean-looking kids and the meaner-looking adults wore on their clothes like it was the most important thing ever when, from what the girl could tell, just meant they got to be as mean as they wanted. 

“Hello,” He called hoarsely, smiling, and the girl’s nose wrinkled as she watched his lower lip split, fresh blood beading up along the line. 

“Hello,” She replied. “What are you doing up there?” 

“You know, I don’t remember.” He frowned reflectively, tilting his head to one side. 

“Do you want to come down?” 

“Yeah, that’d be nice.” 

The girl nodded severely, placing her hands on her hips as she thought of how best to detach the boy from the post. 

Eventually, after much pacing and hesitation, Teo plucked her up and placed her on their shoulders so she could reach the ropes at the boy’s wrists. He dug a knife out of his pocket and took care of the rest, collapsing to the ground once he was free. 

Quickly, he recovered, tumbling and winding up sitting with his legs sprawled out in front of him, waiting as Teo put the girl down again and stepped away, glaring. 

“Hello,” The boy repeated, and the girl handed him an extra bottle of water. He gulped it down, crumpling the empty plastic and tossing it aside. “What’s your name?” 

“Don’t have one.” The girl shrugged, earning a shrug and nod in return. It seemed the boy did not have a name either. 

“Where are you going?” 

“Down the road. There’s a city out there, and a wizard. He’s going to help me get home.” 

The boy hummed, squinting into the distance. 

“A city? Wizard?” He asked slowly, doubtful. 

“Yes. I’m going to the city to see the wizard that’s gonna help me go home.” 

“Oh…” 

“Do you want to come with?” 

“Maybe. Maybe he could help me remember what got me up there.” 

“Yeah!” The girl cheered, clapping. She helped the boy up, and they were on their way again, Teo walking as far away from the newcomer as possible, scowling. 

“Don’t worry about them,” The girl smiled. “They just don’t like new people.” 

“Oh, I don’t mind.” The boy with the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W jacket shook his head airily. “They can’t hurt me. Matter of fact, not much can. Here, I can carry some of that stuff for you, you’ll tire out faster.” 

The girl obliged him, passing off some of the food and things she had been lugging around in a little backpack. 

“You wanna know something?” The boy asked quietly, after they had gotten a ways away from his post, still standing empty. “There’s only one thing I actually worry about.” 

“What’s that?” The girl replied, curious. “The people that put you up there?”

“Nah, they were nothing.” He grinned, almost dangerous. He looked away as he supplied his answer, eyes trained on the path ahead. 

“A blaster pointed at my chest.” 

Chapter Text

Another long while into their trek to the city, the road grew rough, patchy. The asphalt was all broken up, and whole chunks were missing in places. 

Teo delighted in this, jumping over the holes as the girl stepped carefully around them. 

The Scarecrow boy, apparently still frazzled from being tied up and left to bake in the sun, simply kept walking, falling several times. 

This didn’t seem to bother him- as he said, not much did- and he and the girl laughed each time as she helped him back to his feet. 

The buildings out this way weren’t nearly as nice as they had been, and most were in varying states of disrepair. Where there had been fields and games set up in the clearings, there were scatterings of big black bags that made the girl nervous and made both her friends sober up each time they spotted one, looking away or urging the group along. 

Around noon, when the sun was bearing down on them with the intent to roast them more than it already had, they sat down for lunch. 

It wasn’t much, but when the girl offered the Scarecrow a piece of her granola bar, he refused. 

“Not hungry- well, not yet, at least. I’m good.” He shook his head. “Plus, honestly, if I ate a lot right now after not having shit for days I think I’d puke.” 

That seemed fair to the girl, despite not knowing what it was like to not have food for very long. Teo seemed sympathetic, placing a hand gently on the Scarecrow’s shoulder for a moment before moving away, still determined to not like him. 

“Tell me about yourself, kid. You seem really small to be wandering around out here with one person that doesn't even have any weapons.” He glanced at Teo, who crossed their arms and huffed, looking at anything else. “No offense.” 

And so she told him all about the city she came from, how grey everything was, her guardians, coordinators, the tests they’d give her, the playdates with Teo, all of it. 

“Don’t know why you’d wanna go back there, dude. That sounds boring and awful. And shitty.” 

“Well, that’s because you’ve been in the sun and hot hot heat too long.” The girl explained patiently. “I think your brains got all boily and e- ev..evapordated.” 

The Scarecrow grinned at that, and his lip split again. “Yeah, that’s probably what happened.” 

They sat there for a moment, as the Scarecrow drained them of what could have been a whole day’s water supply. 

“Hey, your turn. Tell me a story.” The girl furrowed her brow at the Scarecrow, and he did the same as Teo stood and wandered off, uninterested in hearing him speak for that long. 

“Well. I don’t remember much, but some things are coming back.” 

“Tell me those, then.” 

“It’s all fuzzy, but I remember… There were these people. They were in charge of me, I think. I’m not sure how long ago this was, but I remember waking up, and they were talking about me. I came to my senses slowly, but my hearing was first, kind of ring-y.” 

He shifted, pressing his hands to his face, searching for the memory of this event. 

“One of them was a doctor. He was checking me over, and he snapped in my ears a couple of times. I wanted to flinch, get away, but I couldn’t. There was someone else with him, and he asked him what I should have done. 

“ ‘He shouldn’t move at all,’ He said. 

“ ‘Well, that’s what he’s doing, alright’ The doctor replied. 

“He moved on and checked my eyes, opening the first one and shining a light in it. 

“ ‘Vision seems good. Nice color, too. Was there any cosmetic augmentation?’ He said. I didn’t know what that meant, but I think I do now. 

“ ‘No, the lucky bastard came like that.’ The other man replied, and I could see both of them now. The doctor was old looking, with a big moustache and bigger glasses. The other man looked mean- bald, with a stupid-looking jacket that had ruffles at the front. 

“ ‘Some people have it all,” The doctor sighed, as he checked my other eye. With both eyes open I could see much clearer, but I wanted the lights to go away.

“He went on and checked my nose, muttering something about… fractures, and my mouth, but I didn’t say anything yet because I didn’t know that…Well, that I could, really. 

“I watched them check the rest of me, and the doctor finally stepped back and told the man that I was in ‘perfect condition.’ 

“ ‘He’s more than that,’ the man smiled, but it- it didn’t look right. Not happy. 

“ ‘He looks like one of them .’ 

“And then the doctor nodded like he knew something I didn’t, and… then I was in a car. And then later there were all these people, and they were shooting at us and we were shooting at them, and I didn’t really want to, but I.. had to, you know?” 

The girl didn’t, but she kept listening anyway. 

“I was, I think reasonably, pretty upset with that, so when they were all on the ground I turned and I ran away. I didn’t want to be alone, but being alone was better than being with him. Being like him.

“And then I was in this tiny bathroom and I was doing something to my hair and it burned but I think I liked that… and then there were more people, meaner, and I didn’t have my gun anymore. And then I was up on that post where you found me.” He paused, shrugging. 

“That really sucked, because it… proved that even if I wasn’t like him, I wasn’t like them either. I’m just not. And I wish I remembered what I was before that, but I don’t.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we’re going to see that wizard. He can help you.” The girl placed her hand on his knee, like she saw Teo do earlier. 

“I sure fuckin’ hope so. Don’t want to have walked forever to find out he’s got jack shit.” 

“Let’s keep going.” She jumped up, pulling the Scarecrow with her. 

Teo rejoined them, looking… glum. They kept avoiding the Scarecrow, but it felt different now. 

The road almost disappeared entirely as they went on, and the landscape shifted. 

It moved up and down now, and the girl longed for a wagon to push to the top of each hill and cruise down in. 

They followed the winding path until the sun had set again, and the girl and the Scarecrow had to hold hands so as not to get lost from each other. 

Eventually, it was so dark that the girl couldn’t see a single thing, so she had to hold Teo’s hand as well, since they seemed to be doing just fine in the darkness. 

Her eyes adjusted after some time, and she was able to spot a small building a little off the road. 

They were pleased to find a small mattress inside, and glow-in-the-dark stars covering the ceiling and walls. The girl and Teo collapsed into the mattress, too tired to care that it was a little pokey and uncomfortable. 

The Scarecrow, unsure what to do with himself, sat by the door, and the girl wasn’t sure if he ever fell asleep or not, because she did first, and slept soundly. 

Chapter Text

When the girl woke up again, the sun was high and she could see Teo throwing loose sticks and branches into the distance from the window. The Scarecrow was still sitting in the corner patiently, and she beckoned to him as she slipped her sneakers back on and wandered out of the house. 

“We’ve gotta find more water.” The girl frowned, taking hold of the Scarecrow’s hand. He gave hers a gentle squeeze as he mulled over the statement, squinting into the distance. 

“More?” 

“Yeah, you drank it all!” She cried, squeezing harder. He hadn’t, yet, but he would soon. And there were only a couple of snacks and things left. 

“Sorry.” The Scarecrow chewed on his cheek. 

They spotted an open cooler half buried in sand, and fortune had it that there were a few water bottles stashed inside. 

Teo found their way to where the other two had sat and joined in the meal, which passed peacefully. 

They were just about to set off again when the girl heard what sounded like sparking, and a soft hissing. 

“What’s that?” She asked, glancing around fretfully. 

“Dunno,” Replied the Scarecrow, “You wanna find out?” 

Another spark sounded, louder this time, and it sounded like it was coming from behind them. 

Slowly, carefully, they retraced their steps, circling around a larger hill until they caught sight of something shining in the sun. The girl picked up speed, practically screeching to a halt with a cry of mingled surprise and horror. 

The others caught up fast, both pushing her behind them defensively before freezing, and they all stood for a moment. To stare. 

There was a person almost entirely made of metal and plastic standing in front of them, one hand planted firmly against the steep hillside and the other holding a bright blue gun. His back was arched, and they could see a small device right in between his shoulder blades, marked with a matching symbol to the Scarecrow’s jacket. He stepped away, looking suddenly pale. 

The person was twitching slightly, and they watched as electricity arched from the device out through his body, seemingly holding him still. He was tall, and the only thing that seemed to not be mechanical was most of his head and maybe some of his torso, though they couldn’t tell, as he was wearing a singed shirt and a black denim vest that the device had pierced through, which had a flag and a drawing of a spider painted on it. He had equally rugged-looking shorts but wore no shoes, as both of his legs were robotic. His long hair was pulled back into a bun, and he hissed again, a painful sound that was both soft and terribly sharp, and one that made the girl gasp again, pushing past Teo to come closer. 

“Did you spark?” The girl asked, though as she did it seemed a little silly. She looked up at this new person’s face, taking in the metal plating covering half of his face, the tattooed and engraved stars across his cheekbones (and approximates), and the dried blood flaking off his upper lip and his chin. 

“Yeah,” He replied, voice strained, barely above a whisper. “That’s me. Been like this for- f- well. A while. Nobody’s got time for a guy that can’t- c- that can’t shout for help.” 

“Can I help?” She asked softly, because it hurt her in her heart and made her stomach all twisty to think of anyone staying like that. 

“There’s a toolbelt in my place- it has pliers and- shit - and other stuff. I need this thing off me.” 

Teo had already taken off, but the girl ran after them, pointing out the belt as they started tearing the little house apart looking for it. They dashed back together, and Teo set it by their feet, crouching and starting to paw through the tools for whatever looked most useful. 

“Okay, there’s a soldering iron in there, it’s kind of like a pen- that one- turn it on, it’s gotta heat up, you need to melt the legs off of the bot.” The stranger instructed, and, working together, they found it, and did as they were told, taking the bug off in minutes. 

Teo tossed it behind them, and the Scarecrow caught it deftly. The pair could hear the sounds of its demolition, but did not turn to watch. 

The cyborg, for that’s what he had to be, sighed in relief, but was not yet free. 

“The legs, I need you to take the legs out. Use pliers or something. I don’t care.” His voice sounded lighter, but not much less pained. 

Again, the girl and her friend did as told, despite the screams of distress as each leg was dug out, and the stranger collapsed into the hillside, breathing hard. 

For a moment, the girl was dreadfully scared that they’d done something wrong, but her fears dissipated once he started laughing, rolling to rest with his back against the wall, grinning. 

“Thank you.” He sighed, tucking his weapon into a leather holster at his hip. “That was… a while. That was a lot. Could’a been there forever if you hadn’t shown up.” 

He paused, finally actually looking at his saviors, and the girl marveled at his mismatched eyes- one of them whirring and clicking as it zoomed in or focused or something . It was cool. 

“You’re tiny. And you’re…well. Green. What are you guys doing out here?” 

“We’re going down the road to see a wizard.” 

He didn’t seem to believe them, but nodded anyway, giving a half-shrug. 

“Cool. Why?” 

“Well, I want to go home, and the... Well… Our friend over there wants to remember who he was. Get his brains back, since they evapordated.” The girl pointed toward the Scarecrow, who had finished demolishing the bug and returned to shifting uncomfortably on his feet, looking sharply away as the cyborg squinted in his direction. He sighed, then, slouching further against the packed dirt and staring at the sky, thinking for a time. 

“Do you think your wizard could give me a heart?”  

“I mean… probably.” The girl frowned, “since he’s gonna give the Scarecrow his brains.” 

“Fair enough.” He conceded, “Can I join you, then? To see?” 

Teo helped him up, and after he’d gone into his house and replaced the batteries that kept him functional, he requested that his tool belt be brought along, in case he found himself in a similar situation later on. Since he was still getting used to walking again, Teo clipped it around their waist, and the Scarecrow timidly offered to switch it off with them if they got tired. 

It was a good thing that their new friend had joined them when he did, as there were more obstacles along the way- a few black bags and some other things, that would have made it rather difficult to pass through. 

The cyborg, who had revealed that his name was ‘Jet’, pushed these out of the way with little effort, clearing the path in no time. 

The Scarecrow trailed behind more as time wore on, and eventually tripped over one of the holes, landing hard and winding himself. 

It was a bad enough fall that he had to call to the girl for help, as she was thinking so hard about wizards and wishes and hearts and brains that she hadn’t heard him. 

The entire party halted as she helped him upright, and Jet, who had been scouting ahead, crossed his arms impatiently. 

“You couldn’t walk around?” 

“No, dude, I’m still… fuzzy, I guess. That’s why I’m seeing the magic wizard. No brains.” 

Jet hummed in reply, looking away. 

“I guess that’s fair. But, y’know, brains aren’t everything.” 

“Tough talk for someone that’s got a working one.” The Scarecrow retorted, face flushing. 

“Well, I don’t, technically. I’m all… robot-y. But trust me, having a heart is better.” 

“Why?” 

“Well, it’s… Hard to explain right.” 

The girl interrupted, clapping her hands giddily. 

“Can you tell us a story?” 

“Um.” Jet started, taken aback by this interest in his life. Nevertheless, as they continued down the road, he began recounting his story to them, albeit a little uncomfortably. 

“Well, I was the kid of a couple of respected- if not kinda famous- killjoys out here. I grew up… okay, I guess. I shot up like a rocket, and was able to take care of myself by the time my parents died. I was on my own for a while, and I got into a lot of fights ‘cause I was mad.”

“At what?” The girl interrupted. 

“The world, I guess. It wasn’t fair, y’know? But anyways, there was this… guy. Old dude. He saw me getting my face kicked in by some punk and he decided to take me in or something. Thing was, I was still just so mad, and I didn’t want him to. So, I guess, someone clued in on that and I uh… got kind of cursed. I think.” He chewed on his lip, trying to find the words. 

“I kept getting into fights, but it was like… they got way worse. I was arguing with someone and I got in my car to drive away and the fucker just rammed into me a few minutes later, and broke my leg so bad I had to amputate it. It wasn’t a big deal, shit happens, so I went to a shop and got a new one, and that was that. But it happened again. I was racing, and I’d said some shit to one of the other girls and she got somebody to shoot out my tires as I made a turn. Fucked up my other leg, had to get it chopped, and went and got a new one. Eventually, it happened to my arms, and I thought I was finally done for when a drac raid almost smashed my skull in. But… it didn’t. The guy found me, took me to the shop, and they fixed me up. I thought that was it, since I’d actually nearly died with that one, but it wasn’t.” 

Jet paused, for long enough that the party feared he would leave them with that terrible cliffhanger. When he took a breath to continue, they let out a collective sigh of relief. 

“One day, I decided I’d had enough, and I ran away. My… The man was yelling at me to come back, but I didn’t. I just kept running, and by the time I was the fuck out of dodge, I was gunned down by some ‘Crows. They hit me in the chest, and… my heart stopped. Some other joys picked me up and I guess I had known some of them because they took me to a different shop and they got me going again. When I woke up I was running off of Plus and… well, the guy was gone. He’d just disappeared. So I couldn’t go back to him, tell him I was sorry, that I was wrong, any of that. And I’d figured that I’d probably just never had a heart to begin with. Nobody with even half a heart would treat someone like that.” 

He sighed, and it held so much sorrow and remorse that the girl could feel the carryover emotions prick at her eyes. 

“But anyways, he was gone, and I wasn’t me anymore, really, so I moved out here, patrolled sometimes, hung out, killed dracs. One group had gotten warned about my presence, I guess, and they got the better of me, snapping that bug on me and ditching my ass until I ran out of plus or died some other way. It was… really fucking shitty, and I was probably standing there like that for weeks, if not months, and it gave me a lot of time to think. It sucked, losing so much of myself, literally, and it hurt, but nothing was worse than getting up and realizing that I was just. That awful. So, yeah, if that wizard can give me a heart, I’d go look for the guy that took me in and… apologize, at least. If anything.” 

They waited silently to see if there was anything further, as the whole party was greatly invested in this story, despite its inherent tragedy. 

“That seems,” The Scarecrow coughed, nodding. “That’s fair. But I still think I want my thoughts back. At least you, y’know, know better now. I want to know what happened to me.” 

“Yeah, okay.” Jet shrugged, “To each their own.” 

The girl now had a lot to think about, trying to figure out which was right, which was more important, and if it mattered. 

What she was thinking about more and more, though, was that they didn’t have much food left at all. The Scarecrow still had not eaten, but he would have to eventually, and she and Teo definitely needed to keep eating. 

She wondered where those outposts had gone. 

Chapter Text

As they continued along the road, so did the bumpy landscape, all hills and dunes and trees that Jet said were named Joshua. 

There were no birds anymore- not that there had been many, and it seemed like nothing else moved besides the group and the scarce clouds. 

After some time, however, there were light footsteps off to the side, and the sound of tumbling rocks, despite there not being any in their way. 

Jet and the Scarecrow instinctively pushed ahead of the others, and the girl noticed that Jet’s hand was resting on his gun. 

Slowly, the noises got closer, and Teo grabbed the girl’s hand, holding tight, alert. She didn’t know who or what was out there- but they did. 

“How far away is the city?” The girl called to Jet, who was scanning their surroundings again, looking solemn. 

“I dunno. I haven’t been that far. I’ve seen the trains go by, but nobody really comes back. I don’t know if they ever make it, or if it actually is better there.” He kept his voice low, nudging the Scarecrow to spread out a little more. 

The sun was starting to set. 

“Hey, we’ll be fine, alright? I’ve got a gun.” Jet sighed, glancing back at the girl. 

“And you’re made of metal.” The Scarecrow added, in case any of them had forgotten. 

“Yeah. I’m made of metal, this guy’s like, probably indestructible, and you’ve got that necklace. Nobody’s gonna hurt you with the Witch’s mark hanging around your neck. That’d be stupid.” 

“What about Teo?” The girl asked, anxious. “They don’t have that stuff.” 

There was a pause, as both Jet and the Scarecrow fought to keep unknown opinions to themselves. 

“Well, we’re here. If they can’t handle themself, we’ll step in, fuck up the other guy. No problem.” 

Just as he said this, and had turned around, walking backward, a person jumped down from the closest hill, landing next to the Scarecrow and hitting him in the face and then the chest, kneeing him in the guts as he went down, unmoving. 

Jet had already drawn his gun, but the stranger grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm so fast it could have broken his bones- if there were any. Nevertheless, his weapon dropped, and his shot went wide, plastic clattering on the asphalt as the assailant elbowed him in the face, drawing back and punching him for good measure, and coming back down with her elbow, watching wide-eyed as Jet dropped, dazed and groaning. 

She turned, and the girl could see that she looked a little like the Scarecrow, and a little like a couple of wanted posters in the hallways on the lower floors of her building. She stood tall, and wore a bright yellow mask across her eyes, and her violently red hair was tied back with a blue scrap of ribbon. She had a gun of her own, the same yellow as her mask, and it rested in a similar holster to Jet’s, over top of light jeans encrusted with dirt at the cuffs. Her black tank top was loose and ripped, with a flaking graphic of a cat, and the girl could see bandages poking out from under it. 

They stood there for a moment, facing off, terrified, until Teo released the girl, charging at their attacker, tackling her with an inhuman growl. They struggled for a moment, and it looked like Teo was winning before the other brought her legs up to her chest, kicking them hard enough they flipped and landed on their back, hard, and she was able to pin them down, pressing the barrel of her gun squarely between their eyes, breathing hard. 

The girl gasped, and it was her turn to charge forward, slapping the stranger and grabbing the gun, throwing it to the side without even a second glance. 

“Don’t you dare hurt them!” She screamed, shoving at the older girl’s chest, who in her surprise, fell back, releasing Teo. They wheezed softly, pushing themself back and rolling onto their side. 

“That’s my friend, these are my friends , don’t you dare hurt them ever again!” 

“I didn’t shoot them,” The girl in the cat shirt muttered, holding a hand to where she’d been struck and staring intently at the ground. 

“You were gonna! That’s mean! And-” She racked her brains, remembering an overheard conversation at the party where they met Lock. “ Spineless .” 

“I know,” The other groaned, hanging her head. “I know, it’s just- what else is there?” 

“Well, I don’t know,” The girl shook her head, walking over to the Scarecrow and helping him up as he regained consciousness, bleary-eyed and bloody in the nose and mouth. “But you can’t just go jumping out and hitting people that can’t do anything about it because they don’t remember anything past yesterday!” 

“Really?” She frowned, squinting at the Scarecrow, who nodded weakly in reply, nursing his busted lip and potentially broken nose. 

“Yeah, really!” The girl cried, planting her hands on her hips. 

“That’s why you didn’t do shit.” 

“I didn’t do anything ‘cause you jumped on me, asshole.” The Scarecrow snapped, hissing in pain as his lip split further and started bleeding again. “Dick!” 

“Still. What about him?” The older girl nodded at Jet, who was quietly thanking the little one for helping him up, accepting his blaster, but not holstering it. 

“You hit me in the face like 5 times.” He sneered, checking over his arm. 

She hummed in reply, as that seemed like a fair description and excuse.

“And the green one?” 

“That’s Teo. They don’t talk. You were gonna shoot them in the head.” 

“Oh- yeah. That’s- dick move. Yeah. Pretty spineless.” 

“What makes you that way?” The girl asked, now that she’d calmed down a little. She seemed scary enough, big, tall. 

“I dunno. I just… am. Everyone else thinks I’m this, like, big shot, so they stay away from me or get mad when I’m around. If I look mean enough and hit harder faster, then it doesn’t matter that I would rather hide and curl up in a ball than be anywhere near them. Anybody tried to call me on it…well, you did. That’s how that’d go.” 

“Sounds like a heart problem. Or disorder or something.” Jet offered, blaster not-so-subtly still trained on the older girl. She looked to be his age, honestly. It was weird to the little one, but she didn’t have time to think about that. 

“Maybe. I dunno.” She shrugged, eyeing the gun, but choosing to ignore its presence. 

“Had that kinda problem when my heart was, well. You know.” He knocked on his chest, and there was a dull rapping of metal on metal, despite his thin shirt. 

“Maybe it’s in your head,” The Scarecrow had recovered enough to speak normally, but not enough to forgive the blows to his ribs. 

“Maybe.” She repeated, thoughtful. 

“I’m going to the city out there to get mine fixed by a wizard dude,” He nodded down the road, and she followed his gaze, eyebrows raised. 

“I’m going to get my heart back. Literally, I guess.” Jet finally put his gun away, walking over to help Teo up from where they’d been sprawled out, regaining their senses. 

“Teo and I are going so we can go home.” The girl collected all the supplies that had spilled out in the fight, putting tools back into the belt, repacking her backpack and handing it up to the Scarecrow, who accepted it graciously. 

“You think he could give me a spine?” Their new almost-friend joked, sobering up as she realized they were all serious, more or less. 

“Shouldn’t be too hard. He is a wizard, y’know.” The child held out her hand, smiling as the help was accepted. 

“Uh- can I come with you guys, then? I just… I can’t keep doing this.” 

“Sure!” 

And that was it. They set off again, now a company of five, with Jet and the Scarecrow returning to their posts up front. This left the girls together with Teo, who did not approve of that, since they’d almost been murdered a moment before, but they moved on swiftly, choosing to walk in the middle. 

The rest of the day was remarkably unremarkable, except for when Jet accidentally stepped on a beetle. Nobody else had noticed, but he was so distressed by this that he stopped breathing properly, which made speaking hard. 

He walked in silence for some time, clenching and unclenching his fists and staring straight ahead, until the girl asked him a question and he couldn’t answer, which stopped the entire party in their tracks for fear of something having gone all wrong. 

After a moment and a quick translation from that hand-y language into English by the older girl, the reasoning had been revealed, and the collective worked on calming him down again enough that they could move on. 

He was extra careful to watch out for more bugs along the way, and the Scarecrow kept his eye out as well, just in case. 

“Sorry guys,” Jet muttered after some time, though it wasn’t clear if he meant it. “Bugs, y’know?” 

Chapter Text

Eventually, again, the sun had set, and while they were able to travel for some time further by the light of Jet’s mechanical eye, he began to complain about wasting battery, so they found shelter clinging to the side of one of the steeper hills. 

Jet scrounged up enough material for a small fire, lecturing the party on fire safety and the ease at which it could spread out of their control. 

Once there was a fire going, the girl and Teo snuggled up by it, still not used to sleeping- or really being- outdoors in the cold. The Scarecrow opted to stay back, and Jet went as far as climbing to sit at the top of the hill to keep watch. He and the Scarecrow worked out a deal to trade off at some point, as neither seemed to sleep as much as normal people should. 

They also continued not to eat, which was starting to worry the girl. What was more worrying, however, was that she and Teo finished the snacks that they’d packed, and there were no more. 

“If you want, I can get food for you.” The new girl, who’d muttered a name that sounded like ‘Poison’ when asked, said ominously, reaching for her gun. 

“Oh, please,” Jet called down, and the girl could imagine the scowl on his face, “Do go find some poor idiot while he’s sleeping and kill and rob him. It’s not like we have any other choice .” 

Poison scowled right back, but slipped off at some point anyways, coming back later with a little more blood on her clothes than before. 

Nobody asked, and she didn’t tell. 

More productively, perhaps, the Scarecrow took the girl’s backpack out and returned with some odd-end snacks and fruits from a mystery source, for which she was very grateful. 

He seemed to have some aversion to the fire, only coming close once the girl was asleep and Teo had almost joined her, removing his jacket to provide a blanket for the small one. Jet tossed his vest down as well, and the Scarecrow folded it into a pillow for Teo once they’d actually passed out. 

The morning came and the girl went around, gently shaking everyone awake. Teo and Poison got to work tamping down the still-dying fire as the girl climbed up the hill to find that Jet and the Scarecrow had not only fallen asleep but had done so sitting back to back, with the Scarecrow’s head resting on Jet’s shoulder and Jet’s blaster held loosely in his hand. Just in case. 

It made her chest hurt again, even though she didn’t know why. 

They both seemed rather embarrassed once they’d realized what happened, staying a little farther away from each other than necessary. 

Soon enough, they were packed up and ready to head back on their way. 

This was the trickiest travel day yet. They’d only walked for about an hour, with the big kids taking turns carrying the girl on their backs or shoulders so she could rest her legs before they came across a ditch that spread across the road and to each side forever. 

As Jet hissed about earthquakes, they looked down, confirming that their obstacle was too steep to climb down, and filled with jagged rocks and the remains of a few motorcycles, cars, and other things. 

“What are we going to do now? ” The girl cried, terrified that they’d never get where they needed to go. 

Jet shrugged, kneeling at the edge of the fault. Poison leaned forward, hands on her knees as she squinted at the road on the other side. 

“I mean, we can’t jump it, we don’t have a bridge… we could go around?” The Scarecrow offered, sounding uncertain. 

“I could probably jump it.” Poison frowned. 

“Okay, then maybe if you were really strong you could jump it carrying each of us, I guess.” 

“There’s one way to find out.” She stood, stretching her arms and cracking her back. She turned to the Scarecrow, raising an eyebrow and extending a hand. 

“You first?” 

“You- I- Y’know what? Sure. I’ll go first. Without testing to see if you can even clear it by yourself. That’s smart.” He resigned himself to his probable fate, climbing onto her back as she retreated, running straight for the ditch and leaping over, rolling as the pair landed and the Scarecrow yelped, letting go as she landed on top of him. 

Poison jumped up, laughing. 

“Yeah, I can do that!” 

She took another running jump to the other side, giddy. 

Jet didn’t seem too interested in being carried anywhere, so he picked up the girl and followed suit, breaking her fall with his own body as opposed to trying to squish the life out of her as Poison had done with the Scarecrow. 

Poison took Teo across, and that was that. 

They all dusted themselves off, and once Poison had a chance to recover from jumping back and forth carrying twice their usual body weight, they continued down the road, which was devoid of all paint beyond the flaking yellow lines in the center. 

Collectively, they pulled closer to each other, and Poison whispered something about lab rats and No Man’s Land. 

“What lab rats?” The girl asked, confused as to how little rodents could spark such fear in her companions. 

“Mutants- outcasts from Batt City’s science buildings, things that were people but just… aren’t anymore. I heard they were trying to make super soldiers, but they just kept making mindless killers- completely out of control.” 

Teo and the Scarecrow squirmed uncomfortably as Poison went on, and the girl thought about how there were three empty bedrooms on Teo’s floor. 

“That does sound scary,” She nodded, “And… awful.” 

Poison would have continued if Jet hadn’t grabbed the back of her shirt, stopping her moments away from falling into another gulf. 

This one was wider, and even if they were to jump it would be at great risk to themselves. 

And so they sat for a time, considering their limited options. The Scarecrow walked for a time along the edge, vanishing behind a hill and returning shortly thereafter, running fast enough that he slipped as he tried to stop, sliding and landing hard on his side, and Jet had to grab him to prevent his rolling off the edge and onto the awaiting carnage below. 

“There is,” The Scarecrow panted, sitting up and grinning at Jet, “A bridge. That way. Goes all the way across.” 

“Dude, genius!” Jet grinned back, and there was a glimpse, for a moment, of an image of the boy the others hadn’t yet seen- happy, excited. He hit the Scarecrow lightly upside the head, jumping up.  “You sure you don’t have any brains in there?” 

They all ran over, with the Scarecrow in the lead, and he was able to point out where the posts were loose, stepping back to let Jet, with Teo’s help, secure them more tightly. 

The bridge itself was by no means pretty, a simple fraying set of ropes with several cracked slats and not nearly enough security on the ‘rails’ for anyone’s comfort, but it would carry them across, which was good enough.

They’d just started across, with the girl holding both Teo and the Scarecrow’s hands, when there was a noise behind them, and two figures crested the closest hill, wild-eyed and breathing hard. 

They were as terrible as Poison had described, mouths opening too wide when they screamed, eyes too wide and unblinking as they looked between the party. 

Their hair was shaggy and unkempt, and their skin was discolored, and as the girl stared in horror, she couldn’t help feeling a pang of familiarity as she considered that the tattered clothing could have at one point resembled Teo’s uniform, which they were still wearing, though they’d rolled up the pant legs. 

She wasn’t permitted to reflect on the matter further, though, as she was tugged along while Poison stood her ground, yelling and cursing at the lab rats, making them back up for a moment.

There was a lot more swearing from all sides as the rats shook themselves out of their surprise and remembered that there were two of them and only one of Poison, and started to cross the bridge in pursuit. 

She shrieked, pushing Jet so the entire party could go faster, and it was their luck that they had critical thinking and the monsters behind them did not, as they were able to avoid all of the broken slats and cross to the other side safely. 

They were still in hot pursuit, and finally, the Scarecrow cried out, dropping to his knees by one of the posts. 

“Cut it! Drop the bridge!” 

Jet knelt by the other post, ramming his shoulder into it hard enough that it gave way, and in fact hard enough that he fell over, and Poison and Teo grabbed his waist and legs to stop him from following the post as it swung dangerously, suspended over what was now certain death. 

The Scarecrow was muttering to himself incoherently as he cut the ropes, glancing up frantically as the lab rats continued to climb sideways across the bridge, spiderlike. 

Eventually, the ropes snapped, and the bridge swung down, and there was terrible screaming, some disgusting crunching sounds, and then silence. 

“Well. If you’ll excuse me,” Poison said, with forced casualty, “I’ll go that way and have a panic attack.” 

“Ah,” Jet reminisced sarcastically, rolling his eyes. “Panic attacks, how I miss you so.” 

Once they’d all recovered, they started along the path much faster than before, and they had to carry the girl after a while since the pace was too fast for her little legs and she got tired quickly. 

To everyone’s relief, they passed through what they believed to be No Man’s Land, coming across signs with lots of yellow and black and circular symbols. The girls were in the lead, and Poison had not been looking where they were going, so three hands shot out in unison to block their way. 

The girl, rousing from her almost slumber, blinked hard as the idea of ‘radiation’ and ‘hotspots’ was explained to her, and they all stepped back, thinking. 

Again, the Scarecrow wandered off in silence, returning with a grin. 

“There are the remains of two go-karts over there.” He boasted, hands on his hips. 

And then it was a race between the boys to see who could carry over the most go-kart pieces the fastest, as the others sat a safe distance away. This took quite some time, as despite their enthusiasm they were still teenage boys that had not been treated with kindness in the last few weeks, and the sun seemed to set at a far more rapid pace than before. 

The pair worked well into the night, bickering quietly until Jet’s flashlight faltered, and they decided to call it quits. 

The others were asleep far before that, so they took posts nearby, both determined to outlast the other, and both falling asleep in under half an hour. 

In the meantime, the girl dreamed about the city, and the Wizard, who had a pointy hat, of course, and the triumph in being returned home, safe and sound. 

Chapter Text

The next morning came, and the group arose feeling excited if not well rested. They were past the worst of the desert and could see a band of flowers ahead, a while past their current obstacle. The city couldn’t be far. 

As the others enjoyed a pleasant breakfast, the boys completed their bizarre go-kart amalgamate, presenting it with glee. 

“There are only three seats,” The girl frowned, tilting her head and squinting to make sure. 

“Yeaahh,” The Scarecrow chewed on his cheek, scratching the back of his head and looking away. 

“We uh, couldn’t find most of the engine.” Jet confessed, walking briskly to the back of the cart. “But! But, we put handles in, and we were just gonna… y’know, push. Push? Yeah.” 

“Yeah, the two of us were gonna push it.” The Scarecrow nodded, and they both waited for one of the others to say something, challenge them. They didn’t. 

Soon enough, Poison, the girl, and Teo were seated, with the girl in the center, and Jet and the Scarecrow shook themselves out as Jet explained every single possible thing that could happen to them if they stayed in the radiation zone for too long. 

With the worst pep talk in history out of the way, the boys took the handles and started walking forward, grunting at the strain on their arms and legs. 

They picked up speed quickly and were soon running at full speed, the cart rattling as it skipped over rocks and debris and the girl watched the grass and flowers and things grow closer with frightened determination. 

The air felt like it was buzzing, and everyone inside the cart pulled closer together, mouths shut tight. 

Jet laughed when they were halfway there, and it seemed his curse came around again because a few moments later, the Scarecrow’s foot caught on a rock, and he lost his grip on the cart, collapsing on the ground. 

Simultaneously, the boys let out strings of words that the girl hadn’t heard before, but thought sounded awful. 

“Keep going!” The Scarecrow called as if Jet had another choice, and they made it to where the air was normal again, jumping out as the cart started to crumble into its component parts once more. 

Jet paced back and forth for a moment as the Scarecrow picked himself up, coughing. 

After it was obvious that letting him walk the rest of the way would take too long, Jet cursed more, steeling himself as he ran back into the hotspot. 

He scooped the smaller boy up, tossing him over a shoulder as he dashed back, and they both tumbled to the ground as they returned to safety, arguing breathlessly about watching their feet and not being idiots and other mean things that the girl didn’t care enough to hear about. 

When the cart finally fell apart, they shot each other dirty looks, muttering “I told you so”s and crossing their arms. 

Nevertheless, they were on the right track again, and all they had to do was find the road, which must have taken a turn in the middle of the hotspot, as it was nowhere in sight. 

There was nowhere to go but forward, so they marched on, delighting in the first steps on real grass in years, if at all. 

The plants were gorgeous, and the flowers were bountiful in every color you could think of, though most were a vibrant orange. 

Now that they were in the field, it stretched as far as the eye could see, and as they traveled, more and more of the flowers were orange, uniform, and vast. 

It was so wonderful that the girl decided she wanted to stay there forever and ever if she could. 

She yawned, suddenly, stretching her arms up as her eyelids grew heavy. The ride in the cart had just been so exciting, she figured, that she was all tired out. Maybe she needed a nap. 

As she slowed down, falling behind the others, Jet doubled back, shaking his head. 

“Nuh-uh, bubbas. We can’t stop here.” He soothed, taking her hand. “You know what these are?” 

When she shook her head, he continued, letting her go to gesture widely at the fields. 

“They’re called poppies. They’re California’s state flower, y’know. That’s where we are. And what they do is make you reeaaally sleepy. But we gotta get to the road again so you can go home, right?” 

“Right.” The girl nodded, rubbing her eyes. 

And so she tried her hardest to stay awake and keep looking for the road like the others, but soon fell behind, yawning so much she couldn’t ask for anyone to slow down. It wasn’t long after that when she fell, curling up and smiling softly, blissful in her rest. 

Teo stooped after that, trying to shake the tiredness off and only succeeding in dropping to one knee, then the other, and finally landing flat on their stomach, down for the count. 

It was then that the others noticed, cursing softly to themselves for not realizing sooner. 

“Well,” Jet sighed as they walked back. “What now?” 

“We gotta get them outta here, man.” Poison yawned, rolling their shoulders back. “I’m dying over here.” 

In truth, both Jet and the Scarecrow were feeling the effects of the poppies quite strongly, but through sheer willpower, they were ignoring it, stifling every yawn that tried to escape. 

“Run as fast as possible to the other side,” The Scarecrow instructed, crouching as he hoisted the girl into the air. “We’ll meet you there, but we can’t pick you up if you go down, okay? We gotta carry these guys.” 

“Seems fair,” Poison nodded, shouldering any fears of being left behind. And she was off, vanishing into the flowers in moments as they seemed to grow impossibly taller. 

Jet, with some help, got Teo onto his back, and they followed slowly, the boys refusing to give into the temptation to set the others down and relax for a moment in their lives. 

And on they walked, staggering near the end, fueled by spite and anger and a feeling of injustice, until they reached the point at which the poppies trailed off, leaving at first other flowers, then grass, and then patchy dirt once more. 

They’d found Poison sprawled out a few yards from clearing the field, a raised root by her feet and a steady rise and fall in her torso. 

“Well,” Jet sighed. “That sucks.” 

“We gotta leave her,” The Scarecrow urged. “At least for now. If we stop to pick her up, none of us are getting out of here.” 

And so they found a safe spot away from the flowers to set Teo and the girl down, collapsing as soon as they had, and staring at the sky in silence for as long as they needed. 

It would be fine. 

Chapter Text

It took what could have been hours, but the boys finally recovered enough to stand, facing away from each other on each side of their still-sleeping companions. 

“I think we’re close to the road,” The Scarecrow frowned, the silence having gotten too heavy. 

Jet opened his mouth to reply as something let out a shrill squeak, and a deer mouse scrambled up his leg as a coyote bounded out from a large patch of foliage, all teeth and ribs and boney legs. 

The boy shouted, but as it kept charging towards him, instinct kicked in, and he’d fired three bolts into its head and chest before he’d realized his gun was drawn. 

The deer mouse, now perched on Jet’s shoulder, squeaked again. 

“Oh, thank you, thank you!” She cried, running down Jet’s arm as he held it up, allowing her a more comfortable platform. 

“Um.” He replied, staring down at the dead coyote. “Hold that thought.” 

He looked behind him, at the tiny child.

“Crow, you think you can get this out of here?” He called, holstering his blaster with his free hand. 

“Y-yeah, sure.” The Scarecrow moved quickly, brows furrowed as he picked up the poor dog, wandering away to find a place safely out of the kid’s eyesight. 

With that taken care of, Jet turned back to the creature on his arm. 

“You’re a mouse.” He stated, in case she hadn’t realized. 

“ A mouse? Just a mouse?” She shrieked, and Jet leaned back, eyebrows raised. “I am a Queen! The Queen of all the mice in this field!” 

“Oh! Okay! Yeah!” Jet nodded, voice a little shrill than he’d intended. He cleared his throat, privately wondering what had been done to the poppies and whether he was even awake. 

“And so you have done a great service to myself and all my people, as well as shown a wondrous level of bravery, facing down such an evil.” She gave what had to be a curtsy, which baffled Jet further, but not nearly as much as the handful of mice running up moments later. 

“Oh, Your Majesty! Your Majesty!” They all shouted, “We thought you were done for! How did you escape the beast?” And they bowed in unison, so low that Jet was sure they would just launch out of a headstand and into a full acrobatic performance, because why not.

“What the fuck,” He whispered, trying to psychically summon the Scarecrow from wherever he’d gone so he could confirm actual tiny animals were speaking to him. It wasn’t very effective.

“This metal man saved me and killed the monster!” The Queen declared, and Jet was too shocked to correct her on either of the descriptors used for him. “From now on, you shall serve him, and obey his every wish.” 

That sounded insane, but the mice all agreed, nodding their tiny heads furiously and bowing again. Then, they scattered as Teo had roused and rolled over, grinning at the sight of such tiny creatures and crawling over to see what they were doing. 

“Aw, come on, they won’t hurt you,” Jet sighed, accepting his fate and kneeling next to Teo, smacking their hand gently. They withdrew, pouting. 

The Queen, who had been lowered to the ground and allowed to dismount, backed away nonetheless, timid. 

“Are you sure they will not bite us?” 

“Nahhh.” Jet rolled his eyes, and Teo did the same, shaking their head. “They just like animals, I think.” 

Slowly, the mice returned, and Teo sat up, resting their chin in their hands and looking thrilled, but restraining themself as much as possible. 

“How many are you,” one of the larger mice spoke, never taking its eyes off what, in its mind, was still a legitimate threat, “In your party?” 

“Well,” The Scarecrow returned, then, and all the mice jumped, but did not run, allowing him to continue. “There’s the three of us, that kid back there, and… Poison’s still in the flowers.” 

“Poison?” The Queen squeaked. “A good thing you left there, then! Poisonous flowers… what ever shall those evil people do to us next?” 

“Oh- Poison’s not really a poison. Poison’s a girl, ish. She’s over there.” Jet shrugged, pointing back to where they’d seen their fallen friend last, feeling a twinge of guilt for not saving her. 

“I see!” There was a pause, and the Queen looked at the three seriously. “Well?” 

“Well?” Jet echoed, somewhat concerned that there were still, in fact, talking animals, and two other people could see and hear them. 

“Can you not get your friend? A traveling troupe such as yourselves should not be split so easily!” 

“Ohh. Yeah. I mean, yeah.” He stood, feeling a little silly as he marched back over to the poppy field, wading through until he found Poison again, and kneeling to pick her up. 

For one moment, he was ready to just give in to the exhaustion creeping in once more. Still, he shifted Poison so she was draped somewhat comfortably on his back, and stood, quietly insulting every possible thing about the act to make up for the idea that he was doing something kind intentionally because a mouse told him to. 

In the meantime, as it was some distance, and Jet was walking ever so slowly on his return, the Scarecrow and the Queen continued their conversation. 

Soon, the young girl woke up and was filled in on the situation. She was very apologetic about falling asleep, but it was waved off with some mention of how close to the ground she was. 

As Jet approached, the Queen curtsied, and he bowed slightly, still carrying Poison. 

“Is there anything we can do for you, O sir?” She asked, and upon some reflection, Jet nodded. 

“We'd been following this road, but we lost it. You know where it is?” 

“Oh, yes, of course, I know the road!” She turned, disappearing into the grass for a while as the group heard lots of nonsense squeaking. 

Soon, what had to have been thousands of mice came rushing toward them, creating the outline of a safe path, leading them to the right. 

Dubiously, at least at first, they followed, Jet carrying Poison for as long as necessary. 

Eventually, the road was found, and the mice disappeared, squeaking their salutations and farewells. 

Jet continued to privately consider what could have been added to the poppies, and prayed to whoever was listening that he was, indeed, awake. 

Chapter Text

It must have been hours before Poison stirred, Jet having carried her on his back, pausing occasionally to check her pulse and steady breathing. 

He coaxed her back to consciousness, gentle with her in a way that made Teo and the Scarecrow exchange a look the girl didn’t know how to place. 

“I ran as fast as I could,” Poison sighed, allowing Jet to set her on her feet. “Fuckin’ flowers… but you guys got me.” 

It seemed to the girl that her friend had not expected a rescue, and her chest hurt again, in a way she couldn’t describe like it did when they found Jet. 

Jet tried to keep the explanation simple, muttering something about going back, but the Scarecrow gleefully recounted the experience with the mice, much to Poison’s bewilderment. 

She laughed when it was revealed he wasn’t lying, accepting Jet’s arm as she stumbled. 

“Maybe this whole big and scary thing isn’t for me. If flowers can almost kill me and mice are what convince my friends to come back and save me, I don’t know how I was hacking it before. What’s next, anyways?” 

“We’re trying to find the road.” The girl took the lead, as she was closer to the ground and could see where the mice had left markers in the grass. With one of their party carrying another, their pace was slower, and the mice had scattered into the brush once more, having other things to do with their day. 

As it turned out, they were not far from it, and they caught the road again shortly. It was much more colorful than before and often had painted arrows urging them forward, a blinding yellow that made the girl excited. 

The country was even nicer than when Teo and the Girl had started off, which seemed like forever ago. 

There were well-kept houses with lights on inside, gardens, trees, parks. Cars. It all looked run down to some degree, but Jet and the girl marveled at their first peek into how cities should look, the party ignoring the sideways glances from passersby. 

Eventually, the sun set, and they realized as a collective that the city did not have functional street lights, so they picked out a small house with the porch light on, knocking softly. 

Jet’s hand found its way to his blaster, and Teo placed their hand over his, a silent reminder of different rules. 

An older woman answered the door, raising an eyebrow at the ragtag crew. 

“What do you want?” She asked, wary. 

“A place to stay the night,” the girl pushed forward from where the Scarecrow had instinctively hidden her, craning her neck to smile at the woman. “Pretty please. These are my friends, they’re very nice, I promise.” 

The woman’s nose wrinkled, but after some consideration and a chorus of awkward hellos, waves, and unpracticed smiles, she sighed, nodding as the door opened wider. 

As they filed in, three other people greeted them with confused stares- a man and two children. 

A brief conversation was had about where they had come from, how long they had been on the road, and so on, and the woman had some very strong words for the older kids when it was revealed how little food they had. 

Excuses were muttered, and a real dinner was graciously accepted by all, the smell of real food forcing Jet and the Scarecrow to finally confront their hunger. 

During the meal, the man, who was resting on the couch due to an injured leg, tilted his head to one side, allowing curiosity to get the better of him. 

“Where are y’all headed?” 

“To the city! We’re gonna see a wizard!” The girl grinned through a hasty mouthful of the best bread she’d ever tasted.

“Oh!” He nodded, grinning right back. “Are you sure he’ll see you ?” 

This stopped everyone suddenly, and the teens exchanged uncomfortable glances. Nobody had thought about that. 

“Why wouldn’t he?” The girl asked, frowning. 

“Well, it’s said he doesn't let anyone see him. Ever. I’ve been to Vegas plenty, and it’s still pretty, a’course, but I haven’t seen… the wizard. I don’t know anyone that has.” It seemed that the man struggled with the idea of this mysterious figure being a wizard, per se, but he was content to roll with the name. 

“He doesn’t go anywhere?” The Scarecrow piped up, incredulous. 

“No, sir.” The man replied gravely. “He turned one of the casinos into his base of operations and nobody’s seen him since we all got here. He’s got a small team of people that work for him, but I don’t think they’ve seen him either.” 

“Well, what’s he like?” The girl inquired, finishing her meal and eyeing the remains of Poison’s, earning a swat on the back of the hand as she tried to sneak a piece of meat off the plate. 

“Hard to say,” The man fixed his gaze on the ceiling, pausing before he continued, thoughtful. “Some people think he’s just a plant from Better Living. Some people say he’s a god like the Witch, since she’s around sometimes but only talks to him. Well, we assume. Some people think he’s some punk kid pulling a prank. I think he’s the real deal. He helps people, is all I know. It’s what they say he does, anyway. He’s got a way with it.” 

“Well, he better see us, 'cause otherwise, all this walking would have gone to waste.” The girl stated, determined. 

“What’cha lookin’ for from him?” 

“I wanna remember what happened to me past a couple days ago.” The Scarecrow said eagerly, collecting the empty plates. 

“Oh, that’s easy. He’s got eyes and ears all over, he’ll know.” 

“I’m trying to get a heart,” Jet muttered, leaning back, scrambling as his chair tilted too far and he risked falling. The others looked away as he shot anyone who dared to laugh a death glare, acting like it didn’t happen. 

“My guess is he’s got extras.” The man nodded, regarding the primarily metallic boy with some amusement. 

“I’m goin’ for uh, courage. Yay.” Poison raised a hand in mock celebration, cheeks turning pink in mild embarrassment. 

“I’m sure you can get some, but he’ll know what to do best.”

“And me ‘n’ Teo are trying to get home.” The girl concluded, Teo nodding solemnly. 

“Where’d that be?” 

“I’m not sure,” She replied solemnly. “But there’s gotta be one somewhere.” 

“Well, I’m sure he can find somewhere for you to go.” The man smiled, and with that dinner had concluded, and the woman directed the Scarecrow to the sink as she helped the man to his feet and they disappeared further into the house. At the same time, the children brought out blankets and pillows and things, setting up a semblance of a bed on the floor and staring as Jet opened up some panels, checking the Plus in his arms and legs. 

He smiled, nodding as they crept closer, and whispered explanations of what he was doing as the others got settled. Soon, the kids vanished as well, and jackets and vests were shrugged off for comfort. 

The girl got the couch, and the others piled on top of each other, squirming around until each was comfortable and throwing blankets on as much of their bodies as they could manage. 

The next morning, as the sun rose, they collected themselves again, folding blankets and comforters neatly as a thank you, and were on their way. 

It did not take long to reach the walls of the city- Las Vegas, as the signs declared- and a small cheer went up, as they had finally made it. 

There was more green here, more even than around the poppy field, and it only got greener as they traveled. 

They approached the walls of the city, muttering about varied rumors and history they had heard regarding why the walls were there in the first place. 

By the large doors, several arrows were painted in various colors, all pointing in some way to a small bell, which the girl poked, giggling as the sound echoed inside. 

The doors swung outward slowly, rumbling softly as they moved. Wary, the party entered, the teens surrounding the girl as the doors closed behind them. 

After a moment, a tan figure in brightly colored skates approached them, eyes narrowed in what could be amusement or caution- it was very hard to tell. 

They were wearing two pairs of tights, a blue base under shredded white, and a pair of bedazzled shorts sparkling over top. Their shirt was short and must have originally been white because the chalky colors coating it stood out brightly. They had, as well, a bright green sash and a mask covering their nose and mouth, obviously customized to look like an old boom box. 

“Well, hell- lo! ” They crooned, clasping their hands as they twirled, stopping in front of the group. Everyone seemed equally as bewildered as before, except for Jet- his jaw was squared and his fists were clenched, eyes fixed firmly on their host with mingled horror and vexation. He had never been easy to read, himself, but if one of the others looked hard enough, they could find hints of guilt creeping in from the side. 

“How interesting...” As they continued, the girl furrowed her brow, straining to hear what was said as the mask muffled everything. “Well! What’cha here for? How can I help y’all?” 

“We wanna see the wizard.” The girl frowned, watching as the stranger glanced at Jet once more before dropping to her eye level, a hand planted on the ground. 

“Nobody’s asked that in a while, motorbaby.” They said seriously, rolling backward before standing again. “He’s very busy, so if you’re here for something nominal, he’s not gonna be very happy.” 

“Well, this is very important! Not nom…” The girl paused, stumbling over the word. 

“Nominal, baby.” The stranger supplied gently, nodding. Jet glowered at them, silent and so far unnoticed. 

“Not nominal at all!” 

“There we are. Well, I’m sure he has a moment, and if he doesn’t, I can make him have one. He doesn’t like getting bothered, but these are…” They glanced at Jet again, an eyebrow raised. “Special circumstances.” 

They started rolling again, turning sharply to bow to the group.

“My name is Show Pony, I’ll be your server this evening.” They joked, standing once more. “If you wanna see him so bad, I’ll take you to our humble mastermind. But first, you’ve gotta have a mask.” 

They skated over to a large box on a table to the side, opening it to reveal a dozen gas masks of different sizes, shapes, and colors. The teens cringed away from the clear ones, opting for the more standard outdoorsy masks. Poison’s had spikes on it, which she thought was radical. She told everyone about it as she put it on. 

Soon enough they were settled, and Show Pony led them forward, snaking through the city streets, talking about some bombs and gas and things that the girl didn’t understand. 

Eventually, the place was found, and Pony laughed, throwing open the glass doors to a larger building that was probably the casino the man was talking about last night. 

“Well, here we are!” They announced, gliding over to an elevator and allowing the others to file in, punching a couple of buttons on the wall so it would start moving and play music, as they explained. 

And there they were. 

They were so close. 

Chapter Text

The elevator let them out into a large, open room with tables and overturned chairs and machines. Slowly, the lights flickered on, and games started up, much to everyone’s surprise- including Pony. 

The girl was the most enthralled by this display of bright color and noise, grinning as translucent echoes of people appeared for mere seconds at a time, their hubbub and laughter dulled by something beyond her understanding. 

Nobody else noticed them, and they didn’t notice her, so she kept silent, marveling at the flashing arcade. 

Abandoning the group, Pony skated quickly to an intercom-style device, clearly not original to the building. They spoke quickly to someone they called ‘boss man’ about company, and nodded as they got a reply before gliding back. 

“He’s not interested.” They announced solemnly. “I’m gonna go bully him into saying yes, and we’ll see how it goes. Y’all can hang out here, and give yourselves a good couple minutes before your masks come off. We’ve got filters on this level, so any residuals from outside should clear up soon.” 

And they vanished, ascending a separate elevator, managing to shoulder check Jet on the way, who cursed softly, flipping them off as they left. 

Eventually, they all found themselves occupied by their surroundings, Teo favoring a large spinner wheel while everyone else picked slot machines or game tables at random. 

After a comfortable amount of time, their masks were removed, hanging around their necks to prevent losing any. 

The girl chose to wander, finding herself at a larger table off to the side, kicking her feet atop one of the stools as she watched a phantom game of poker intently. 

It was hours until they heard from Pony again, but none of them wandered very far, consumed by the colorful games and, for the elder ones, the hunt for alcohol, which was not faring well. 

They didn’t have any intent to drink it, anyways, as they’d grumbled after the first hour and a half of the hunt. They just wanted to see it. 

When the elevator dinged, signaling the skater’s return, they paused, and the girl asked if they’d seen the wizard. 

“Oh, yes, I have!” They grinned, and the girl saw, now that their mask was hanging off their hip, that they had a burst of a scar running down their right cheek at an angle, twisted and pinkish, that offset their smile somewhat. 

Jet’s face got very red when he saw it, and he ducked behind the counter he’d been looking under quickly. Finally, his oddness was noticed, and the Scarecrow, who had been with him, leaned over to raise an eyebrow. 

“He doesn’t like it, but he’s gonna see y’all one at a time, starting with the little one. I’ll be there, so don’t worry. He’s not too bad, he’s just grumpy because he’s old and doesn’t sleep, like, ever.” Pony continued, ignoring the boys. 

They held up a hand as the girl began to cheer, frowning suddenly. 

“But, since he’s got a big old meeting today, he said you gotta wait til tomorrow.” 

Pony waited for the group to process this, allowing them time to deflate or cuss or kick something. 

“I know.” They nodded, apologetic. “But, uh, we’ve got rooms. Like, lots, actually. Hotel, and all--- Jet, honey, stop hiding--- so that’s cool.” 

Jet did not stop hiding, but was dragged to his feet by the Scarecrow once Pony started moving toward the elevator again, and a few uncomfortable floors later they were led down a narrow hall with doors on either side. Rooms were assigned or dibsed, and they crashed for the night. 

At least, most of them crashed. The girl poked her head out of her room just in time to see Pony leaning on Jet’s doorframe as they spoke quietly. 

She couldn’t hear most of the words and didn’t recognize half of them, but she got the feeling this was a big step for both parties. 

Their conversation ended with a hug, and Pony skated away, leaving Jet to lean in the doorframe in their stead. 

The girl ducked back into her room when Jet noticed her staring and made a face, acting a lot tougher than he felt. 

The night passed peacefully, and they found their way to showers and fresh clothes in the morning. 

Eventually, Pony arrived once more, leading the girl to the wizard’s…office. Frankly, she was expecting a throne room, and ‘office’ was such a boring room name, that she had lost most hopes of magic or salvation by the time the elevator dinged and the doors opened. 

Pony, in an attempt to cheer her up, explained first that it was more of a lair than an office, and second that they had described her appearance to the wizard, and he was very interested in asking her about her awesome shoes and her necklace. 

Finally, they stressed that it had been ages since he’d seen anybody other than them, so this was a really cool change of pace--- for them, at least. 

They kept chattering as the pair traveled down the hallway, stopping at a big and important-looking door, with a sign that read “OFF AIR” in big letters. 

Without so much as knocking, Pony ushered the girl inside, switching on multiple strings of fairy lights as they went, wading through stacks of CDs, vinyl, tapes, and trash carefully before they turned a corner, revealing what had to be the wizard. 

To his credit, he did look fairly wizardly, though not in the way the girl was expecting. 

His hair was long, pulled back by a black bandana. In fact, most of his clothes were black, patched with some reds, blues, or bright yellows. He looked stern, and was hanging up one of five phones on his desk as they arrived with a quick thank you and good day. 

Finally, he addressed the girl, folding his hands and leaning forward. Businesslike.

“I’ve heard you think I’m a wizard. My name is Dr. Death Defying, but you can shorten that however you see fit. Who are you, and why did you want to see me?” 

“I don’t have a name, yet, but a couple people have called me Motorbaby, I guess.” The girl swallowed hard, heart pounding all of a sudden. “I want you to help me.” 

He looked at her thoughtfully, nodding. 

“Where did you get your shoes?” 

She looked down, shifting from foot to foot. 

“This big bird lady gave them to me. She said they were better to walk in, ‘cause all I had before were inside slippers.” 

His expression softened somewhat, and the girl looked back to Pony for reassurance. They grinned, shooting her a double thumbs up that made her smile a little. 

“And the necklace?” He continued. 

“She gave it to me, too. She said it’d make sure I was safe on my way here.” 

He leaned back, crossing his arms. 

“What did you want my help with?” 

“I want to go home. I used to live inside Battery City, in this big building, with my friend Teo. M… Matteo. A couple days ago, we got attacked, and we had to run away. Our driver crashed into a building and we met the Witch there, and the Zones are very nice, but I miss my room. I just wanna go home.” 

Dr. Death Defying shifted again, thinking to himself for a while. 

“Well, I can’t just send you back there.” He sighed, shaking his head. 

“What?” The girl shrieked, panic setting in. “Why not?” 

“It’s very dangerous, mija. You weren’t staying with nice people.” 

“But… But!!” 

“I can see about finding you a place to stay, but I’m sure they’re already looking for you. You are… far too small for any of this.” 

“Dee!” Pony cut in, hands on their hips. 

“What? I mean how old is she? 6? You know how small 6 is?” 

“I’m 7.” The girl frowned, and Dr. D extended his hand to her in exasperation. 

“She’s 7! How am I supposed to house a 7-year-old, Pony?” 

“You housed plenty of kids before.” 

“And you know this is different.” 

And the girl began to weep, for there was no returning home, and there would be no saving her from any of this nonsense. 

“Just- We’ll figure something out. Get her out of here, I’m not doing this right now.” 

“Vamanos, baby,” Pony soothed, and they left quietly as Dr. D pinched his nose, grabbing a map from beside his desk. 

As the door swung closed, a phone rang, and they could hear the man cursing before he picked it up. 

When they returned to the arcade floor, the girl broke down again, scooped up by Teo as they bounced in place, shooting a concerned look at Pony, who shrugged. 

“He’s busy again,” They told the Scarecrow. “You’re next once he’s done.” 

“Cool. Great.” He nodded. 

Hours passed, and the girl returned to her room while the others waited for Pony’s signal, a general discomfort in the idea of allowing the Scarecrow up there on his own. 

Eventually, an intercom buzzed, and Pony answered, sighing before leading the Scarecrow up. 

The introduction was much the same, names and pseudonyms were exchanged, and Dr. D sat back, watching the Scarecrow carefully. 

“What did you want?” 

“Well, it’s stupid now, but I wanted you to tell me what happened to me. Going from the magical wizard premise, I would have liked to know for myself, but you… don’t look like you can miracle that up for me.” 

“Well, what I know is that you’re Round One. And they finally did it.” The old man replied cryptically. “Do you care about that kid?” 

“What? I mean- yeah, I guess. She’s a kid. I don’t know her, or anything, but I’m not gonna kill her or let anyone else do that.” 

“That’s good. Keep watching after her. I’ll look into profiles and ask around, and we’ll see who you used to be.”

And the Scarecrow was ushered out, trying to figure out if he was more or less confused than when he went in. 

It was a surprising amount of work convincing Jet that it was his turn. 

“I mean, I really think he should see Poison first, I don’t even really want anything anymore, I’m good, she still wants stuff- You want stuff, right?” He glanced desperately at Poison, who was perched on a counter and sporting an expression somewhere between concern and discomfort. 

“Um. I guess.” 

“Yeah, so you should go first! It’s only fair.” Jet pleaded. 

“Starboy. It’s your turn.” Pony insisted, shoulders slumping as he continued his attempts to escape. 

“He wants to see you.” 

“Whaat?” Jet scoffed. “Nah, I’m okay. Flattered.” 

“Jet.” Poison interrupted, and that was the end of it. 

“Yeah. Yeah, alright.” He nodded, following Pony. 

Nobody else was quite sure what they talked about, but it took a long time, and Pony returned alone, explaining that Jet had opted to go directly to his room. 

Teo rejected Pony’s offer for a meeting, which left only Poison, who could already feel her heart racing. 

Up they went, through the music collections they waded, and in front of Dr. Death-Defying, Poison balked, hands getting shoved into pockets to avoid fidgeting. 

“Party Poison.” He started, “Not who I was expecting.” 

“You-” Poison grew wide-eyed, no further words escaping. 

“You’ve amassed a reputation. Hitting first, striking hard, kicking people when they’re down.” It seemed, for one reason or another, that he did not approve of this. 

“Well. I was doing what I had to.” She defended, rocking back and forth on her feet. 

“To survive. Yes. You’re becoming a figurehead, Party. You can’t keep acting like this.” 

“I didn’t wanna be a figurehead.” 

“You think I did?” 

“No, but-” 

“You’re forming a crew. That girl needs protection. A place to stay.” 

Poison nodded slowly, realizing what he wanted of her- of them.  

“There’s an abandoned diner out in Southeast 3.” He laid a map across the table, pointing out the area. 

“She’ll be safe there- If you keep her that way. You can’t stay here, this is too obvious. They’re looking for her.” 

“Yessir.” Poison corrected her posture, calming down. 

A radio crackled, and Dr. D cursed, apologizing before picking it up as Pony led Poison out. 

“We’ve got supplies. You can go car shopping in the parking lot later, if you want. We’ve got the keys for most of ‘em still checked into the lobby.” Pony offered. 

“Who is this girl?” 

“She’s the key.” Pony shrugged. “Eventually, she’s what wins the war, no matter who’s got her.” 

“We’re not telling her that.” Poison decided. “She’s just going to be some kid for as long as we can manage it.” 

“You got it.” 

They returned, and Poison collected everyone, explaining the plan. They would gather whatever they wanted or needed, and start out for the diner in the morning. It would be safe there. 

They were reluctant to leave, but the necessity was understood. 

The girl’s safety was the priority. 

Chapter Text

They slept well into the morning, and immediately went out on the town, masks on, to pick up new clothes and food while Jet and Pony tried to get an old two-door car to start. 

The girl found a couple of vests and wore both to avoid having to choose which she liked better. Everyone got new shirts, the Scarecrow opting for bright yellow to go under the red racing suit he’d unearthed. It rode high, so he took scissors to where it sat on his hips, keeping the jacket part and resigning himself to the idea of never closing it. In mourning of the full suit, he elected to settle for some black jeans Poison had thrown in his direction. 

Teo found the biggest pants in the world, black with lots of straps and buckles and green highlights, which they paired with the smallest shirt in the world, a faded yellow tank with a radiation warning symbol. 

Poison found an old racing jacket, bright blue and covered in advertisements in red and white, and cut the sleeves short, complaining about how the cuffs fit. She kept the rest of her outfit, however, picking out a few space-themed items for Jet as she waited for the others. 

All total, clothing shopping was a complete success, and lots of masks and accessories were found in old punk stores and army surplus places. 

Food was harder to find--- well, unspoiled food, that is--- but they’d scrape by. 

By early afternoon, the car- Jet proudly declaring it a late ‘70s Trans Am- had actually started, and they began packing.  

A map was provided, and the diner was circled. The Scarecrow was allowed to ride shotgun on the condition he’d at least try to help navigate, and a bright red blaster was passed his way. Its previous owner wasn’t going to miss it. 

The gates to the city were opened, and they were on their way out by 3 o’clock. Unfortunately, this was the point at which the sun was the highest, and they had to keep the windows open to avoid suffocating. Gas masks were kept on hand, but removed as soon as it was safe, and a variety of new bandanas were used to wipe away the sweat. 

The Am broke down several times, as well, which was highly frustrating.

The first time it sputtered to a stop was the first ill omen for the days to come. 

As they took a stretch break and Jet explained to Poison what had gone wrong, a swath of Draculoids appeared, blasters set to stun as they fired wildly at the teens, who retaliated much more violently, aiming their own weapons at faces and chests and, when proximity called for it, clawing and biting and doing whatever it took to tear their assailants down. 

Wounds were tended to as Jet fixed the issue in silence. They continued along the road until it got dark, and camped out inside the car, except for Jet and the Scarecrow, perched on the hood and the trunk respectively to keep watch. 

Filling the time, they talked for ages about names, and the Scarecrow decided to try out Cobra. He’d always liked snakes, as he confessed quietly. Jet made him promise not to go by ‘Snake’.

The conversation halted suddenly as something moved in the distance. 

“Up for some target practice?” Jet whispered. 

“Bet I can get more than you.” Cobra shot back, ducking just in time for the first blast to miss his throat. 

The firefight lasted much longer than the last one, as Crows and Dracs poured out of the darkness incessantly, almost getting the boys more times than they were comfortable with. 

It was halfway through and when Jet took a hit meant for the rear window that the others woke, ducking low again once they realized what was happening, Teo and Poison shielding the girl from harm in case the boys failed to keep them away. 

Despite the potentially vital hit to the side, Jet won the bet, sighing as he shot down the last Drac--- his 27th, but the 40th in total. 

A tutorial on cleaning up blaster wounds and a good nap later, he elected to ride the rest of the way in the backseat, Poison taking over at the wheel. 

Another handful of Draculoids and Scarecrow scouts tried to catch them at a gas station as they were filling up, but Cobra and Poison took them down quickly, Teo managing to fire one shot with Jet’s gun and some coaching. 

It was nearing sunset when yet another group of people approached them, armed but clearly not intent on hurting anyone. Their faces were visible, and they looked more scared than anything. 

Poison yelled at them, throwing an empty soda can in their direction as they scattered. 

This made the group cocky. 

They’d fended off four separate attacks in a matter of hours, with only one semi-major injury to show for it. 

The car was too small for 5 people, so they all camped outside, Jet offering to keep watch alone. 

Still recovering from the fights and the open wound in his torso, he fell asleep almost as soon as he’d finished confirming that everyone else was out. 

The final group of BL/i-issued assailants, headed by Korse, got the jump on them. 

They nabbed Jet first, dragging him away and covering his mouth before he could scream. He bit down on the hand over his face, and was punched squarely in the jaw, battered so hard he couldn’t fight back after too long. Once prone, the vultures stomped on his prosthetics until they broke, going so far as to tear off the older arm and both legs, and he didn’t have the energy or strength to do much more than wheeze and try to curl up as much as he could. 

In the meantime, Cobra had awoken, sensing something was wrong. As silently as possible, he crept over to where Jet was supposed to be, prepped to ask him if he thought ‘Kobra Kid’ was stupid. He liked the alliteration, and something about the K was better. Jet would tell him that was cool, because it still wasn’t ‘Snake’ and he could do whatever he wanted. 

To his dismay, he found a discarded blue blaster and a bald man with a stupid jacket and a ruffly shirt. 

The man addressed him by a name that he almost recognized, smiling coldly. 

“It’s Kobra.” He hissed, reaching for Jet’s gun. 

“Too slow.” 

Korse drew his weapon, shooting the ground next to Kobra’s hand, close enough to sting, far enough away not to damage severely. 

The boy recoiled, lunging at Korse with a growl, sheer hatred and the minimal lighting blinding him from recognizing the small device in the man's palm, which was slammed into his chest before it was turned on. Kobra seized, electricity coursing through his entire body. It burned. 

He didn’t care.  

Slowly, excruciatingly, his hand moved, and as Korse moved on, the boy took advantage of one major misstep. They’d made him. 

And they’d made him damn hard to kill. 

He ripped the bug off of him, gasping for air and using the first bit of oxygen in his lungs to yell as loud as he could manage--- which wasn’t a lot--- and warn the others. 

Shaky, he pulled himself forward, nabbing Jet’s gun and aiming for Korse’s calf. He missed twice. 

Well, he missed three times, but he didn’t count the final shot, going wide when another Scarecrow, not much older than him, kicked his ribs, stomping on his hand as he tried to recover. The rest was a blur of pain, and he was nudged onto his back, staring blankly at the sky, breathing shallowly. 

Distantly, he heard strangled sounds of agony, and that sparking buzz from the taser again. Teo and Poison, evidently, did not have the time to put up a fight. 

His heart broke when the girl screamed, though. They didn’t hurt her, he knew that, but it didn’t take physical pain to do that to a child. 

The sound cut through all else, and everything fell away, leaving Kobra stranded, unable to move. 

There was shouting, barked orders to shut her up, to tie up the spoils. To not bother with body bags. Laughter, when it was said there wasn’t much left of the cyborg, anyways. 

He must have passed out, but he remembered a bloodlust, then, like he’d never experienced before. 

Once he could get up and find whatever remained of Jet, he’d kill them. Every last one of them. 

In fact, the girl was telling Korse that same thing as they drove away, vividly aware that he couldn’t lay a finger on her. 

She explained, in detail, how brutally her friends were going to murder him, just as soon as they got up. 

There was, as he noticed, a concerning build of static charge as they got closer to Battery City. 

The girl was returned to her room, and Teo was locked in theirs. 

Poison was granted a room one floor lower, colder, with manacles that did not get tucked into a fancy little nook in the wall. 

Both teens thrashed against their restraints, not one person getting close enough to buckle on the muzzles reserved for the most violent subjects. 

The guards started taking bets on which could go longer without food. 

The girl was visited twice a day by an important-looking woman that she despised, who asked her each time if she was ready to give up her little game and start cooperating again. She claimed to understand that a child’s imagination could run away with them sometimes, but playtime was over. 

In the meantime, she botched every test they tried running on her, becoming dead weight if they tried to move her, flailing if they tried to keep her still. 

Downstairs, the same woman visited Party Poison once a day. 

Each day, the conversation went the same. 

“Are you done with your temper tantrum yet?” The woman would ask. 

“Come closer, so I can kill you.” Poison would reply.

And thus she forfeited her food for the day. 

Every night, however, right at the second shift change, a young teen with fading purple hair would sneak in, passing whatever food they could get far enough into the cell that Poison could reach it. 

They spoke for a moment, Poison asking how Matteo was. Over time, the reports were less pleasant, but not knowing what was happening to them was somehow worse. 

They were treated like a wild animal, sedated often since they lashed out whenever the opportunity would arise. Poison told the kid to pass along messages of encouragement, though neither was sure they understood what was said. 

The girl worked hard during each day, running away at any given opportunity, lying about where they’d gone, drawing pictures of her friends rescuing her and killing the Director. Time-consuming stuff. 

A few days in, the Director finally made a mistake. 

She’d promised the girl that if she cooperated, she could see her friends for a moment. Since the child ached to know if they were okay, she submitted, finally allowing tests to be run. 

When it was over, she demanded an audience with the others and was denied. 

The amount of rage the girl felt could not be contained inside her body, escaping in arcs of electricity, and the Director was the first to feel her wrath, collapsing in a smoldering heap. 

The building’s power grid went next, and it took ages for the emergency lights to come on--- enough for the girl to bolt. She found Teo and Party, helping them free as she explained that it was okay, and she’d saved the day. 

Poison explained that they had to run, fast. 

Chapter Text

In quick succession, the girl, Poison, and Teo, joined by the purple-haired teen, Riot Spark, ran through several floors of the building, more and more inner-city rebels arriving to help carry out prisoners too weak to stand. 

Finally, they made it to the ground floor, descending further into a network of tunnels where they were able to catch their breath. 

Reunited, after many hugs, the group looked around, hearts sinking as they scanned each and every face, not recognizing any of them. 

“Where are Jet and Kobra?” The girl asked, voice small. 

Nobody answered. 

Riot came around with a basket of clothes, handing back everything that the party had on them before they were taken. 

They apologized as they left, staring at the floor. 

Slowly, carefully, the three escaped the city entirely, finding some old shack to hide in as they tried to figure out what to do. They didn’t have a car, they didn’t have a map, and they didn’t have their friends. 

After a few days, they ventured out to a market, asking around. They didn’t get any clear information, but they bought a robotic arm with some stars engraved on the plating. 

The seller wouldn’t say where xie got it. 

The next day, they stole two guns from a different seller, one red, one blue. 

It continued, and at the end of the week, they had a pair of boots, a leather jacket, a denim vest, both of Jet’s arms-- broken-- and one of his legs from the knee down. 

Teo got shot in the shoulder when they failed to steal a can of Power Pup, and the company found its way to a Zones hospital. 

Inside, they discovered a boy with a bright yellow t-shirt, fried bleach-blonde hair, and serious sunburns taking a walk. 

They spotted him first, limping along the aisle, waving off any staff that tried to get him to sit down as he put on a pair of sunglasses. 

The girl stepped in front of him, and he looked down, watching as she took one of his hands, fingertips brushing gently over the bandages covering his knuckles, going past his elbow. 

“Hey, baby girl.” He whispered, grunting as he dropped to his knees, removing his sunglasses again just in time for her to take his face in her hands, staring in silence. 

Poison walked over, shoving her hands in her pockets as the girl pulled Kobra into a hug, watching, waiting. 

He hugged back, brow furrowed, and Poison was sure he would have shed tears if he was able. 

She asked where Jet was. 

He didn’t know yet. 

They took a few days to rest at the hospital, returning to where they’d been attacked to find the Am, somehow untouched, and a bit of debris, but no Jet. 

With the assistance of some unfortunate zone rat walking around with their hair tied back with his bandana, they found him in another hospital, still lacking limbs. 

They helped him to a mech shop nearby, and Kobra sat in as the mechanic fixed his arms and legs back into place, asking every question he could think of. 

If anything like this happened again, he wanted to be able to help. 

The next day, Jet and Kobra walked out together, bickering quietly about nothing, helping the other if he tripped. 

At a store run by a grumpy old man that did not seem to like Jet at all, they haggled for a cane for Kobra, sturdy and black with a silver skull for a handle. 

Teo stole several horror comics and as many types of candy as they could stuff into their pockets while the man was distracted. 

They spent a few days with just each other and the Am, hopping from place to place until it was realized that they did not have any reference for where the Diner was and didn’t yet feel safe traveling back toward Batt City. 

Reluctantly, they made their way back to Vegas, collectively hoping Dr. Death Defying wouldn’t be mad at them for returning so soon. 

Chapter Text

The trip to Vegas was shorter the second time around, and Poison parked as they donned their masks and rang the doorbell several times before it rolled open once more. 

Show Pony raced towards them, grabbing each by the shoulders in turn, checking over injuries, scars, signs of fatigue. 

When they got to Jet, they pulled him into a crushing hug, which he returned without hesitation. 

Finally, they parted, the runner placing their hands on hips. 

“You’re okay. You’re back.” 

“We’re back,” Jet confirmed, and the others nodded. They weren’t sure about the first part just yet.

“We heard you got snapped up by the Director?” 

“Yeah, some of us,” Poison cut in, chewing on her cheek. 

“And she just… happened to look the other way?” 

“I zapped her.” 

They all looked down at the girl, who seemed to be working off some residual anger they knew nothing about. 

“She’s gone now. It’s alright.” 

Pony hummed, nodding slowly. 

“Well, let’s get y’all inside, okay? I’ll tell Doc.” They turned, leading the way through the abandoned city in silence. 

They went up to their rooms from last time, Poison pulling the Am inside the gates after a moment’s consideration. 

Pony had gone directly to Dr. D’s office, returning in a while, shaking their head and explaining he couldn’t see them until the next day, maybe they should just rest. 

But he didn’t send for them the next day, or the next, or the day after that. 

When anyone asked Pony about it, they shifted uncomfortably, making some odd excuse and promising to go up and ask again. 

Finally, Kobra got fed up with waiting around and told them firmly that if Doc didn’t send word soon, he’d go up there himself and demand an audience. 

They assured him that wasn’t necessary, vanishing into the elevator once more. 

An excruciating 20 minutes passed, and they returned, saying that he was ready to see them- all of them. 

There wasn’t a speaker system in this elevator. 

When the doors opened, a collective sigh escaped, and they followed Pony’s lead carefully. Things looked to be… significantly less organized than before. 

Dr. Death Defying was not in the cramped room they had squeezed into before, Pony leading them instead to what must have once been a ballroom, where the man sat in a wheelchair by a window, not facing them. 

Charms were attached to the handles and armrests, the most abundant being little blue stars, and Jet coughed, causing the others to shoot him an odd glace. 

“You’re back.” Dr. D announced, not moving. “We heard some nasty stuff from other runners.” 

“We don’t have the-” Kobra started, but the girl stepped forward, hands on her hips. 

“You promised we’d get to go home.” 

“Sounds like you did, munchkin.” He sounded almost amused, but the tone was flat. Still, he did not move. 

“Well-” 

It was Kobra’s turn to interrupt, brows furrowed in pained confusion. 

“Who was I? You said you’d tell me.” 

“I will. In time. Anything else?”

“Dad-” Jet stepped forward, distraught. 

“You’re not magic at all, are you?” Poison snapped. An odd thing to say, but the sentiment was understood. 

“Pois-” The boy stepped back toward his friend, but she waved him off, and he shut up. 

“I could be.” Dr. D considered. 

“Who are you? What- you’re just holed up here calling yourself some fancy name and telling people to go out and do whatever you want?” 

“Well, let’s take that one a step at a time. I was a guy named Dante. And then I was the only surviving member of my squad in every war I fought in. They stopped having wars after a while, and now I’m here. I feel like I’ve earned my name, and I didn’t pick it. The Witch did.” He maneuvered his wheelchair around with one hand, revealing that the other rested in a sling. 

The company was silent. 

“You,” He looked directly at Kobra, who stood his ground, tense. “Were a child born in Battery City and swept into the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W training program at an early age, where you were conditioned to hate the Zones and the people in them. You showed such promise, top of your class, and they had no more use for your friend-” He nodded at Teo, whose cheeks were tinged a peculiar red, “-beyond testing the limits of human suffering, so you were entered with three others in an experiment the scientists called Round One. Your senses were altered and your memory of your past life was erased- except for your time in training. You were made to be a killing machine, more efficient and brutal than the ghouls they had tried making last time.” 

“Oh.” Kobra managed, nodding once. The girl had turned to Teo, eyes wide, questioning. They shook their head. 

“Guys, can’t we just…” Jet had regained the tenacity to make another attempt at diffusing the situation, arms raised. “..Let’s like, take a breath or something.” He turned to Dr. D, shifting uncomfortably. 

“We lost the map, and we don’t know where the diner is. We were hoping you’d have another one.” 

“I might. I hope I do.” Doc nodded. “I’m sorry you believed I was someone else, and that I could magically keep you safe. Unfortunately, that’s your job now.” He glanced, in particular, at Poison, who scowled, crossing her arms. 

“Keep resting, don’t wander too far. I’ll think about it, find a map, get you kids going again.” 

With a nod, Pony shooed them out, offering to play cards with Jet to pass the time and, when he declined, offered to teach Kobra, whose eyes practically sparkled at the idea.

Chapter Text

The next day came, and Kobra was invited back up to the office, with Teo tagging along, to learn more about what exactly happened in his past. 

Hours of pouring through stolen records and classified documents later, they both thanked Dr. D, heading back down and sending Jet up. 

Hesitant, he took his time through the first room, pausing to shift stacks of music. 

When he finally made it into the same room as Doc, they watched each other in silence for a while, each waiting for the other to make the first move. 

They lacked Pony as a mediator this time, as the skater had a job to do, so talking was… difficult. 

“The boy said you’d come to get a heart,” Doc announced nonchalantly, adjusting his sling. “Kobra. Did you help him with that, by the way? I dig it. It's got a good ring.” 

“Uh- yeah, on both accounts. All I really did was say he couldn’t name himself Snake.” Jet shrugged, taking a seat. 

“Where were you?” 

There it was. The last time they had spoken alone, it was more heated, more like before. Accusations, demands, the whole nine yards. This time… Doc was trying. It was only fair for Jet to try, too.

“I found a place in West 5. It was okay, I guess. Drac hotspot on some days- they’re trying to set up a post out there. I haven’t let ‘em.” 

“That’s good. Stickin’ it to them.” 

“I guess.” 

It wasn’t too bad, but he’d never really loved it out there. It was… lonely. 

“Who got the jump on you last week?” His tone was businesslike, detached, like he was just collecting more information. It used to piss Jet off, but he could see the concern peeking through, and reminded himself that they were both trying. 

“I don’t really remember. Lots of folks, dracs, exterminators, I think I saw… a bald dude? Kinda pirate-looking? Haven’t seen him around before.” 

Doc’s expression hardened, and Jet bit down on his cheek, leaning back, worried that he’d misstepped already. 

“Korse.” 

“Is that important?” 

“He’s one of the Director’s best, reserved for big league game. He hasn’t even gone after me .” 

“Oh.” 

“Listen, taking care of this kid is gonna be just like that until they’ve got her or they’re all dead.” He warned, like Jet didn’t already know. Like he hadn’t been ripped apart for fun and left to rot. 

The teen took a breath. 

“So?” 

“So, I’m thinkin’ maybe you should go farther. East. Or North, if you want. Out of here completely.” 

“Where is there to go?” 

“I’m not sure yet. I got people still in Oregon and Colorado that might take you.” 

“You want us to just… run away?” 

“You could.” 

“I don’t know how well that’s gonna fly.” Jet crossed his arms, leaning back. 

“It’s an option, is what I’m saying. I don’t know how far they’re willing to travel to get to this girl, but if there’s a limit, it’s safer to be on the outside of that.” 

“Safer for who? If she’s gone, and she’s that important, they’ll tear the Zones apart lookin’ for her.” 

They’ll tear you apart.  

“If that’s what it takes, I’m comfortable with that.” 

“Well, I’m not.” Jet stood, shaking his head. “If it gets too bad, we’ll go. Now that we know what’s goin’ on, we’ll be better. This isn’t gonna happen again.” 

“Jet, listen- Do you swear on that? I don’t want you getting killed over this. You hear me?” 

“So you wanna sacrifice everyone else in the Zones? You’re cool with all them getting killed so long as it ain’t me?” Jet gestured wildly, face heating up as he lost control of the building rage. 

“Mijito.” 

“No! We’re capable people! We’ve got it! And, quite honestly, I don’t care if I die to save her, because she’s a kid and that’s what you do!” 

“If you die, what does that do to her? To me? To everyone that knows you? Jet, this is-” Dr. D sighed, shaking his head. “If it gets bad, you go. You take her with you, and none of you look back. Do you understand?” 

Jet paused, upper lip twitching as he tried not to sneer. 

“Yeah, I got it.” 

Doc watched him go, storming off, angry enough to slam the door but not to knock anything over, and he sighed again, sitting back. 

He’d pushed a little too far. 

When Pony came back, he’d talk to Poison. They’d go back to the diner. In the meantime, he was going to call his contact in Oregon. 

The next day, he and Poison talked about travel plans, chicken wire fencing, and where to get fresh bedding if they needed it. 

They would hide out here for another couple of days, until Doc got word that the patrols had lessened. So far, nobody had made it out as far as Vegas, but they didn’t have very long before puzzle pieces fell into place. 

He chose not to propose the option to skip town just yet.