"Red?"
Red didn't seem to hear.
Purple groaned. He grabbed Red by the shoulder and spun him around. "Red!"
Even though Red was looking at him, he was still distracted.
Purple rolled his eyes.
He put his hands on Red's shoulders and shook him. Hard.
"Hey! Stop it! WHAT!" Red grabbed Purple's wrists.
"Stop ignoring me."
Red let go of Purple and sighed.
"I'm sorry. I don't mean to."
"Sure you don't." Purple put his hands on his hips and smiled. "I know what you're thinking about Red. And I want you to stop."
"I wish I could. I really wish I could."
"I know. So do I."
The Tallest sat in the dark, side by side. They were both staring at a blank screen on the wall. Waiting…
The screen flicked to life, and a silhouetted figure appeared on the screen.
"Good evening." He said.
"If you say so." Red replied bitterly.
"Bad day?"
"I don't think it's any of your business Anocian."
There was a pause.
Anocian coughed, before continuing.
"I have an assignment for you." He said.
"Is that so?" Purple had a look of spite on his face.
"We don't take assignments from you remember? I won't go through this again." Red added.
Anocian leant back in his chair. He was quiet… considering them for a few moments before speaking again.
"How am I to put this… It is in your best interest to take this one."
"How so?" Purple asked.
"I'll download you the file." He pressed a button on what was presumed to be a console in front of him, and a small data-disk popped out of a small, non-existent slot, which had opened in the wall under the screen.
Red sighed, and stood to retrieve it.
Anocian curiously watched this seemingly normal action.
"You surprise me. I thought you would be…"
Red spun around and cut him off with a sinister glare.
"We don't make a point of exhibiting our abilities for trivial tasks. Do not presume anything different." Red's eyes flashed deep crimson as he spoke. Purple smiled as his reacted and deepened to a violet colour.
Anocian visibly recoiled.
"Don't get yourself upset. I just presumed…" He cut short as Red's eyes began to glow, giving the room an eerie shade of crimson, which was upset only by the light from the screen. "Uh, right."
Red sat back down next to Purple. "So, what is the nature of this assignment of yours? For curiosity's sake." He asked.
"All the details are on the disk, but the basics of it is, don't die."
Purple leant back, his eyes narrowed. "Well, that's completely reassuring." He said flatly.
"My aim wasn't to reassure you. Your positions are threatened."
Red raised a non-existent eyebrow.
"Since when have you cared about our positions?"
"Since the one after your positions posed a serious threat to Alcotech. The disk has the details. If you need to know anything else, you know how to reach me."
The screen went blank.
Red and Purple looked at each other curiously, before Red looked down at the disk in his hand.
Far away, in a sleek black and silver ship, a tall figure looked out into space.
A shorter creature, an Irken soldier, cautiously approached.
"Sir?"
"What?"
"The Massive is in sight sir. We should be there in a matter of hours."
The taller creature smiled sinisterly.
"Excellent."
Red ran the tip of one of his slender fingers along the top edge of the disk.
Purple was pacing.
Red clenched his fist as he watched his partner, dressed in casual clothes, rather than his usual robes and armor repeatedly walked the length of the room.
"Must you do that?" Red asked, slightly irritated.
"No, but what else would you have me do?" Purple snapped, pausing in his pacing to look at Red.
"If you were to help me figure out what to do it would be nice."
Purple laughed. "Why don't we put the disk in and see what it says?"
Red frowned. "You know what that would that would mean."
"I do. But why does that matter?"
Red was about to answer, when the Massive shook violently.
"What the hell was that!"
"Dunno. Let's go see." Purple said, turning towards the door.
Red nodded, and followed his friend.
The Tallest reached the bridge, and Red instantly turned to one of the technicians who were there.
"What happened?"
The technician looked up at his leader. "We've been fired upon!"
Red grit his teeth and looked at Purple.
Purple nodded, and the both of them took up their usual spots in the center of the room.
Neither of them seemed to notice the stares they were getting from around the room.
"Open a communication line with them." Purple said.
The technician who was in charge of the communications equipment, glanced at the worker beside him, who shrugged.
"Hey! Did'ja hear me?" Purple growled, spinning around.
Red looked at the technician who seemed to be hesitating. Then he realized what was going on.
"Uh, Pur?"
"What?"
Red pointed, and Purple looked down at himself. He was still in his casual outfit.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Purple was fuming.
"Relax Pur!" Red turned to the technician. "Open the line, now."
The technician hurriedly did as he was told, and an image appeared on the screen.
"Identify yourself." Red demanded.
All that could be seen of the person on the screen were his eyes… two, piercing, deep blue eyes. "I am Sleet. And your time is up, Tallests Red and Purp… Uh…" He paused, not recognizing Purple.
Purple growled. "THAT'S IT! I'm going to get changed." Purple turned on his heels and started walking towards the exit.
"Purple, get back here." Red sighed.
"Ah, so it is you." Sleet cooed. His voice was icy cold, and Purple froze in his tracks.
A shiver ran up Purple's back.
Slowly, he turned around.
"I hope you know what you are proposing, Sleet. We have no intention on going anywhere." Red hissed.
Sleet laughed. "I know my path. Do you know yours? Do you know what I have in store for you, and what I am going to take from you?"
Red's eyes flashed. So did Purple's.
"We know. And it's not going to happen."
"You'll have to learn the hard way, that I always get what I want. Until our next encounter, Tallests Red and Purple."
The screen went blank.
Red turned and looked at Purple worriedly.
Sleet sat back in a high-backed chair, looking out at the Massive.
He smiled to himself.
Soon… He thought. Soon you will know what the true meaning of torment. You will feel my wrath…
Red sat before the giant screen in the bridge. He was fuming. Purple stood next to him, a worried look on his face. He knew something Red didn't… something he had no intention on sharing, no matter how hard Red tried to read it.
"Red?"
"Who is he? He… he's an Irken, just like we are…"
"No one's like we are, Red." Purple said, cutting red off. "We're different… remember?"
Red sighed. "You won't let me forget. But still, he's an Irken. He should take our orders."
"But… He's the one who wants our position. If he passes the mark, we're history. No one will know us in ten seconds. We'll be nobody again." Purple said fearfully.
"There's no way we're going back to being nobody. We're the Tallest damnit! We shouldn't have to take this from… from this underling!" Red hissed.
Purple sighed.
"Come on."
Red's voice snapped the other Tallest out of his thoughts.
Purple looked at Red, who stood up.
"We're looking at this disk."
Red didn't wait for a reply before moving swiftly out of the room. Purple was left alone on the bridge, staring after Red.
He turned and looked at the screen behind him for a few seconds before grimacing and walking after Red.