Evil Is Pink (bxb)

Chapter 3

Tendril woke to the sound of clicking, rattling metal. The silver bars that made up their cell door slid open, causing his new cell mate to yelp. Tendril rose from his bed, eying his new companion with a scowl. The fool had decided to sleep curled up like a baby against the metal bars of their cell instead of using his new bed like a normal person. Can a person be that stupid? Or maybe he was afraid. The guard dropped a stack of papers onto the boy's face and then slid the door shut. Right about then, the regular alarm bell began to ring, forcing Tendril to push himself off the comforts of his own bed.

Another day, another chance.

Hopefully today would be different.

Mindlessly, Tendril went through the motions of heading out for roll call. In his mind's eye he was already mapping out his route during breakfast time. That one hour they had for themselves before class was one of the few chances he had to set his device in position, away from the nosy eyes of the guards.

Yup. Class. As in school. Even in prison, there was no escaping the horrors of homework. Not that Tendril minded. Contrary to how he looked, with his large frame and his large, thuggish arms, he actually liked reading. It was definitely better to be indoors in the air conditioning, forced to read or write, than to be toiling outside on the farms, where the guards forced the prisoners to labor and work under the merciless sun. Or even worse, to be sentenced to death in the mines. Good luck to the poor saps who were sent there. Just a day in that dreaded place was enough to break the toughest manly man to ever man around. He distinctly remembered the notoriously evil, famously young, and absurdly arrogant supervillain, Captain Carbuckle, when he first came into prison.

Boy was he annoying. An overseer thought so too. And sentenced him to a week in the mines after he picked his nose and flung it into the overseer's hair. It might've been an accident, but it didn't matter. Off he went. Tendril wasn't expecting to see Captain Carbuckle again, as people who disappeared into the mines usually never came back, but when he did—he looked like he had aged 40 years and even sounded like a creepy old man. He was missing all of his teeth and walked like he had a candy cane for a spine.

All that because of a booger.

Which was precisely why whenever Tendril sneezed, he did so behind everyone's back.

Literally. And metaphorically.

Tendril leaned against the pristine, white prison wall, watching as monsters and men walked on by. He had finished his breakfast, and stood at the far end of the cafeteria where it was the safest. Oftentimes a fight or a shanking occurred in the mornings where the victim least expected it. He had expected his new roommate to be the victim of such a beating, and was looking forward to seeing what his new roomie could do without the help of his xenos, but it seemed like the scrawny, pink-skinned redhead with strangely wormy hair was lucky. Despite sitting alone, and looking rather happy about that for some reason, it seemed like nobody was in the mood to pick on fresh meat today.

That was too bad. You could tell a lot about a person from how they responded to critical situations. Especially without the help of any powers. It had certainly taken him a while to get used to life without his own xenos.

Tendril's collar itched, as he scowled irritably at the lonesome pink boy.

Well, good for him.

But Tendril was certain his luck wouldn't last.

He was betting that the guy would be gone within a week. Poof. Gone like a deleted file on a computer.

"Boo!"

Tendril turned his head slowly and was met with a familiar grin. "About time, Ballsy."

The girl, his one and only companion in this blasted place, gave him an exaggerated pout. Her hair, like her personality, was all over the place. Imagine a girl with long, luscious, thick black hair who decided to give a toddler a pair of scissors before letting said toddler go wild. That's what she looked like. Uneven bangs, a few bald patches, and strands of hair that were never consistent in size.

"D'aww, you're glummer than usual today. What's up?"

"I'm not glum."

She gasped, completely ignoring him, "Is it the new roomie?! I heard the boy's got a reaaaal BIG mouth, don't he—?!" She started laughing hysterically, as if she just told the funniest joke in the world.

Tendril was used to these outbursts. It amused him, even if his face remained dour. "A mouth that snores too."

Then they walked. They left the cafeteria and went into the hallway that was always occupied by guards standing around every corner.

"How are you?"

"God, you're boring." She slapped his shoulder. "I'm FINE! Couldn't be better."

To everyone else, it might've been a normal sounding conversation. But to them, the ramshackle pair, they were speaking in a different language entirely. It was code. And Ballsy clocked the signal with perfect imperceptibility.

Tendril's eyes flitted towards the approaching corner turning into a new hallway. There was a vending machine there and it provided some light cover. More importantly...there was a vent beyond that.

They continued to walk. Then Ballsy stood guard as Tendril crept towards the corner. Then he noticed a pair of guards standing by the machine, gossiping with each other.

He gritted his teeth. Dang. Then, he pressed on, continuing straight ahead, instead of curving the corner. Once they were out of earshot, he sighed.

"Great." He whispered. "Of course they're standing there of all places."

Ballsy, stuck her tongue out at him, "HAH! No biggie—no sweetie—We still gots loads of time."

Isn't that the world's biggest lie? Tendril thought, as he nodded at her, mumbling something about meeting next tomorrow at the same time. There was never enough time. Especially for Xenosi like him and her...

There was no time at all.