Crimson Red, Cerulean Blue

(Blue)

“Am I going to regret this?” I asked calmly, looking over Red’s “ride.”

“Probably. I dunno. So, are you coming, or what?” Red gave me an expectant look, his sunglasses once again perched on his nose.

“How old are you, Red?”

“Fifteen, give or take. I think my birthday’s in July, not sure. Whatever. Get in the flipping car, already.”

I gave him a look like, Are you crazy?! “I’m not getting in a car with a driver who isn’t even old enough to be driving, much less passed driving school!”

He snorted. “Not true.”

“Oh, yeah? You can’t seriously be telling me that they let you in, not when they’ve got those age-scanner things – ”

“That’s untrue not because I haven’t passed driving school, it’s because I’ve never flipping been to driving school in my life. Now hurry up and get in the car.”

I stared at him. “You’re insane.”

“I’m not insane. Aren’t you tired of doubting me yet, Blue?”

“Okay, maybe you were right about the whole Robopolice business, but there is no way I’m getting in that thing! Are you crazy? You can be suicidal all you want, but I’d like to live to see sixteen, thank you very much!”

“Look,” he sighed, his tone exasperated. “It’s two hundred miles to Rogue City. Are you seriously telling me that you’re gonna walk the whole way?”

“That’s safer than this contraption! It looks like it’s gonna fall apart any second!”

Red’s “ride” was an old, battered jeep that looked like it was about two thousand years old. It looked extremely unstable, and you can probably see why I was hesitant to put even a toe inside it, let alone sit in it.

“Blue, I made it all the way out here in this thing. That should be proof enough. Now can we please get going before Argot shows up and crashes the party?”

I looked from the car to Red’s exasperated expression, then thought about how far it was to Rogue City and how much it would hurt to walk there.

I sighed, and got in the car.

“If we die, I’m going to kill you,” I threatened.

“That makes no sense,” was his happy reply as he jabbed a key into the keyhole.

“I wouldn’t have expected a jeep from you, if you really want the truth,” I commented, resigned to my fate. “You seem more like the motorcycle kind of guy.”

“I really wanted one, but Green said no.”

“Oh.” Of course. “You and Green seem pretty close.”

I think I made him choke on his own spit with that one.

“What?!”

“Well,” I pointed out, “you listen to her.”

“I listen to her because Orange tells me to, and trust me, you do not want to get on his bad side. Plus, Green’s our Healer, so making her mad can be a pain. I broke my leg once. She wouldn’t heal me until I threw twenty bucks in the swear jar. I mean, I think I’ve got a flipping right to yell some choice words if my leg’s freaking broken, but Green disagrees. Thanks to that, I made up my own swear words, so if you hear me yell anything weird, don’t question it.” And with this little anecdote, Red turned back to the steering wheel.

With that over with, all I could do was brace myself for the roller-coaster style ride that was certain to come.

I was not disappointed.

The car jerked forward, slamming me into the back of the seat, and Red let out a whoop like we were really on a roller-coaster instead of an actual vehicle he probably had no idea how to freaking drive and we were probably going to die in. Maniac.

“Slow down!” I yelled, as the old, battered jeep careened down the dirt road, bouncing several feet in the air every time it hit a pothole, which was pretty much every two seconds. I started praying for my life.

Why, oh why, did I ever agree to get in the flipping car in the first place?!

“Come on, Blue! This is awesome!”

“Try not!”

We swerved around a corner, barely missing a pedestrian, who made an extremely rude sign at us.

“You almost hit that guy!” I shrieked, much too loudly.

“Relax, Blue, I got this,” Red said, as calm as anything, which was an outright lie as far as I was concerned.

“Yeah, now try NOT killing us!”

“We’re not dead yet,” he pointed out, acting far too calm under the circumstances, in my opinion. In any sane person’s opinion.

“WATCH OUT FOR THAT – ”

Too late. We slammed into the street sign, ripping it clean off the sidewalk. It flew off to the side, slamming into and completely annihilating the glass windows of a flower shop.

“Yes!” he cheered. “Freaking Argot supporters got what was coming to them!”

“What?! How do you know – HEY!!!”

Red jerked the steering wheel to the side, just narrowly missing a huge tree. “Paid a visit to them once. It wasn’t very fun. Except for the part where I burnt up all their stupid little plants.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s all well and good, but you’ve gotta concentrate on – LOOK OUT!!!”

The second street sign hit a nearby car, setting off the alarm and denting it.

“Crayik,” Red muttered, which made absolutely no sense to me at all. “Didn’t mean to do that.”

“What the heck is a Crayik?!” I asked wildly, trying and failing to not think about all the destruction we were wreaking in poor, innocent Greene Wood.

“Chief swearword. Whoa!”

We swerved again, and this time, I crashed right into Red. For a split second, we just stared at each other, faces inches apart, before we both realized he was still driving.

I sprang back as he slammed on the brakes, just inches from another huge tree.

“Seatbelt, Blue,” he called, backing up and pointing the car back in another direction.

“Seatbelt? What the heck is a seatbelt?”

“You’re all about safety and you don’t know what a seatbelt is? It’s this thing.”

He tugged at a gray strip of… was it cloth? It was attached to the roof, and stretched across him to the edge of the seat. I hadn’t even noticed it, seeing as I was busy trying not to scream at his maniacal driving.

“I’ve never even been in a car before, what’d you expect?” I found mine, but had no idea how to attach it. “Um…”

He let out a sigh. “Here.”

He reached across me, yanking the belt across and shoving the metal part into a clasp thingy attached to the seat. “This is to prevent you from crashing out the window when I brake, got it?”

“Yeah. Sure. Whatever.”

I stared out the window, not meeting his eyes. I’d just realized how little experience I actually had with the outside world compared to Red. Was that going to affect my fighting? What if there was something dangerous around me while I was fighting Argot, and I didn’t know until he used it to attack me? What if there was something I could use to attack him?

“I’ve really gotta get out more.”

The words were out before I even realized I’d said them, and my face burned at admitting it to Red, of all people, who I’d only known for about a day. I was normally the master of lies and hiding my feelings, being a member of the Seven and all, so being so honest about stuff like this didn’t feel right. It bothered me.

“It’s cool. I was like this before I met…” Red’s voice faltered for a second. “Before I got out and started looking for Orange.”

“Hmm? Didn’t you just say ‘met’?”

“What? No. Slip of the tongue.” He turned away, refusing to meet my eyes. “Just a slip of the tongue. That’s all.”

I decided not to grill him about it, seeing as I didn’t like sharing my secrets either, and instead asked,

“So, how long do you think it’ll take before we get to Rogue City?”

“Hmm…” He seemed relieved at the subject change. “Three days, give or take. At the most. If Argot catches up to us, which he probably will.”

“What?” I was startled. “Red, I can take down a couple of robots, but Argot…”

“Don’t worry, it won’t be that hard. He’ll catch up to us, all right, but it won’t necessarily mean a fight.”

“So… We hide?”

His grin was an evil one. “Oh, yeah. It’s going to be epic. Just you wait.”

It was not epic.

Argot caught up to us somewhere around Yellowton. I didn’t even realize that he had until Red glanced in the rear mirror and told me:

“Blue? Don’t act like you’re freaked out or anything, but I’m gonna be stopping soon. Once I do, get out and walk in the shop like it’s nothing. Put on your cap.”

I instantly tugged on the red and white cap over my hair. “Argot?”

“Yeah. Well, technically, it’s one of his minions, but they’re always in constant contact with him, so I think it’s safe to say that Argot has finally caught up to us.”

Red’s driving had gotten much less maniacal once we hit Yellowton, which was a pretty big city compared to Greene Wood, and a huge relief to me. He probably didn’t want to slam into anyone or anything, since Mask has more influence in Yellowton than in any other city, and the second he did anything that wasn’t normal, we’d be headed to a jail cell with Argot. Or worse.

“Where are they?” I asked out of the corner of my mouth, acting as causal as possible so that the minion wouldn’t suspect anything. Wouldn’t want that guy calling the cops on us. I’d rather not be toast, thanks.

“See that guy over there on the left? The one wearing the purple sweater?”

I glanced over at him, letting my gaze fly over him and the people around him, pretending to examine the scenery, my expression bored. He didn’t look suspicious of me in the least. On his sweater was the symbol of Mask, which was (what a surprise) two masks, one happy, one sad, marking him out as one of Argot’s minions.

Red stopped the car in front of a sweets shop and got out, whistling like he didn’t have a care in the world. I fumbled with my own door and got out, imitating him and slamming the door shut behind me.

Red and Blue’s Marvelous Performance – and hopefully not a total failure – begin.

Red started talking, leading me toward the shop.

“So, dude. Here’s the tip. Chicks love sweets, but not too much, or else they’ll blame you for getting them fat. Don’t ask. Get her some of this stuff, and she’ll fall in love.” He flashed me a grin, pointing toward the shop. I attempted to sound like him, pitching my voice deeper, like a boy’s.

“Are you sure, dude? I mean, I don’t wanna get her something she’ll totally hate.”

“Oh, come on, Luke, you know she’ll love it. Lani ain’t picky.”

“Well, if you say so, man.”

“Going in?” a nasal-sounding voice asked. We both turned to see the minion, smiling what wasn’t really an actual smile at us.

“Yeah,” Red said, grinning. “My brother here, he’s got a crush, and he wants to confess sometime soon. I’m helping.”

“Really? How nice.” The guy smiled a smile that looked like he thought it was anything but nice. “Well, I’m doing random checks of the area, since Argot’s detected two of those pesky Seven kids. Please remove your sunglasses and hat.”

Well, that wasn’t in the agenda.

“Uh, actually, my brother here has a skin disease. Too much sun, and he faints,” Red said with a perfectly straight face. “So, I’m really sorry, but we can’t.”

“Oh, really? Then you wouldn’t mind taking off your sunglasses?”

“Well, see, about that…”

“He’s recently had some eye surgery,” I cut in, my heart thundering inside my chest. “His eyes can’t be exposed to too much light. Doctor’s orders. He’s actually breaking the rules by taking me out right now, but I really needed the help, and he’s a nice brother. Don’t be mad, sir.”

Lamest. Lies. Ever.

Obviously, the guy didn’t buy it. “I’m going to have to take you two into custody. Please come quietly, with your hands up, or – ”

Almost before I knew it, my leg whipped out, sweeping him to the ground. He fell to the sidewalk, his head slamming into the ground with a loud crack. Red didn’t bother commenting on my move, instead using the opportunity to grab my hand and bolt for the jeep.

He shoved me in first, over the driver’s seat and into the passenger’s seat, then hopped in and started the thing up. By this time, people were pointing, yelling, and calling the police. I winced.

“This wasn’t supposed to go this way.”

“Yeah, no kidding! Nice kick, though.” Red slammed his foot down on the accelerator, making the car leap forward, people flying out of the way just in time. Anytime someone almost got hit, I shoved them out of the way with a burst of water.

“What’re we gonna do? If Argot shows up, we’ll have no place to hide!”

For the first time since I met him, Red seemed to be at a loss for what to do. “I messed up. I forgot all about the stupid checks! I’m not used to having anyone with me, and I left my stupid contacts back at the base. Last time, I had Green with me, but her Mark was already hidden. I’m so freaking stupid! Crayik, crayik, crayik!!!”

My hands were squeezing the seat so tightly, they were white. “I never thought I’d say this, but you’d better go faster.”

“Yeah, duh! But this lame piece of junk only goes like, ninety miles per hour, and we’re in the middle of a huge city. I gotta steer!”

“Well, then, steer faster!”

“It doesn’t work that wa – Oh no.”

Red went white and slammed on the brakes. I would’ve commented on the whole Red being white thing, but the expression on his face chilled me to the bone.

Slowly, I looked up, to where his gaze was directed. In front of us, in the street that had just been empty a moment before, was a man in a black cape and wearing a top hat. He carried a cane, and looked for all the world like a magician headed to a child’s birthday party. In other words, harmless.

But I’ve learned not to trust appearances. This was one of the times when that knowledge would come in handy.

The windows of the jeep were down, so I could hear his words clearly. He spoke in a creaky sounding voice that I would’ve laughed at if I hadn’t known who he was. I’d heard stories, many stories, about his ruthlessness, and the moment I saw him, my blood ran cold.

“You’re not getting away this time, Red,” Argot smiled. “Oh, and I’m very pleased to make your acquaintance, Blue. Now, if you wouldn’t mind… I’m going to have to take you into custody. Dead or alive. Which do you prefer?”