Chapter Text
Getting into a firefight at the BLI lab HQ proved to be a baaad fucking idea. The last thing Party Poison remembers was someone taking aim at the wrong piece of machinery, a bright white flash of light, and getting knocked out cold. I mean, they’d assume they died, but the fact of the matter is that they came to in some random ass field with a killer headache and what’s probably a sprained ankle. Random ass field?
“Where…the fuck…am I?” They mumble, sitting up with a sharp pain in their side.
Grass, flowers, and not so much as a grain of desert sand in sight; That’s where they’d appear to be right about now. Also, they were entirely alone.
“Ghoul? Jet? Kooobra…?” Poison calls, cupping their hands around their mouth.
No response, except for the hum of cicadas and the rustling of leaves. Alright, what the fuck. They glance around, nervously taking note of the lush greenery surrounding them and keeping an eye out for anything else that could be alive. Poison shakily picks themself up off the ground and hops over to a nearby tree, clinging onto it for balance. Above them, the sky is a crisp blue, and for once, the sun doesn’t seem so outstandingly nuclear.
“Party Poison checking in, anybody copy?” They ask into their radio.
A beat, and then static. Damn. Poison tries not to freak out too much, they’ve gotta be around here somewhere, maybe they’re on a different channel, who knows; They fiddle with the dials and extend the antenna as far into the sky as it can go, and then they try holding it above their head.
“Party Poison to literally anyone, Killjoys, Doctor D., anyone copy? Hell, Showpony?”
Silence, then static, and then a promising crinkle of a voice.
“Fun Ghoul to Party Poison, got ya’ loud and clear.”
“Thank fucking god, Jesus Christ, Ghoulie,” Poison lets out an airy chuckle of relief. “Do you have any idea where we are?”
Poison sits back down with the radio on their lap and the receiver in their hand.
“Uh, well, I don’t know about you, but there’s like, trees here. I swear I saw an actual bird earlier.”
“Okay, cool, we might be in the same general area then.” Poison nods. “Phoenix-Fucking-Witch, dude, this is weird!”
“I know!”
“Hey, you’ve still got your gun on you, right?”
“Locked and loaded.” Ghoul smiles.
“Good. ‘Far as I’m concerned, this place is just as dangerous as anywhere in the Zones.”
“You got it. Oh shit, how are you, by the way? Like, injury-wise?” He asks.
“I think my ankle is all fucked up, but it’s not too bad. I’m sore and shit, but it’s whatever.” Poison waves their hand around nonchalantly as if Ghoul can see them.
Fun Ghoul winces and says “‘Nothing Party Poison can’t handle, right?”
“Right. What about you?”
“I’m doing a lot better than you, that’s for sure. My back is killin’ me, though.”
Party Poison hums an acknowledgement and leans way back against the smooth tree. In front of them is the grassy clearing with which they’re currently acquainted, and beyond that there’s just rows and rows of different trees. Some of them are a smooth, pale gray, long and skinny, while others are a thick, knobbly-looking brown, with branches stretching out across the sky for miles. To their left, there isn’t what they’d call a road , exactly, but…
“I think I see a path I can follow,” Poison says into the radio.
“Oh yeah?” Says Ghoul.
“Yeah. Nothin’ too fancy, just looks like someone’s been out for a hike a couple of times, y’know?”
“A desire path,” Fun Ghoul observes.
“Huh?”
“Ya know,” He explains. “Something that's not an official path or anything, but people go that way anyway and it gets all worn out. Maybe it’ll lead you to someone?”
“Hopefully someone who knows where the hell we are. I’m gonna follow it. It’s going north.” Poison announces, getting back up with a quiet grumble.
“You’re good to walk?” Ghoul asks.
“Yeah man, I’m-” Poison winces and shifts their weight to the other foot. “...Fine.”
“If you say so! I’m thinking I head your direction too and see if I can find you, or whatever’s up there.” He says, voice crackling through the radio.
“You got it. I’ll see ya soon darlin’, promise. Radio if you need anything.” Poison grins. “Over and out.”
“See you soon. Over and out.”
Party Poison clips their radio to their belt and hangs up the receiver. It’s not late in the day at all, so they have an ample amount of time to limp (and/or crawl) north to check out whatever's out there. All things considered, it’s a nice day, way nicer than any of the days they’ve had out in the Zones. Out here, there’s pretty much nothing but actual honest to god green grass, but it’s still pretty nothing . Party Poison ignores the moderate pain they’re in, and tries to ignore their growing concern for Jet Star, Kobra Kid, and– Jesus Christ– the Girl…
They blow their hair out of their eyes and start walking.