"…" Taken aback, Idel sat up. He could not believe what he was seeing.
Sitting in the recess corner of the room was what seemed to be a boy whose body held no colour.
He was Tintless!
But how? All Emontarions have a colour in relation to their dominant emotion.
Tintless raised his head and, with his colourless eyes, stared back.
Immediately, Idel was drawn by the eyes. To him, this peculiar aspect of the boy was somehow soothing and relatable.
After 2 minutes, Snappy snapped, "Are you gonna kiss or what? We don't have time. Stop staring and get to work."
'Geez, what's wrong with this guy? Does he think I'm a pervert Emontarion? Hmm, do such even exist? Probably not, I don't think lust is an emotion. Wait, is it not?' Idel used internal monologue to make the scene less weird for himself.
After a while he said to Tintless, "Are you in?"
He didn't want to force someone to do what they didn't want to do. Taking away someone's free will just because the result will benefit one is the epitome of callousness.
Tintless remained silent, blinking at Idel in a uniform pattern.
"Are you in?" he repeated, brow furrowed.
But Tintless continued staring, not saying a single word.
"Sigh," Idel shook his head slightly as he understood the situation.
He turned to Snappy.
"Hey, I think Tintless is incapable of speech. Nor can he hear."
"Tint… wha—"
"Yes, the boy."
Snappy ignored the weird name as he enquired, "Are you sure?"
"Pretty much."
Snappy gritted his teeth and pondered, then he said, "Don't you know sign language?"
"To a certain degree. It's rudimentary at best though," Idel replied as he massaged his neck.
"Then utilize it. Anything is better than nothing at the moment." Snappy looked a bit concerned.
"Okay," Idel turned to Tintless once more.
The boy was in the same position, still staring.
Using his muscle memory, he held out his left hand, then using his right to touch, point, and form letters, he introduced himself to Tintless as "Mr. Freak."
Tintless gaped as a faint grey shine passed through his being. He clawed out and, using his hands, asked if that was truly his name. Before Idel could move his hand, Tintless asked several questions like:
"Why is that your name?"
"Who gave you that name?"
"And why do you look like that?"
'So many questions, Tintless.' Idel felt a bit uncomfortable by the prattling. After a while he asked his own question, "And what is your name?"
The boy's hands suddenly stopped moving. He sat back as he seemed even more colourless. He was thinking to himself, then he flared his hands to indicate he didn't know.
'What a weird boy.' Idel stared.
"Any developments, or are you just chatting there!" Behind them, Snappy spoke.
Tintless flinched at the sound of Snappy's voice. A faint purple shine, visible for only a few seconds, could be seen.
'Hmmm.' Idel cogitated before he responded, "We are." He looked at the boy as he said, "Oh, that there is Snappy."
"Snappy? Why do you all have weird names?" asked the boy using his hands.
"Beats me."
A faint yellow flashed as Tintless appeared to be suppressing a laugh. "You funny, Mr. Freak. So what am I in exactly?"
Idel remained silent for a bit before explaining the situation and plan, during which different faint colours shone from the boy.
…
10 minutes later, the three took their respective positions. Snappy leaned against the wall, head raised, silently staring, while Idel and Tintless were stationed close to the bar just within the reach of the guard's view sight.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The guard paced in the corridor with deliberate motion. He was trying to establish his authority to the three prisoners, letting them know who is the big boss… but how futile, right?
In the next moment, Tintless moved from his sitting position and thrust his punch towards Idel.
'Such speed…' Idel puffed up his chest to embrace the impact.
Bam!
The punch, surprisingly, broke his inertia state. He was sent flying towards the wall. The impact on the wall was so loud that it immediately, effectively caught the attention of the guard.
He rushed to the source and found Tintless on top of Idel, trying to strangle him to death.
Petrified, the guard hit the cell bars with a rod, but it was to no effect. The boy's hands had now completely taken command of the situation, and the "poor pale fella" was beginning to lose consciousness.
The guard gritted his teeth, held the rod with full force, and moved even closer to the fighting duo. At his arrival, he felt something instantly grab his waist tightly.
"What the—" He lowered his eyes and saw a colourless long arm. He traced it, finding it to be an extension from the boy's hip.
He gasped and hurled his rod at the arm.
However, his rod did not even have the time to move as much as 5 cm before his entire body was pulled to the cell bars.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
His face repeatedly hit the bars, each time reality seemingly distorting. In the next "blink" he saw the boy get off the pale fella, who, with a terrifying change of speed and apathetic face, thrust a punch through the bar.
Bam!
Reality darkened for the guard, and his head gracefully rested on his chest.
'Tintless is pretty strong. Almost on par with a grade 4 nightmare.' Idel looked at the unconscious officer, knowing that if it weren't for the boy's arm, the guard's body could have hit Snappy's cell. 'Should have pulled my punch. Man, I hope his spinal cord is okay. It probably is; he's an Anger Emontarion.'
"Whoa, kid, you really are something," Snappy exclaimed. "Quickly get the keys off him and open up the cells."
Idel looked at the iron-clad door for a while, and surprisingly nothing happened. It was as Snappy said: it was soundproof.
"What are you waiting for?"
"Proving your hypothesis." He turned to look at Tintless.
"Did I do a good?"
"Very much," Idel responded and watched as a faint yellow shone on the boy.
He squatted, picked up the key, and unlocked the cell. Then he walked out with Tintless.
"Hey, aren't you forgetting something?" Snappy held the bars as he looked at Idel and the boy. "Remember you still need me."
Idel remained silent, then turned to Tintless.
"Do we need Snappy? He's a bit scary, don't you say?"
The boy shook his head, indicating he had no say in the matter.
"Sigh, you are lucky the boy doesn't loathe you." He reached his hand out and opened the lock.
Snappy gritted his teeth silently as he walked out. He did not say more; he knew taking down this duo would be a daunting task. So instead, he formed a fist and gently hit the boy's shoulder.
"I owe you one, kid."
'Afraid, Snappy.' Idel, reading the situation, mused.
He turned to look at the wall Snappy was prancing towards in an attempt to break it, then came the suffocating energy once more.
The nightmare's, and this time it had increased in intensity. More than that, as he looked at Snappy, he noticed his tense expression.
He too could now sense it... meaning, it was here!