Crimson Red, Cerulean Blue

(Blue)

“So… What does RT stand for, anyway?” I asked.

We were in Orange Village, in the café that Red had told me to go to if Argot captured one of us. Orange’s calculations were slightly off, so instead of being dark, the sun was just setting when we arrived. No one wanted to risk being caught (except Red, of course, but he was outvoted), so it was decided that we would wait for dark in the café. Which was why I was currently crammed into a booth next to Red, watching Orange tap away at a mini-laptop he’d created. (Yes, created. The guy really was a total genius.)

“Residential technogeek,” Red answered promptly to my question, his sunglasses yet again perched firmly on his nose. “Because he never leaves the base and he’s a total computer geek.”

“The term is computer expert, or if you want, just plain genius,” Orange commented dryly. “But you’ve never been one for semantics, have you, Red?”

Ignoring them, Green took a sip of her coffee, making Red wince in disgust. Apparently, he hated coffee. (Even more than he hated – sorry, barely tolerated Green, which is REALLY saying something.) He and Green had had a little argument outside earlier about whether or not I should try coffee or not, Red claiming that coffee was the most disgusting substance in the world and that no one should be forced to taste it, ever. Green ended up winning, so now I had a cup of what Red instantly dubbed “barely drinkable toxic waste” in front of me.

“You going to drink that?” Green asked, motioning to my coffee. “Be careful, it’s hot.”

I took a cautious sip. It wasn’t as bad as Red made it out to be, but it wasn’t all that good either. “I think I prefer hot chocolate.”

“Of course you prefer hot chocolate. It’s chocolate. That, there, is barely drinkable toxic waste.”

“Oh, please,” Green muttered, rolling her eyes. “You are so immature.”

“Immature? I’m immature for voicing my own opinions?!” Red cried dramatically. He turned to me. “Blue, this is a violation of my rights. I demand justice! This is not okay!”

“You don’t even know what your rights are,” Green pointed out, which was probably true. Red wasn’t exactly what you could call book-smart.

“I’m pretty darn sure that one of them is freedom of speech.”

“That’s the United States Constitution,” I corrected. “Not Spectrum. Well, at least, not anymore.”

“United…what?”

“The United States. A country in the parallel world, Earth, that we trade with on a regular basis. Or, well, at least we did. I don’t really know if Mask is interested in making peace with other worlds at the current moment.”

“We interact with other worlds?”

“Well, no duh,” Green told him smugly. “Where do you think the radio came from? And Christmas?”

“Uh… I thought we invented those.”

“Crayik, you’re an idiot!”

“Hey! Don’t you dare use my own word against me!”

“Crayik, crayik, crayik, crayik…”

“That’s my word, and you don’t get to use it to insult me!”

“Oh, yeah, and why not? I thought you were all about freedom of speech, idiot.”

“Freedom of speech doesn’t give you the right to use my word against me!”

"Oh, please. Says the guy who’s failed pretty much every single class known to people.”

“I did not – ”

“Would you both mind arguing a little louder? I’m not so sure that any of Argot’s minions fifty miles away could hear you,” Orange snapped, making both Red and Green instantly shut up. “I’m already in an extremely foul mood, and I don’t need to have you two acting like infants as well! So to put it simply: You’re both idiots and should both shut up!”

I honestly thought that Red was going to explode right there and then. His cheeks puffed out, eyes flashing with anger like they always did right before he unleashed one of his fire attacks. But he only blew out a little smoke and closed his eyes.

“Right. Sorry, Orange.”

Green narrowed her eyes a little, and I saw a tiny plant sprout from a crack in the floor tiles, but that was all. She took a sip of her coffee, then glanced outside.

“It’s about dark enough. Why don’t we go?”

Orange stood up, mini-laptop in hand. Without looking at any of us, he silently strode out.

“I… assume we follow?”

“Yup. We follow,” Red answered, looking slightly annoyed. (Okay, more like very annoyed.) He jammed his hands into his pockets and strolled out after Orange.

Green glanced at me. “Coming, Blue?”

Leaving the cup of coffee on the table, I followed Green out into the cold night air. I puffed up my cheeks and blew out, watching my breath condense into tiny droplets. It was a comfort thing. Water always makes me feel better.

The mission was on.

The high-security building we were about to break into was equipped with cameras, heat sensors, motion detectors, infrared sensors, lasers, and a whole lot of Robo-Police. In other words, it was a fortress.

Well, it would be, except for the fact that it had no fence.

“Why would you make a freaking high-security building with no fence around it?” Red asked, disgusted. “It doesn’t make any sense!”

“You just wanted to blow up the nonexistent fence, didn’t you?” I said.

“Well, yeah. Duh. The more stuff I get to blow up, the better. This all belongs to Mask, anyway.”

“You are a total delinquent,” Green muttered.

“I’m not a delinquent, I’m a wanted criminal. And so are you, so don’t even go there, Teal.”

“Excuse me? The name is Green!”

Orange interrupted them, rolling his eyes. “All right. Red, you’re on offense. Blue, you’ve got defense and backup. Green, you’re our only Healer, so don’t step in unless it’s absolutely necessary. I’m the second backup, and the tech guy. Let’s hope we don’t have to use the backup part. Any questions?”

His voice was level, and I wondered how he could be so calm when we were about to do something so dangerously stupid. Maybe he was just hiding it, the way I was hiding my nervousness. The way all of the Seven (with the possible exception of Red) could hide their emotions.

“Do I get to blow up anything other than the door?” Red asked hopefully.

“Hopefully not. Any actual questions?”

No one else responded. Red grinned.

“Then let’s get this party started! FIRESTORM EXPLOSION!!!!”

The poor door was instantly blasted off its hinges. Alarms began wailing.

“Does anyone else think this is the stupidest plan ever?” I wondered.

Green just smiled. “This is the way we do things around here, Blue. Crazy is the new normal. Get ready!”

“RUN!!!!” Red’s voice rang out above the sound of the alarms, and we all bolted for the door. The plan? Run, destroy any bad guys you see, find the tech room, barricade it, and then let Orange do his work. And then escape. Because escape is always the most important part.

Yeah. The plan sucked. I admit it.

But the funny part was… It was so crazy, it might just possibly work.

Either that, or we were all insane and were about to die. I’m hoping for the former.

Robots spilled from the doorway like ants from a kicked anthill. “ALERT. ALERT. HOSTILE INTRUDER. DESTROY AT ALL COSTS.”

“It’s just so adorable when they say that, don’t you think?” Green asked sweetly, right before slamming her foot into one’s face.

“More like annoying!” Red ran forward and spun, sending flames everywhere. “FLAME VORTEX!!!!”

I stomped my foot, coating the floor in ice, making the robots slip, then clapped my hands, encasing over a dozen in said ice. “I think I’m going to have to agree with Red here. Where’s Orange?”

“The Almighty One is over there,” Red replied, pointing while frying a robot with his other hand. I looked over there.

My eyes widened. “What the – ”

“Yeah, he does that.” Green shrugged. “Comes in handy.”

Orange wasn’t even bothering to kick or punch. He was just calmly strolling down the hall. Every time a robot got close, he’d snap his fingers, and it’d crash to the ground, sparking and obviously broken.

“He looks like one of those guys in a movie or something. You know, those guys who like, stroll down the street snapping their fingers while music plays in the background?” Red commented.

I had to laugh at that one. It’s hard to imagine Orange even watching those movies, let alone being carefree enough to imitate them.

“Are you three coming?” he asked without turning around. “Or are you planning on staying there all day until the bad guys come and get you?”

“Coming!” we all chorused at once, finishing off a couple of robots before running after him. Our grins mirrored each other’s, and I was pretty sure even Orange had a slight smile on his face, though we couldn’t see it.

So this is what it’s like having friends.

The thought slammed into me so fast, I almost stopped in my tracks. Friends…?

I’d only known Orange and Green for a day, and Red about a week. And yet… I was already referring to them as friends.

I’d known some people in Sapphire City for years, and I would never refer to them as my friends. Acquaintances, yes. Friends, no. No one had ever really warmed up to me enough, and I’d never really warmed up to them. Being a member of the Seven, playing the game of hide-and-seek I was born into, was the only thing I’d ever been interested in. Friends had never really seemed important.

So…why? Why was I already referring to the others not as allies, but actual friends?

A flaming fist smashed into metal above my head, and I jolted out of my thoughts. Red’s leg slammed into the robot, sending it into the wall and completely destroying the thing.

“Geez, Blue, pay attention. This isn’t like you. You usually notice everything!”

My eyes flicked upward, and faster than he could blink, I froze two robots above us. They were perched on the ceiling, probably poised to pick off the intruders from where they couldn’t be seen.

“How’s that for paying attention?”

“Better. Keep it up. Orange says we’re almost there!”

At which point, Orange immediately announced, “We’re here.”

We were standing in front of a door with a keypad in front of it. He actually chuckled at the sight.

“Please. This thing wouldn’t keep out some kid learning from a textbook!”

He closed his eyes. “6275. MASK, if you match those numbers with the letters on a phone. Sheesh, these guys are idiots.”

He keyed in the numbers, and the door sprang open. And there, in front of us, was…

“And who’re you supposed to be?” I asked impulsively. “Iron Man?”

“Hey, I recognize that guy!” Red exclaimed.

“You’d better,” Iron Man growled. “Because I’m here to kill you all.”

And then he lifted his arm-missile-launcher-thingy and aimed it right at me.