A Touch of Blue - 27. The Shiniest Shiny

Zafiro

The helicopter is still chasing me!

They usually give up after awhile but it is still looking for me! Why? I killed the bastard. What more could they possibly want?

“You commited a murder in front of them.”
“...they do not like that, do they?”
“No, no they do not.”

With a curse under my breath, I hide behind the armored truck. I am hoping the helicopter will fly over and miss me.

I do keep myself ready just incase.

Since I am here, I grab some things since I lost all my weapons. I will need to be ready for everything.

Everytime I peek out, I see the helicopter getting closer and closer.

As much as I would love to just drive on as fast as I can, it would bring their attention. I might as well restock.

When I have everything together, I even got a bandage wrapped around my thigh, I climb back on the bike and ride off.

Instantly it grabs the attention of whoever was managing the spotlight.

A small part of me thought that maybe they would not have noticed. Of course they did.

I keep on the same road since it is rather empty at the moment. At some point I am going to have to dodge and weave through stuff to make them lose track of me, before I do that, I need to get away from all their soldiers first.

Once again, too much is happening. This day might actually be the worst. Sure, I managed to kill Cody, but even after, all this shit just keeps on coming.

“We are a mayhem magnet!”
“Oh! That sounds fun!”
“No, YOU IDIOT! WE ALMOST DIE EVERYTIME!”
“...it’s still fun though…”

Shaking my head, I turn onto a road that should bring me to the edge of town. If I am not mistaken, it should bring me to the bridge that leads to the next Sector.

Surely I would lose them out there. They can only chase for so long. If only I had something to take out that helicopter...like a certain Mekaias.

It is absolutely wild that he would actually save me. Me! The one who stole some of his crap.

Why did he do it? I would not have done it. Sure, it helps that I know he can save himself, but if it were anyone else, I would have turned the other way.

“You’re lyinggg!”
“Awww, I do love thinking about shiny Roy!”
“Wrongo! We call him Tin Can.”
“He feels more like a Roy now, though.”

Gritting my teeth, I shake my head again and almost veer off the road.

Ok, so many not everyone. I would want to help Tin Can. I have done it already, haven’t I? Yeah, I would do it again.

“Attention,” A woman’s voice speaks from the helicopter. “You are surrounded. Park your vehicle and lay down on the ground.”

Surrounded? I don’t see anyone around me.

Oh wait, there are people around me!

Was I distracting myself that much?

There are two cars behind me, two in front, and one on either side. They are a bit spread out from me, but they keep getting closer and closer.

Looking behind me, the two cars are pretty separated. Should make this fairly easy.

I slow myself down, almost stopping entirely. The cars all jet past me and I drive the other way. I turn into the buildings and try and map out where I am going.

Perhaps leaving through the southern side of the city will be best.

Checking over my shoulder, the helicopter flies into my vision and chases after me. Below it, the cars are turning into the same street as me.

If I go through the areas with civilians, that should make them overthink about chasing me. They do not want to get their own people hurt.

Turning back to the road in front of me, I put in more speed. It is still a bit empty out here so this should be fine. I just have to be careful for all the abandoned cars in the middle of the street.

“Keep going! Keep going!”
“We don’t want to get caught now, do we?”
“Don’t stop!”

Clenching my jaw, I try and ignore the voices, and keep my eyes on the road.

“You know, that is quite rude of you.”
“Yeah! You can’t ignore us forever!”
“It is because he is scared of us, you idiots!”
“But why? We are his friends.”
“We are?”

“Shut up!” I yell. “Please!”

They laugh at me. That starts to make my blood boil.

“Poor Zafiro. Maybe we should leave him?”
“He can’t just kick us out of our own house!”
“This is not a house, dumbass.”
“Oh...right. I knew that.”

Growling to myself. I just try to ignore them, as hard as that is.

I peek over my shoulder and see that U.U.P.P. is still fairly close. Why can’t they just turn back for Cody’s body? That is all they wanted in the first place!

Hmm...what to do, what to do?

There is the blackout button. Yeah I could use that. Maybe when I am in a better place though. I tend to have bad judgement with figuring out when to use it.

“A bit ironic we have a button to hide in the dark, eh?”
“How so?”
“Well...wait a minute, I forgot my train of thought.”
“How did you manage that? We are already trains of thoughts.”
“We are?”

“Will you all just shut your damn mouths,” I yell. “You’re giving me a headache.”

They do manage to go quiet. Thank god. They really were getting annoying.

It is now that I realize I am talking to voices in my head. A shiver runs down my spine at how insane that sounds. Am I really going crazy?

No, no. This is Cody’s doing. He put a chip in my head. What does that even mean? Why did he even do that?

It does not matter. As soon as I get it out, everything will be back to normal and all will be fine. No more voices, no more ringing, and no more headaches.

“Silly Zafiro!”
“You’re so funny!”

More of them chuckle or outright laugh. Their voices echo around in my head. What even are they? How did my brain manage to make up this kind of shit?

“We are the questions you like to bottle up!”
“Well that is a bit of an exaggeration.”
“True. We are the answers you choose to ignore!”
“Forget about that, though! Consider us as your friends!”
“Speak for yourself.”

I almost laugh as how ridiculous this sounds. Instead, I gasp and jerk the motorcycle to the side to keep myself from running into a floating bus!

Dammit. These voices are going to be the death of me.

Looks like I have reached the part where everyone feels safe enough to walk around. That is, until they see me and the U.U.P.P. vehicles chasing me.

There are a lot of screams of panic as I zip by them at high speeds. I sure as hell won’t be slowing down.

Glancing over my shoulder, I hear the sirens of the cars trying to get through the streets. The helicopter still flies overhead, following me.

Hmm. There is another bridge that crosses over a river. I think I have a plan of losing them there.

The main problem with this is that there are all these cars standing in the middle of the road. Either that, or driving super fucking slow!

Pulling out a gun, I fire three times into the air. Instantly, everyone starts screaming and running for cover.

I pull myself onto the sidewalk and drive through there. Every now and then, I would fire three times again, trying to get more people out of my way.

There are a few close calls.

Some bitches are dumb and just stand there. I have to go around them but at least the sidewalks are fairly wide.

This carries on for about a minute before I turn onto another road that leads southeast.

There are four roads that lead out of the four corners of the city. The two on the bottom corners have bridges that go over a river. Those are always busy since everyone is constantly moving through the city. With all those shining lights, if I use the blackout button, I should surely lose them there.

“Oooh! What a plan!”
“A stupid plan.”
“We are going to get arrested! Oh God!”
“SHHH! Shut up will you! He needs to concentrate!”

I chuckle out a “Thanks” at that.

Looking back, I see that the helicopter is still on me but the cars are further back than before.

I weave around cars, people, and if need be, the trees that line along the sidewalk. I keep going back and forth to keep out of the late night traffic.

Why do these people feel the need to drive when their side was just attacked is beyond me. Then again, I would be moving around too.

I am a bit surprised as to why the helicopter has not asked me to stop again. Do they already know I won’t or is this some kind of ‘you get one chance’ kind of deal?

The closer I get to the bridge, the more crowded the streets become. Not only for getting out of the city, but also for coming in.

A lot of people that lived outside of the city have decided to move in since U.U.P.P. decided to set up homes for all the Ember aliens that Mekaias brought in.

As much as humans try to say they want peace, there sure are a bunch of racist bastards. Some even are angry with Mekaias for saving them! It is ridiculous.

I am pretty sure the U.U.P.P. cars are stuck behind me now. There is no way they can get through this mess. There might actually be a car wreck ahead. All the cars have stopped moving.

Gotta love that traffic!

I keep in the middle of the cars. I am careful not to run into any of them but I keep a fast pace either way. I do not want to lose my ride.

“Attention citizens of Sector 4,” The helicopter lady says. “Please put your vehicles in auto-pilot. I repeat. Please put your vehicles in auto-pilot.”

Instantly, blue lights start to come on in their headlights. They all begin driving backwards at once.

I frown at that. Not exactly sure how that is supposed to help them in anyway. If anything, it will make it harder for the U.U.P.P. cars to catch up.

“Maybe they want us to leave?”
“Good riddance!”
“But what about Roy! Let’s stay with the shiny man!”

I keep driving along, checking all directions to see what could be out of the ordinary. So far, everything seems alright.

When I finally reach the bridge entrance, all the cars have retreated behind me.

Now I see why they wanted everyone out of the way. About halfway on the bridge, there is a line of U.U.P.P. cars. They are blocking off my way out.

Well, not like I can just drive back the way I came in.

When I look back, I actually see the other U.U.P.P. cars, and even some civilian cars, are blocking me off as well.

Great.

Lifting my goggles into my hair, I look around for other places I could run off to. I could always just grapple away, but then I have to deal with the helicopter. That will be much harder to deal with without the bike.

What to do, what to do?

“Isn’t this just great!”
“Right? Looks like our time is up.”
“So should wrap one of the grapple lines around our neck ourselves or…?”
“Oh shut up. He has a plan. We’ll be fine.”

Hmm...I think I can pull this off.

~~~
~~~

Roy

As soon as Zafiro had swung away, we all ran out of the weird shaped building and ran for the armored truck.

All I remember on our way back was the Alentian staring me down as we ran off.

He could have attacked us. He could have easily just teleported on us and done...something. Who knows if he would have killed us or not. Instead he just watched us. He watches us leave and he smiled.

That would be the part that weirds me out the most.

As we ran back, a Helicopter seemed to burst out somewhere behind us. We all dove for cover, trying to hide, but it just flew past us. It completely ignored us. Instantly, I knew who it was headed after. Sophie must have as well because she pulled out her phone to call Zafiro.

She told him they were headed their way and when her face paled, I got a little scared.

Arturo told us we need to get to the truck so we kept running.

When we got to the truck, we found one of the hatches open. We were careful incase someone broke into it, but nope, it was empty of any life. A few supplies were taken, so our guess was that someone just passed through, or Zafiro grabbed some stuff somehow.

I notice the diamond pistols are gone. Somehow in this moment of slight panic, that makes me smile.

Everyone crowds into the truck, everyone wants to open up the table monitor to see what is happening. There is no way this isn’t being televised!

“Calm down everyone,” Arturo says, thought he sounds just as nervous. “He will be fine dammit.”

Even I can tell that he is not entirely too sure about that.

The most agonizing part of this would have to be when we learned that the monitor was not working. Everyone quickly pulled out their phones.

I sat in the passenger seat next to Sophie while she drove us back to my house.

After a few moments, I finally find the right channel. It shows live footage from a helicopter’s camera.

Zafiro is being chased by a bunch of U.U.P.P. cars and said helicopter. He is surrounded by cars in the middle of the street. They have managed to catch up to speed with him and they are trying to cage him in. He slows himself down, making all the cars zip past him.

He turns himself around and drives...south?

Looks like we are all headed the same way.

Now this is bringing back old memories of when we would chase him through the city. Except, this time there are way more people involved.

I have faith. He can make it. He fucking better.

I have a few words to speak with him about how this night has played out. I told him not to kill that man. He should not have done it, but he did.

Somehow he had choked the man to death and gotten away.

Maybe he had planned to kill Cody from the beginning, but that will not fix all his problems. We could have just turned him in and everything would have been alright.

Not going to lie, I was pretty surprised to hear myself tell Zafiro that he should come home with me. I haven’t even thought of that...much. Yet, right there, I was more than ready to have him stay with me.

Shaking my head, I look out my window.

Looking at Zafiro just makes everything more confusing and stressful. How has this infuriating thief wedged himself into my life?

“He’ll be alright,” Sophie says. I am not sure if she said that to me or to herself.

I simply nod and look back at the screen. He is in the shopping district at the moment. My eyes widen when I see him pull one of the diamond pistols out to shoot. He fires a couple times into the air. It takes me a moment to realize he is doing that to make everyone scatter from his path.

My brow scrunches up more and more as he gets closer to the southeastern bridge.

The camera flicks back and forth with different U.U.P.P. vehicles. I see a bunch of cars lining up on the bridge and more cars coming up behind Zafiro.

They are about to cut him off on the bridge.

Seeing that starts to make my chest tighten.

The ones behind Zafiro just keep getting closer, they weave their way through the traffic like snakes slithering through grass.

Zafiro stops driving at the bridge entrance and looks around himself. He looks so small in that moment, I just want to reach through the screen and hide him with me.

The camera zooms in on him and you can just barely manage to see those strange blue eyes. I bet everyone who sees that would think something is wrong with him. Which they wouldn’t be so wrong about…

Zafiro seems to sense the camera on him, he looks up at the helicopter and he smiles with a glint in his eyes. He puts his goggles back on and reaches into the small bag attached to his belt. I frown since I could not see what he pulled out.

All of a sudden, the tires screech on the bike as Zafiro starts driving at full speed for the wall of cars in the middle of the bridge.

Shouts can be heard from the woman in the helicopter. Those don’t even register as I stare at Zafiro. I swear my heart has taken a pause with me.

Zafiro slaps something on the bike but keeps driving for the line of cars. When he is about ten feet away, all the lights in the bridge, cars, and the spotlight from the helicopter go out. It is just dark.

At first I am relieved, I completely forgot about that weird button that shuts down power everywhere, but then an explosion goes off where the cars were sitting still.

As soon as that happens, the screen cuts off to static. A news reporter then comes up on the screen, informing us that all power has gone out in that area.

Did...did Zafiro do that? Or was that pure coincidence? I am pretty sure that explosion was from the bike.

Everyone is quiet in the truck. Most likely unsure of what to think of that.

He’s...He’s fine. He has to be. This is Zafiro! He can’t die. Cody tried twice and he failed. This...this was just another death he managed to dodge. Nothing more, nothing less.

I try and breathe to calm my heart down. It is beating like crazy now, hoping for Sophie’s phone to ring at any minute.

The drive back to the house is completely silent.

Sophie keeps checking her phone every few seconds. I get my hopes up every time.

We reach my house and I jump out, expecting to find Zafiro in my room or on the neighbor’s roof.

When I see the roof is empty, I am absolutely positive that he is hidden in my room. I bet the dog and cat are just swallowing him in affection right now.

Pushing open my front door, the dog instantly starts barking like crazy.

I expect Zafiro to calm him down, but he does not.

When the dog sees that it is me, it calms down and lays back on my couch. The cat jumps up and curls against him.

Frowning at that, I quickly run up the stairs.

Wouldn’t they be up there if Zafiro was?

No, no it’s fine. They probably didn’t hear him.

He isn’t here.

Why the fuck isn’t he here? Zafiro should be in my room right now! He always is, so why not now? I know he was close to the house anyways, dammit.

He’s...he’s fine! He has to be. He always plans things out so everything is fine. Maybe he is just a little late. For all I know, he could be climbing up the side of my house right now!

I walk out to the gym and wait.

And wait…

And wait some more.

Sophie manages to come upstairs as well. She sits next to me on the bench and we both wait.

An hour passes. Two hours. It gets to around the three hour mark when Sophie silently gets up and leaves. I am pretty sure she went home, I’m not sure.

My eyes get droopy with sleep but I still wait outside.

By the time I see the sun beginning to rise in the distance, I realize I have stayed out here for nine hours.

Where...where is he? He had to have survived that explosion. Nothing as simple as an explosion could kill him!

Could it?

The dog and cat eventually come into the room. They see me sitting outside and then they both come and sit at my feet.

But, I-I thought we could have had something. Something I never thought of before. He can’t just die!

I feel my eyes beginning to water and I angrily blink them away. I will not cry for that damn fool. He would have made fun of me if he ever saw that.

A scowl forms at thinking the word ‘if’. As if he might come back again. I have to blink a few times again.

I’m wrong. Zafiro would not have teased me for crying. He seemed to know when it was fine to tease.

You know...it is kind of funny that the last thing I’ll remember him by is that damned smile as he is about to head into danger.

It does not make me laugh though.

~~~

Two Weeks Later

Still no signs of Zafiro. A lot of bodies had burned in that explosion, some bodies even flew into the river. That means a few have gone missing.

It pains me to realize that Zafiro might be one of those bodies sitting at the bottom of the river somewhere.

At least he went out with a bang right? Isn’t that something he would have wanted? I am pretty sure it is.

I sigh and scratch the white cat between the ears.

Sophie told me the cat’s name is Yinx. Zafiro came up with the name years ago. Thank god she knew that. I only knew the dog’s name before. It would have felt wrong to give the cat a name that didn’t come from Zafiro.

At the moment, I am on my bed finishing the Mekaias documentary. Sadly, I am not really thinking about it. My mind is thinking of thieves with unnatural blue eyes that shined way too bright.

Sighing, I decide to run on the treadmill. If I am going to wallow in my depression, I might as well do it while running. The night air might do me good anyways.

I am both angry and sad with Zafiro, but mostly angry.

The stupid fucker couldn’t have just...done something else? Literally anything else! Hell, he could have just turned himself in and I would have been a million times better.

We were really getting somewhere. Sure, we had that line where we weren’t sure what it was, but it was something. I never had a something before. Who says I would have it again?

I sigh again and turn the treadmill off. Yeah, nevermind. I am not in the mood to run.

“Aww, but I wanted to see them bounce some more,” A voice says to my left.

My eyes widen and my chest tightens up.

I look over at the rooftop next door and I see the smiling fool.

Zafiro winks as he sits on the edge of the roof. His legs are crossed and he leans back on his hands.

How long has he been sitting there? How...just how?

“Ya miss me, Tin Can?” He chuckles.

I blink and move closer to him, making sure I am not going crazy or anything. I don’t want to be too excited to hear that damn nickname.

“How...how,” Not sure what to say, I instead get angry. “How long have you been sitting there? You have been gone for two weeks and you just sit there without saying anything? Do you have any idea how irritating you are? You had me worried sick!”

Zafiro’s teasing smile turns into one of those sweet ones that somehow always brings my gaze to his beauty mark.

“It’s not like I could just bring my bitchass over here,” He sticks his tongue out. “You must have forgotten that I had some friends that really wanted my autograph.”

I scowl and fold my arms. I am aware that he likes when I do that but right now, I don’t give a damn.

Laneer comes running out, barking and whining his fluffy head off.

Zafiro’s eyes brighten when he sees him.

“You took care of my children?” He grins. He stands and then jumps over to hug and pet the dog.

I stay silent. A bit in shock really. A small part of me thought that maybe this was some kind of illusion you get when you miss someone too much.

Seeing the way Laneer is acting, yeah...it’s very much real.

All the anger I had just slips away. I actually feel my eyes beginning to water but I refuse to give this little shit the satisfaction.

Zafiro looks up at me before standing, he smiles and tilts his head.

“Did you miss me, Roy?” His eyes twinkle when he says that. It feels incredibly unfair that he is sweet talking me with my real name.

Shaking me head, I look anywhere but at him.

“No, of course not,” I say, clearing my throat. “I knew you were fine. Never for a second thought you were gone.”

It is starting to get warmer out here.

Zafiro chuckles. He sounds a lot closer now.

A gloved finger hooks under my chin and lightly pulls me to face him.

“You sure?” He smiles. “Your eyes are pretty shiny tonight. You weren’t crying over me, were you, Roy?”

Blinking away whatever moisture he sees, I sigh and stare down at his eyes. I must say, I do love the scars. Something about looking pretty and tough at the same time is particularly attractive to me.

A shame about how he obtained them.

“I’m...what were we talking about again?” I ask, a bit distracted by the shining blues.

His eyes smile at that.

“You were about to kiss me is what we were talking about,” He purrs and leans against me.

I nod and lean down slowly.

“Right,” I say before pressing my lips to his.

I can feel the smile on his face and that both annoys and satisfies me.

Ok. I really fucking missed him and his teasing.

Zafiro pulls back but I wrap my arms around him to keep from leaving. He sighs and gives a sad smile. One that says he has bad news. I don’t like it.

“What?” I frown. “What’s wrong?”

He shrugs and runs his hands along my shoulders and biceps. He squeezes them before speaking.

“I am afraid I have to jump out of town,” He says, still with the sad smile.

Narrowing my eyes, I shake my head slowly.

“Why would you have to do that,” I ask. “You could stay here with me. I was not kidding with what I said in that tower.”

Zafiro chuckles and shakes his head. “Believe me, I would love to stay in your little castle, but I am afraid that there will be too many eyes on you if I do.”

I grunt and shrug. “So? What are they going to do about it?”

He laughs and leans up to kiss me again.

“Well, aren’t you a precious gem,” He says. His smile slowly turns into a frown as he stares into my eyes.

“No,” He shakes his head. “I can’t have you getting into trouble because of me. My mind is made up. You can’t change it.”

I frown and tighten my arms around him.

“Then why did you come back?” I ask. “This feels more cruel now.”

Another sad smile.

“Isn’t it obvious,” He chuckles. “You’re my shiny one. I can’t just go without saying goodbye to the shiniest one in my stash.”

No. No this can’t be right. He can’t just pretend to be dead for weeks, come back, and then tell me he is leaving again. He can’t!

“Tell me there is something I could do or say that will make you change your mind,” I say, not really caring for how sad I sound.

Zafiro rests his gloved hand on my cheek and smiles. “I’m afraid not, handsome. Don’t even think about following me. You know I’ll be gone before you can even say my name.”

“Then I won’t say it,” I pout.

He rolls his eyes but still laughs.

Laneer whines beneath us and that pulls our attention.

“Promise to take care of them?” He asks.

As much as I hate it, I know I can’t change his mind. This all fucking sucks.

“Yeah,” I say with a huff.

He gets down on his knees to scratch beneath Laneer’s ears . “Make sure you never whistle around him. That’s his command to attack.”

I smirk at that. It is a bit ridiculous to think this love ball could ever attack someone.

Zafiro sighs and stands back up. “Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be able to come back.”

That gets me pretty excited inside, but I am still pissed about what is happening now. Why couldn’t this city just stay useless? Of all times they chose to pick up on their shit, they choose now?

It’s all bullshit.

“I’m miss you, Roy,” Zafiro says. “I’ll miss you a lot.”

I just nod.

“I’ll miss you too,” I mutter, looking down at his stupid, pretty face.

Zafiro chuckles and swats at my chest. “Hey, don’t be all moody just as I am about to leave. I need a good memory to keep with me!”

I sigh and nod again. “So...what now?”

He smiles and pulls on my shirt. “You kiss me goodbye, you fool.”

Before our lips touch, I stop him. I might as well say it right? If he really is leaving, I should just say it. Maybe it will bring him back to me.

“I...I...think I love you,” I say, my face burning.

Honestly I expected the teasing face again, but of course, he doesn’t. He smiles bright, brighter than I have ever seen before. I swear his eyes twinkle like actual diamonds.

He pulls me down to his lips once more and then gives me a tight hug. Yeah, he is definitely stronger than regular humans.

“I think I do too, Roy, but I’m afraid that won’t be keeping me here,” He says. “Promise to stay the shiniest for me?”

“I promise,” I pout again.

Now entirely sure what that means, but I will do my damn well hardest to be the shiniest shiny he could ever want.

“Goodbye, Roy.”

With a shaky sigh, I reply.

“Goodbye, Zafiro.”