[ToxicShadow]

This had not been on his agenda for the day. Other things had definitely been on his agenda, but not this. This could not be called a day off. Not really. Perhaps seeking out color was less of a threat than seeking out criminals, or those that had bounties on their head for one reason or another, but it was still far from relaxing and enjoyable.

Still, since she was acting, he would not sit back and let her do all the work alone.

[ToxicShadow]

That morning, Z had slept in. He loved sleeping, whenever he had the chance, and whenever his body finally let him sleep. It was more complicated than it used to be. Before, he could fall asleep at the drop of a hat but, as he grew older, it became more and more difficult for him to actually fall asleep. Regardless, he was still the type that could sleep for twenty hours or more and without batting an eyelash, and without have any negative effects.

[ToxicShadow]

He was also commonly the type that slept through most alarms and other noises. There were just a few small exceptions to this, and that was her voice or her ring tone. So when his mobile phone started ringing, playing that melody associated with her, and the watch worn on his wrist began to vibrate, Z was forced out of his sleep. His mind was hazy, at first, but as it played, it registered that she was calling, and he hastily reached for the phone sitting at his bedside.

[ToxicShadow]

"What is it?" he asked after he pressed the button to accept the call and lazily held the phone up to his ear. His voice made it all too evident that he had just woken up.

"There is... no... color?" he repeated the words of the person on the other end of the line, making himself sit up in bed. He'd only been preoccupied with grabbing and answering his phone. In his still not fully awake state of being, he had hardly even noticed.

[ToxicShadow]

But as he looked around himself, it dawned on him. All he saw were varying shades of gray, with black and white. He was pretty boring sometimes, being a fan of white walls, while many of his electronics, television included, of course, were black. His grip on the phone tightened as he felt an uncomfortable flip of his stomach, like every part of his body was telling him that something was wrong. Something was awfully, terribly wrong.

[ToxicShadow]

But he was speaking to her right now.

He heard her voice come through on the mobile phone, and she was beginning to explain everything that she knew. Which, wasn't much, actually, but she seemed to have hope that everything would be fine. They just had work to do. They just had to help. She made it perfectly clear that she wasn't just going to sit by and wait for the world to get fixed. She was going to do something about it.

[ToxicShadow]

And if that was the case, than Z would not leave her to do it all alone.

"Okay," he answered over the phone. He was not thrilled by her proposal for them to all head out to different locations, making use either of Mixie or Cheshie's abilities, but he did agree that they would be able to cover more ground that way. Hopefully, it would increase their chances of figuring this mess out. And, besides, they would always be connected through their typical communications devices.

[ToxicShadow]

As was agreed upon, he met up with Toxic at her home, along with a handful of his companions and a handful of hers. They divvied up locations, after the woman had gone ahead and collected the needed information about color locations, and made the request that he, specifically, head to Aldrect. It held one of the colors she was most concerned about, given it fell in line with her favorite colors. And, of course, Z accepted. He was fond of red, too, anyway.

[ToxicShadow]

Z didn't have any particular destination in Aldrect in mind as he walked down the sidewalk. He was near the very center of the city, though, which could have been considered the tourist distinct. Everyone was drawn in to the beautiful, grand fountain in the center of the city plaza. So, surrounding it, understandably, where various shops and eateries. It was the place where one that did not live in the city was expected to visit, where it was common and safe for them to visit.

[ToxicShadow]

He did not exactly intend to wander around the streets where it was just civilian homes. Without any leads, that would be inappropriate, although it wasn't as if he was entirely against it, either.

Upon first glance, though, everything was still... dull and gray.

Part of him, especially now, wished that he had insisted on sending Toxic here, instead. It was probably the safer of the two destinations she thought most important, since she headed out for The Slums.

[Color Harvested]

[ToxicShadow]

She, herself, wanted to find the color green, though, so when he brought it up the first time, she turned him down. He should have kept pressing, though, since he could not shake his bad feeling.

Eventually, though, he made his way to the middle of the plaza, and came to stand before the fountain at its center. Without its color, somehow, it was far less marvelous than it was before. Even the coins that were tossed inside, no doubt from hundreds of folks making wishes, didn't seem to shine.

[ToxicShadow]

He stared at the fountain for a long moment, before moving on. He wouldn't find any red here.

It was then that her voice came through the communication's device that he had secured to one ear, and he shook his head, seemingly in response to her. "No, I haven't found anything yet," he told her. "But it's pretty deserted out here. What about you?"

On the other end, the woman confirmed that she had not located anything yet, either.

[ToxicShadow]

Silence fell over them again, and the man kept on moving, scanning all of his surroundings, hoping for a glimpse of the color somewhere. How hard could it be to find it?

It was only a few moments before Toxic mentioned the idea of searching a clothing store, or some other store, since they were more likely to find a variety of concentrated colors, over all, in such places. That seemed like a decent idea, so he thought that take her up on it.

[ToxicShadow]

Not all of the shops around the plaza were open for business, which was entirely understandable. Too many owners or workers were probably freaked out by the whole ordeal and could not bring themselves to just go to work while the world was facing a colorless crisis. Some, however, were still open. Perhaps either because the person working needed to work, probably because of the money, or they just wanted to keep some semblance of their usual life in this world that was now turned upside down.

[ToxicShadow]

Z could hardly care what their reason for being open was, but he found the nearest open shop and wandered inside. It was a shoe store. One brand, in particular, that was known for having some pretty colorful shoes, as well as a good handful of other wear, shirts and backpacks included. When he stepped inside, he was cheerfully greeted by the person that had come and opened the shop for the day, they having a perfect customer service voice.