When the Angels Came Down To Battery City (10)

CHAPTER TEN

MY BABY'S MADE OF FLUORESCENT LIGHTS: THE LAMENT OF KORSE

Korse sat in his creaky old leather office chair all day, staring at VTV feeds through a hundred or so screens that were stacked around his vacuous black room. A single light fell on him, like a spotlight on our lead actor as he performed some elaborate action centre stage… except of course, he was very silent and very still. He tapped his fingers on the steel edges of his armrests and with his red circled eyes, stared long and hard into one monitor in the middle of all the mess of gadgetry around him. It showed a still image of Bloodshot getting into Party Poison's Trans-Am.

"Two of you," He spoke up, and his Dracula boys who stood at the door perked up, ready to spring into a bloody battle for their master in command. "Get out," Korse ordered. His Dracula boys hesitated for a moment, glancing at each other, and then quickly exited; having learned from previous times that hastily is the only way to leave Korse. The door slammed shut behind them, echoing on forever in the quiet room until finally, the eerie silence returned.

Silence had become Korse's only companion since he was only a little disturbed kid with an infatuation for all the possibilities scalpels and electricity could offer. It was a torturous friend, for it was only at these quiet times when he could very clearly hear all the demented voices fighting for rank inside his head. For now, he allowed his dark thoughts to wrestle for dominance; until of course, Party Poison distinct laugh snaked its way into the crowded space. He imagined Party Poison pointing and laughing at him as the Killjoys massacred his last squad car, and after the last OZ operation they had shutdown. Then he imagined Party Poison laughing as he slung an arm around Bloodshot who smiled back, also seemingly amused at Korse's downfall so far.

Suddenly, Korse could take no more. He stood up and launched himself towards the screens, placing a hand on either side of the monitor that showed that still image of Bloodshot as he continued to stare at it with a growing intensity. His eyes flicked upwards and he spotted the side of Party Poison's face through the windscreen of the Killjoy car.

"What do you see in them?" He posed the question to a room filled with no one who could answer. "Why them?" Korse sneered, his face growing exceedingly closer to the screen before him; his sharp nose almost touching it. Without warning, he hung his head and punched the screen with one closed fist in a sort of disappointed, grief-filled agony. "Why Bloodshot… why my Crimson Dahlia…" He sighed like a jilted lover.

He returned his gaze towards the screen and ran a bony hand over Bloodshot's projected image. An uncanny smile snaked across his thin lips. He said nothing… for a very long time. Korse might have seemed very incapable of the more tender forms of emotion; such as mercy… or love for that matter, but for some reason, Bloodshot was a special exception to the rule. Perhaps it was the glorious symmetry she had; one part computer and one part woman- one part something he could have full control of and one part he could fall in love with.

Who didn't want a real living, breathing, program running Stepford Wife?

Suddenly, Korse sprang to life again and hit a few buttons on the panel under the monitor he had been accusing of abandonment. Buzzing noises filled the air and he pushed a flashing button just under the screen before typing in a few more numbers on the panel. "You're still here," He murmured to himself, "You can never leave, my Crimson Dahlia…"

Ksch…

Suddenly, a blue pool of light beamed beside his lonely office chair and Korse stopped all his action. He smiled again, and waited patiently. The blue light rose up into a million or so numbers; zeros and ones that spun faster and faster until they blended into one image. Korse turned around slowly and was met with the most exquisite hologram of Bloodshot; his Crimson Dahlia; just as she was frozen in time on that monitor just behind his incredibly bald head. His smile turned into a grin.

He reached a hand out to a button behind him and pushed it in, making the blue hologram flicker for a moment. Suddenly, Bloodshot began to move. She relaxed, looking down and then up again to where Korse was standing. She smiled and cocked her head sweetly, elegantly, femininely- and more importantly- nothing like how Bloodshot would've looked upon Korse at all. "What do you see in them?" Korse asked the hologram boldly.

She held out a delicate hologram hand and batted her eyelids in response. A dress enveloped her out of the blue light she existed in, and she was suddenly dressed in an enchanting 19th century ball dress… something a little closer to Korse's taste in fashion.

Korse hit the panel again and a song slowly swelled into earshot- a stunning, dizzying waltz number that was packed to the treble with as much power as Korse commanded himself. He slid across the floor towards her, one arm folded behind his back, and bowed. He took her hologram hand and kissed it before pulling her into dance position.

They fell into a rhythm and dance together; spinning around the room in a glorious waltz seen only in Disney movies starring beautiful people. Korse smiled happily, though shreds of his usual devious self remained difficult to shake. He thought of all the ways he would claim her again, and all the ways he would punish The Killjoys for taking her away from him. The hologram humoured him with a flirtatious giggle. The music rose to a mighty crescendo.

Finally, the song fell to an end and it faded away slowly. Korse stopped their dizzying dance, his smile fading too. He looked upon his hologram bride; only a pale shade of gray (or in this case; blue), in comparison to the full coloured, highly saturated real thing.

I guess you could say; it depressed him…

Fury began to burn his eyes and expression, and he looked upon the hologram with disdain. "Why them?" He blurted and she only smiled in response; a deaf little doll who only knew how to dance. She batted her eyelids and grinned. Korse was positively disgusted then, and he flung himself towards the computer screens again, his back turned to his hollow lover who gladly waited for him to finish his tantrum. "Why those filthy things?" Korse murmured to himself.

He punched a button and the hologram buzzed out, disappearing in a flash of blue and white. She gasped, a look of worry on her computer generated face as she disintegrated.

Ksch…

Just like that, Korse was alone in silence again. "Boys!" He called out, his voice packed with an overpowering rage. Two Dracula boys ran in enthusiastically like loyal Labradors looking for a treat. Korse hit another switch and the screen he had been staring at for hours switched off. He stared at the blackness on the empty screen for awhile, waiting for the abyss to look into him with as much intensity as he was peering into it.

If you can hear me void, speak up…

He spun around to face his psychotic yes men who waited as patiently as they could manage; their hands fidgeting with the guns in their holsters. "Get the squad car," Korse instructed. "We're going on a field trip,"

A fair few hours from Battery City, someone else was barking orders and making a scene. "Come around now, you little nipper!" Freddy Fastpants yelled out, eyes squinting in the scorching sun of the desert. "Come around or it'll get ya'- and won't be pleasant I can tell you that much!" He chuckled as he watched Grace running towards him, hands on her head to keep her helmet from flying off. A little firecracker rocket exploded behind her, sending a bright pink light firing off into the sky a fair twenty five or so feet. Grace quickly spun around, running backwards towards safety where Freddy Fastpants stood with Party Poison. They stood behind a broken wooden fence that used to act as a border between the old gas station that was now a safe house, and paddocks of green corn fields behind it. Now there was just flat, dusty dirt. Grace kicked up small clouds of dust as she hurried back towards the men.

"Wow!" Grace squealed excitedly. "Didja see that?"

"She's a beauty, ain't she?" Freddy Fastpants said, chuckling merrily. With his red sunburnt cheeks, gray goatee and positively jolly attitude right now, Freddy Fastpants looked way too much like Santa Clause.

Which was, by the way, another brand that Better Living bought over in 2019…

"Charge her up," Freddy Fastpants said, still watching the rocket as it reached its highest point in the sky at thirty feet.

"Right," Party Poison replied quietly, lifting up his arm to point the AK99 automatic laser pistol right at the rocket that was beginning to descend to the earth. He flicked off the safety with his thumb and with his other hand he hit a blue button on the side. Whoooosh! The gun charged up and suddenly felt a little heavier than usual. Party Poison concentrated, trying not to think about the growing weight in his hand.

"Hit it, kiddo- it's now or never!" Freddy yelled.

Bang!

It was an ear-splitting sound and it rang out in the empty dessert for miles. "Fuck!" Party Poison blurted out as a bright white light shot out of the gun and blew the rocket into tiny little plastic and paper fragments. He laughed and Grace clapped excitedly. "Holy shit," He chuckled.

"How does it feel?" Freddy beamed.

"Like way too much power for a block of steel and microchips," Party Poison smiled, shrugging. He looked down at the gun.

"That was a bloody good shot, though," Freddy Fastpants nodded, laughing a little. "For a block of steel and microchips that is!" He patted Party Poison a little heavily on the back. "Which is sacrilege considering the weapon you're talking about," He winked.

"Hmm," Party Poison smirked, "I forget how highly revered these things are," He said. "But I'm a simple man, Freddy Fastpants," He smiled to himself, secretly admiring the way the gun looked in his gloved hand. "Don't all guns end a life the same way?"

"Some more flamboyant and finite than others," Freddy said. "Don't be scared kid… doesn't make you one of them if you just so happen to like the weapons they use,"

Party Poison looked up at Freddy and they shared a knowing glance. "Well," Party Poison said, sighing, "It's a pretty fucking good shot,"

"That's my boy!" Freddy grinned. "Those flamin' galahs at Better Living won't know what hit them,"

"Can I take another rocket out?" Grace asked, suddenly appearing right in front of them. She stood on her tiptoes and squinted in the sunlight that she was only just shielded from by Freddy's stature.

"Ah, sure thing," Freddy laughed, patting Grace on the head. "Go on then! You know where they are, don't cha?" Grace didn't wait til the end of his sentence; she simply scampered off and hoped that Freddy would let her fire at least another dozen. "Sweet kid," Freddy said to Party Poison. "Months out here with just Misfortune can really rip the perspective right outta my brain," He sighed. "I keep forgetting…" He trailed off into silence.

"Forgetting?" Party Poison asked quietly, cocking his head.

Freddy put a hand to his lips, bracing himself for the words he was about to speak, "I forget how small and innocent they are," He said, "I forget… that somehow in this ugly world they exist… you know?" He leaned forward on the broken wooden fence in front of them. "Seems like some massive anomaly… some kind of contradiction of facts or fiction- I forget…" He put a hand to his brow and closed his eyes for a moment and fell silent.

Party Poison thought for awhile. After all the pep talks Freddy Fastpants had given him over the years, and all the discussions over missions, or all the chit chat over weaponry and the weather… or even the Trans-Am (though Fun Ghoul maintained that was his job and not Freddy's), Party Poison realized that they had never really talked about Freddy's past. Who he was today wasn't a mystery; a loud knock around techno guy from Australia. But Party Poison never thought to ask who he used to be. In the silence that ensued after his scattered words, little clues of a life he had spent trying to forget began to swim up to the surface and Poison caught glimpses of them in the way that Freddy Fastpants hung his head and fought back tears that were forming in his eyes.

"How old were they?" Party Poison asked.

Freddy Fastpants looked up at his friend for awhile, as if gauging his ability to handle the answer. "Five," He replied, "Twins," He said. "Twin girls."

It had been years ago. A long time enough to forget, but at times like these, all Freddy could do was remember. Years before he had turned into just another Killjoy on the road to a slow and painful death, Freddy was Frederick Newton Warwick. He was the CEO of a company that produced and marketed hybrid cars in Manhattan, New York. He lived in a nice enough house in a nice enough neighbourhood, and had a nice enough family who lived within their means and only bought organic foods. I guess you could say, they were the anti-Better Living, which made it a whole lot more delightful for Better Living when they walked in one day and tore down Freddy's empire… along with Freddy's life.

Freddy wouldn't budge on a certain business deal that would turn his hybrid cars into luxury electric hummerzines. Freddy didn't like the fact that even though they were electric, the luxury electric hummerzines took so much money and product to make that they would be; at the end of the day; destroying the planet at a fast rate than the average petrol or diesel run beast on wheels out there. But Better Living didn't care about what Freddy wanted or didn't want for that matter; so they used his family as leverage.

They took his wife. Still, certain that they would not do anything to really harm her, Freddy refused to compromise- offering them money instead. No dice. Better Living had more than enough money… they just wanted to change the market, change the people and win the race to consumerist control. So they did the only thing they saw plausible.

One morning, Freddy got a box in the mail. It was filled with an awful lot of red stuff. At his wit's end, all he wanted to do was fight tooth and nail to the bitter end, but he was a broken man. And he was a lonely man. Freddy gave in; gave up; and signed the deal. Electric Hummerzines for all… and my, oh my, did they sell like hotcakes. New York's a funny place-

Hell, America's a funny place…

But this wasn't enough for Better Living, as far as they could see, they needed more than just a pretty packaged deal- they needed a reason for Freddy to stay off their case and not suddenly have a change of heart. That's when they took his daughters. And that's when they took his house. And that's when they took his life. That was the day Frederick was lost to the world… that was when he walked out a door and Freddy Fastpants crashed through a brick wall somewhere in the outskirts of California.

As hard as he tried, Freddy Fastpants couldn't outrun his past… and as the weeks, months and years rolled by, he suddenly realized all he could really do was fight back as much as his old bones could manage. His was a story in a comprehensive collection of other sad tales waiting to be told. He recognized the pain in Jet Star's eyes, but never said anything to the other man who was in a similar position of losing the love of his life. Freddy Fastpants knew from firsthand experience that there wasn't a word or a touch that could make a man forget something like that. A wound of that girth and depth never healed, and the only thing to do was to keep going… and keep running.

"Now and then I forget and call Little Misfortune my wife's name… Alana…" Freddy said, "It had been so long, but some part of me keeps going back to those days when I still had her name to call," He sighed.

Up ahead, Grace lit another rocket and was on her way back towards them, cheering excitedly. Freddy managed a little smile.

"Alright now, ya nipper- come back!" He said. "That's it, run, run, run!"

"I'm running, I'm running!" Grace squealed back. Party Poison smiled.

"How do they do that?" He said, "They just… forget," He marvelled at Grace's grin as she raced back towards them. The rocket exploded and fired up into the air with a bright blue light tailing behind it. "In an instant, the world's a beautiful place again,"

"I have no idea," Freddy chuckled, "But thank God someone around here's got a talent like that," The men laughed for a moment. In a silence that followed, they quietly watched Grace line up another rocket for launching. She packed a shell with gunpowder listlessly; like it was a simple everyday activity, and hummed a song to herself.

"What's going on here?" Fun Ghoul asked, walking up towards Party Poison with an opened can of Premoistened Kibble that he was eating out of in the most obnoxious way possible. "What's up, Freddy?" He saw the older man had glassy eyes and scoffed. "Geez, bro, what happened?" He wiped his lips on the back of his hand with a smirk. "Dingo ate your baby?"

Freddy hung his head and rolled his eyes to walk towards Grace. Party Poison turned to Fun Ghoul with a dirty look aimed right at him.

"What?" Fun Ghoul asked, mid chew.

"You ever think before you speak?" Party Poison asked, shaking his head as he leaned against the fence and watched Grace and Freddy fire up another rocket.

"I'm a poet baby, thinking's a waste of words if I don't say em'," Fun Ghoul grinned. Party Poison scoffed, though it was impossible to avoid a smile at Fun Ghoul's lyrical reply.

Ksch!

"Bad news from the zones tumbleweeds!" A voice through a radio boomed. Fun Ghoul and Party Poison snapped their attention back to Skyrocket who was skating up towards them with Grace's boom box in hand.

"Freddy!" Fun Ghoul called out, "It's Death Defying!" He said and Freddy immediately shot back towards them.

"It looks like Ziggy the Dog and Darling Duet had a clap with an exterminator that went all Costa Rica and uh got themselves ghosted, dusted out on route Guano." Dr. Death Defying reported, sounding solemn. Ksch… the feed cut out for a moment and Freddy panted as he hit the top of the radio to bring the feed back. Ksch…

"Christ! I knew those guys!" Freddy swore, huffing for breath. "Come on, come on," He toggled the reception and the voice finally returned.

"So, it's time to hit the red-line and up thrust volume out there. Keep your boots tight, keep your gun close, and die with your mask on if you've got to!" Dr. Death Defying said. "Look here, kitty cats and doggy dogs, if you're jumping over brown foxes then you gotta know the rhyme!"

Ksch…

"Killjoys! Are you out there? If you are then let me hear you make some noise!" Dr. Death Defying implored. The boys looked at each other. "Get racing up to the next hole on the course, this one's going by in a flash black birds… it's going by in a flash of good golly gold, so here's a song from my aching heart to yours, Killjoys," He said. "Make some noise!"

Ksch…

A song belted out of the speakers.

"What is it?" Kobra Kid called out from the safe house door, Little Misfortune standing next to him with a worried look. Party Poison looked up at Fun Ghoul and Freddy Fastpants with a smile growing on his face. A song from years ago slowly rose in volume from the speakers, starting slow at first, then building to an angry, take-no-prisoners driving song. It was 21st Century Breakdown by a group of long lost poets called Green Day.