Their running finally stopped once they entered Black's house, the only one whose parents were both out at this hour, and who knew nobody could find them there.

Green and Yellow sat in the worn down sofa in the living room, and took time to breath, while Black got up to his room to get some new clothes for the three of them.

After calming down enough, Yellow turned to Green. "So… what happened?"

Green chuckled, and sighed. "Well, for one, I healed you." He pointed at the man's bandages around his face. Yellow brought a hand to his head, and unwrapped the bandages, happily grinning as he brought his fingers to his burnt scarred skin, realising it didn't hurt anymore.

"Sorry for not explaining sooner, we were a bit short on time, heh..".

"Oh, and I can hear you just fine now!!"

The taller man pulled Green against him, and hugged him tightly. "Thanks nerd boy!"

Green squeaked, surprised, and a bit suffocated by the large arms around him. Despite Yellow's muscle mass having decreased in the last few days, he was still extremely strong.

"Oohhh I do wish you could've cured my hunger though. I haven't eaten anything real in DAYS!"

Green chuckled as he slipped out of Yellow's tight embrace, gasping for air. "Well, I can only accelerate your body's healing ability, I can't fill a stomach."

Yellow raised his eyebrows. "Oh, damn, really? That's too bad."

He seemed oddly happy. Even past Yellow wasn't this carefree. Was he alright?

"Uhm, Yellow? Are you a-"

"I got some clothes!"

Green winced and looked behind him, Black arriving up the stairs with a pile of clothes in his hands. Seems talking to Yellow would have to wait for another time. Not that he didn't want to talk now that Black was here, but he knew Yellow wouldn't.

Black stood in front of the two, and looked at Yellow.

"Sorry, Yellow, you're a bit too big for my clothes to fit you, had to take some of my dad's clothes."

He threw a shirt, socks and jeans on the man's head, and then looked through the remaining pile, then turning to Green. "I don't have much of those fancy clothes like what you usually wear, so I just took this old set my mom gave me once that I never wore."

A shirt, vest and tie, and a pair of jeans with a belt flew in his lap, the metal of the belt hitting Green's side in a painful thud.

"Alright, well, you two find somewhere to change, I'll be going to my room."

Immediately, Yellow got up and went to the kitchen. Green chuckled, and decided to stay there.

After he finished getting dressed, he leaned back in the sofa, and closed his eyes.

Why was he able to heal his friends?

Where could Red be right now?

And most importantly…

How exactly were the Changers involved in all this?

Yellow and Black quickly came back, Yellow with food in his hands, and Black with bags and backpacks.

Yellow handed a granola bar to Green, as he munched on an apple. "I sorta raided your fridge and cupboards, sorry Black. I was really hungry.."

Black groaned, and tossed two backpacks to his friends.

"Whatever man… Anyway, we'll need as much material, anything useful you find in this house, take it. Clothes, food, laptops, anything. We'll be checking both your houses afterwards, and if you got anything important there I'd suggest you take it, because we won't be coming back for a while."

"Where we going?" Asked Green, inspecting the empty backpack

"Wherever the fuck Red is."

Yellow looked up from his food and frowned. "R-Red? That lil dwarf loser?"

Green shoved his elbow into Yellow's side with an uncomfortable clearing of his throat. Yellow yelped, and pouted. "H-hey!?"

"Actually, we learned that Red was uh, a pretty normal girl. And that she secretly had fire powers and she burned down the school in a fit of rage, because our Changers were mind-controlling us and forcing us to bully her." Said Black, sitting on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

Yellow seemed extremely confused, but nodded. "Uh, alright?"

"It's because she didn't have a Changer, and that maybe for the other Changers, that wasn't supposed to happen, she was an anomaly that needed to be destroyed. I mean, was there anyone else who we bullied for that reason?" Green continued.

Yellow shook his head, and passed a hand through his hair. "Yeah… when I think about it, it's kinda dumb… I don't even have a Changer right now either, and-"

He stopped, and his eyes widened.

"I don't have a Changer anymore.."

Black got up, sighing softly, and walked away. Green assumed he didn't want to deal with this right now. Seems he at least was back to his normal, emotionally shut-in self.

Yellow breathed in, staring down at the ground, and whimpered softly.

"My Changer… is gone…"

Green looked down sadly. Out of all the three, Yellow was probably the one who was most attached to his Changer. He assumed it had to do with his relationship with his family, maybe he needed something to cling onto, and the Changer was simply the best thing at the moment.

"It's alright… take your time…"

Green gently raised a hand to his shoulder, stroking it in a reassuring move. "It could take you a while to adjust."

Maybe he was acting so cheerful earlier as a way for his brain to cope with the trauma. He was probably too distressed before to properly think about it, anyway.

"Why does this feel so weird??? Like, I feel really shitty, but… I'm kinda happy?"

"The control it had over you is gone, so I'm sure your brain is relieved to have full autonomy again. But, well, you were attached for so long, I assume it's almost like losing a part of yourself..."

Yellow sniffled, and turned his head, so Green wouldn't see. He kept his pride despite the trauma. Typical.

"Not sure if this'll help, but… it was for the better."

Yellow nodded silently, and after a few more minutes, he turned back around, and stretched. "Yeah… thanks.."

He got up, and walked back to the kitchen. "I'm gonna get some food for the road."

Green smiled faintly as he watched his friend walk away, and then got to work.

After they were done, they regrouped, took Black's car, and got to Yellow's house. After he packed a few more clothes and material, they went to Green's house, and did the same there.

The drive to nowhere had started. Black had a vague idea of where to go, as thankfully, he had a TV in his hospital room, and knew in what city Red had possibly run to.

"With the cops around, it'll be hard to find her. But we gotta try." Black said, eyes on the road, not turning around to look at the two in the back. "Do any of you have money? My wallet was in my locker, so it probably burned down."

"I have my wallet, with a couple of hundreds and my credit card in it." Green replied happily, looking through his large wallet. "I also have my ID, driving license, Changer certificate, and some gift cards and coupons. But mostly money." He then got his flip phone from his other pocket, and smiled. "Oh and, my second phone!"

Black groaned. "Oh yeah, almost forgot you were a rich kid… ugh."

Yellow grunted, and kicked the back of Black's seat. Black yelped. "Hey hey, calm down! I'm sorry alright? I just- sorry."

Green chuckled, but then, a thought sprung in his mind. "Hey, Black, how come you knew Red was alive?"

Black sighed.

"I watched her run away, right before I passed out."

His eyes went to the mirror for a second, staring at Yellow. "Yellow passed out pretty quickly, probably as soon as his Changer died. The shock, I assume. I did from the pain, but it was enough time to see Red look around and then leave. She seemed…" he stopped for a second, eyes back to the road only. "She seemed scared. Like she had just realized she went too far and she regretted it…"

"Is that why you want to help her?" Asked Green.

"Well, that, and the fact I feel bad too. When I think of some of the things I said to her… I mean, I know I'm a bit of a dick, but what I told her was vile, it was horrible, man. I would never want to tell that to anyone, ever again…"

Green looked outside the window, staring at the rapidly moving scenery. He was right about that. They probably all regretted the things they told her.

"I told her to kill herself, one time…" Yellow mumbled. "What the fuck is wrong with me…"

Green tapped his friend's shoulder. "Yeah… she really deserves an apology for that."

Black grunted "Jesus… why did these Changers hate her so much? Because she was different? What's so bad about not owning a Changer? Also, why and how could they even control us like that?"

They all went silent, the faint rumbling of the engine the only thing filling the quietness of the car.

"Yeah… why are they controlling us..?" Green repeated, a bit lower.

"I hope we get to find out soon…" Black answered.

****

They stopped at a motel once the clock hit 12. Despite the adrenaline still coursing through their bodies, the boys really needed some rest. They got themselves two rooms, next to each other, as there were no rooms available with three separate beds, with Black sleeping alone, and Green and Yellow in the same room.

They said their goodnights, and then moved to their rooms.

The air was rather warm in Green's room, so, while Yellow was busy washing up, he decided to open up the front door just a bit. With difficulty, he sat in front, and looked at the sky.

There were many stars visible that night, as the sky was clear, and the moon was only a shadow. Green smiled softly, and sighed. When was the last time he really looked at the night sky like this?

Probably before he had a Changer, that's for sure. He most likely forgot about it during that time, but now he could remember. He would look at the sky a lot, back then.

"Hey, it's a little cold, can you close the door?"

Green turned around to see Yellow in his pajamas, a towel around his neck.

Green tried standing up, but as he did, a hit of pain spread through his ankle, and he fell back down. "Ah, damnit."

Yellow quickly walked close to Green, crouching down and helping him back up. "Wow, are you alright?" He exclaimed, placing him down on his bed and going to close the door himself.

"My ankle is a bit… broken, I guess?" Green said, and sighed. "I wish I could heal myself…"

Yellow sat next to him, and crossed his arms. "Why can't you?" He asked.

Green shrugged. "I don't know…"

He then sighed, and stretched. "Anyway, it's getting late. We should sleep."

Yellow frowned, and nodded, slowly getting up and walking to his own bed, then reaching for the lamp on the nightstand and turning off the lights.

Green tucked himself in the covers of the bed, and closed his eyes, hoping for a dreamless night like the others he'd had before.

A noise woke him up only an hour after he'd dozed off. It was a whimper, soft but painful. Green slowly sat up in his bed, and turned his head towards where the noise came from.

It came from Yellow, probably, although… why would he-

But then another whimper was heard, a bit louder, and quickly, Green launched himself off his bed, stumbling around to turn on the lights, and grabbed onto Yellow's bed, lifting himself up.

Yellow was sitting, head in between his knees, covers on his feet and hands on his head, tugging at his hair.

"Yellow!"

"L-leave me alone!" Yellow grumbled, shaking his elbow around as if he was chasing off ghosts.

"Yellow, what's wrong?"

Yellow's breathing was shallow, he was trembling, and he groaned, one of his palms tapping against his skull. "Please just go away, please!"

He wasn't telling that to Green, was he? He was telling that to himself...

Green, starting to understand what was going on, climbed on the bed and grabbed Yellow's arms.

"Yellow, look at me Yellow."

Yellow had his eyes closed, but he opened them slowly, lips quivering and trembling like he was about to cry.

"It's alright. It's okay. You have nothing to worry about. I'm here. You're safe."

Yellow sniffled, and he slowly lowered his hands. "I-I'm scared…" he whispered, tears starting to flow down his cheeks.

"I know, I know."

He'd seen and heard of behavior like this before, although it was never as severe as what he was seeing right now.

"I miss Alsa…" he whimpered, then grabbed the scarred side of his face. "It hurts… fuck it hurts…"

Green's eyes widened. It hurts? That wasn't supposed to happen!

"W-wait.." he brought a hand to Yellow's face, and conjured up his healing. Yellow breathed in, glowing a faint green, but then he started crying again, his face burying itself in his knees as he sobbed violently.

Green looked at his hand. It wasn't hurting physically, was it?

"Oh… oh Yellow…" Green repressed painful tears, not wanting to cry as well while his friend was already in pain, and opened up his arms. Yellow grabbed him by the waist, and pulled him in, hugging him tightly, face buried in his chest and his hands clinging at the back of his pajamas. The sobbing didn't stop, rather it only got stronger, and so Green did the only thing he thought would help at the moment; he hugged Yellow back tightly, and gently rocked him back and forth, throwing in a few it's alright and you're safe and I'm here for you.