Well, folks, this is it, the final chapter of Indokani! and thus, the conclusion of The Smeet's second arc! Don't worry, as I've mentioned, the series is far from over, but I'll take a small break from it to work on another IZ fic I've been working on for some time.
I'll give you more details down. Meanwhile, enjoy this last chapter!
Indokani
Epilogue
Returning to the Massive and leaving Sobr was actually a bittersweet victory; at least for Red, it was, in a way. True, his room smelled of pandorian pollen perfume instead of indokuro excrement, and the number of incidents decreased considerably to non-existent, but Purple was not the same. Not in the wrong way, though.
At least, not entirely.
On the bright side, Purple began taking his duties more seriously. He would actually have a more active role in them, sometimes even personally taking care of specific issues. He also spent more time in the training room to recover all his lost endurance and condition; Red would eagerly join him to polish his own skills.
However, he had also become… less lively. Purple was no longer amused by blowing up newly-conquered planets or Resisty ships, nor did he take joy in messing with the table drones anymore.
Everyone knew he missed Cheesecake; he wouldn't say it out loud, but it was evident from his behavior. He even banned the indokuro's namesake dessert from the Massive's kitchen when he was around, even though it used to be his favorite treat. Every time he saw anyone eating it, Purple left the area and went straight to his bedchambers. He wouldn't come out for the rest of the day.
Red, Ilk, and Lena began to worry. Red, in particular, was very concerned about his friend. Not even he had been that bad when Ilk departed for the Academy.
"How's Uncle Pur doing?" Ilk asked that evening. She was staring at Purple's door; he hadn't come out just yet.
"Remember the cinnamon rolls I left on the fridge?" Red went over to the refrigerator and opened it. Ilk and Lena gasped.
They were still there. When Purple refused even cinnamon rolls, they had to start worrying.
"What are we going to do about Purple?" Lena asked.
"I wish I knew. I blew up an entire star system, but Purple didn't even blink." Red sighed. "Damn it, I haven't seen him this sad ever since he broke up with a girl during the Academy training."
"Well, Cheesecake was his companion. You didn't take it kindly when I left, remember?"
Red refrained from commenting on the apparent differences between her and Cheesecake. He knew better than that now.
"Wait a minute…" Lena rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Red, what does Purple like other than snacks?
"
"Puppet shows…" Red raised his lekku. He knew where this was going.
"That might be a good idea. It's been a while since we had one since Probing Day," Ilk pointed out.
"Great! There's no way he'll refuse to a good old puppet show!"
"Shh!" Lena glanced hurriedly in the direction of Purple's door. "I actually think we should make it a surprise. If he's that sad, he might say no even to a puppet show. I mean, if he doesn't even want cinnamon rolls…" She had a good point.
"Then how will we attract him?"
Red grinned. "I might have an idea for that…"
Days later, Purple awoke and found himself alone in his bed. He glanced at the empty space to his right. Frankly, he'd be lying if he said he didn't miss having the whole bed to himself. It did wonders to his spine and posture. And yet he was anything but happy about it.
Thankfully, the lizards hadn't bothered to come into the Tallest quarters during their takeover. In spite of their defects, they still respected privacy, something for which they were grateful. They didn't find their personal snack stashes, though frankly, Purple doubted they would have done anything with them had they done so. They couldn't eat sugar.
Purple grabbed a white caramel doughnut from his stash, which he had hidden in a secret compartment in his bed, and quietly left his room to walk into the elevator.
"T-Tallest Purple, sir!"
Frowning, Purple looked at the elites posted outside the elevator doors. "Why are you just standing there?" The guard was trembling. "In case you fools haven't noticed, there's no need to 'protect' me anymore. Cheesecake is no more," he said these last words with an undertone of sadness. "So, you better get out of my sight before I have you replace Bobby."
The elites scrambled away. That was a severe threat, considering how Bob was treated before his… banishment.
Silently, Purple made his way towards the bridge, where he was met with mostly silence. Good, he wasn't in the mood to deal with the shorters today.
Then he noticed Red's seat was empty. That's odd, he's always the first to show up. Did he oversleep? Nah, Red never overslept.
"Where's Tallest Red?"
"In the cafeteria, sir. There's a fresh batch of cinnamon rolls."
Purple saw through it. He didn't really feel like getting a lecture right now. "Okay." He said coldly, heading over to his seat.
"Um, sir?"
"What now?"
"He also asked me to tell you this," the head pilot read through a tablet. "'Pur, found your donuts.'"
That got his attention. Depressed as he could be, Purple would never ignore anything related to his personal donut stash. In his hurry, he didn't notice all the pilots exchanging glances.
Purple ran throughout the Massive's corridors, having found that moving around on his feet instead of relying on the hover belt helped rebuild his stamina. Soon he went through the cafeteria doors, panting heavily.
"Red, get your hands off my-!" Purple trailed off as he noticed a good part of the tables had been moved aside to make space for a small, hastily improvised puppet stage.
"Hey, Pur, you're just on time!" Red called, raising a vortian vanilla and whipped cream milkshake. "The show's about to begin!"
"Red, what's going on?"
"I figured you'd like to enjoy a puppet show. It's been a while since we had one since Probing Day, and with all the problems on Sobr, we both need some cheering up. We got cinnamon rolls!"
Purple didn't actually feel in the mood, but he didn't have the heart to leave Red hanging. Besides, it's not every day that he makes these gestures. Sighing, he sat down next to his co-Tallest but left the cinnamon rolls untouched.
The curtains parted shortly after. The background was the tallest lounge. Mini-Red and mini-Lena were already in the 'stage.'
"It's a good morning, isn't it?" Purple recognized Ilk's voice even though she deepened it to sound more like Red.
"Indeed, honey!" Lena, acting like herself, chirped. "It's a nice day about the Massive," mini-Lena looked around. "Hey, where's Purple?"
"Here I am!" If he weren't on a sour mood, Purple would have chuckled when mini-him stepped into the stage. He had to say, though, Ilk's interpretation of his voice needed a bit of practice. "I was eating donuts!"
"Pur, we have to go to work now!"
"Okay, just wait a minute," mini-Purple was turned towards the right side of the stage. "Here, Cheesecake! Come here, boy!"
Purple blinked as a small, stuffed indokuro doll uncannily resembling Cheesecake entered the play. It looked somewhat cartoonish and was out of proportion in comparison to the other puppets, but Purple found it cute. It looked like Cheesecake when he was a hatchling.
Mini-Cheesecake headed over to the door and sat down, releasing small brown balls.
"Nooo, not on my carpet!" Mini-Red cried. Purple had to cover his hand to contain a snicker.
"Oh, come on, I didn't make such a big fuss!" Purple narrowed his eyes at Red. "Okay… maybe I did a few times."
"A few times?" Lena inquired, breaking the 'fourth wall.'
"Not you too, Lena!"
"Red, what's the purpose of this?" Purple pointed to the puppet stage. "I mean, I think it's nice on your part, but why?"
Red smiled sadly. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't try to cheer you up when you're down? We guessed it'd do you some good remembering the good times with Cheesecake."
Ilk and Lena came forward, the former bringing the stuffed doll with her. "We even made you a mini-Cheesecake. We stayed up all night doing it, and Dad pricked his fingers a few times."
"And in the end, Ilk and I had to finish it because Red fell asleep," Lena added as she frowned at her husband.
"Hey, I came up with the idea of the chocolate dispenser!"
Purple blinked. "Chocolate dispenser?"
"Oh, right! I'll show you!" Red grabbed the mini-Cheesecake, opened its maw, and inserted a small chocolate sphere. Then he raised its tail to make it fall into his expecting tongue. "See? It's like you 'feed' it, and it 'feeds' you!"
Purple didn't know what to say. He gingerly grabbed the stuffed doll and took a look at it. It looked just like Cheesecake… j-just like when he was a t-tiny…
"Pur, you okay?" Red inquired tentatively once he noticed tears in the corners of his co-Tallest's eyes. Purple was just staring at mini-Cheesecake with an unreadable expression. "Did you like it?"
"Like it?" Purple hugged the puppet. "I love it!"
Phew! They had been worrying Purple might find any defect in the doll, as he tended to be picky when it came to snacks and puppets, the two things he liked the most. Hearing him say that he loved one was considered a great compliment, even if his tone said otherwise.
"Say, Pur, there's some cinnamon rolls if you want them?"
"How long since they came out of the oven?"
"Twenty minutes."
"No way, they aren't fresh anymore! Besides, they got the white sprinkles I don't like! Who made them?"
Red sighed in exasperation, but there was a content smile on his face. There was the Purple he knew so well.
Within the nesting site in the indokuro reserve, Cheesecake didn't join his packmates in the nest. Instead, he made his way out of the woods and into the outskirts, passing by the house of Fury's master and moving through the streets until he arrived at an empty lot where Master's nest once stood. Now it was only a patch of grass with holes on it.
Cheesecake looked up at the starry night sky, wondering what Mater was doing right now? Did he miss him? Because Cheesecake certainly would.
It would feel weird to wake up and not find Master around anymore. Fury and the others at least had their own masters living in this same place, even if in different locations, but they could still visit. Master, on the other hand, had departed and would be nowhere to be found.
Cheesecake was about to leave when he caught a familiar smell. He followed it to a particular spot where a seemingly discarded pillow lay on top of the grass. Cheesecake recognized it: it was the pillow he used to sleep on top of when he was small!
Cheesecake shrieked happily and rubbed his body into the cushion. It smelled just like he remembered!
Master still loves him!
Cheesecake took one last look at the starry sky before picking up his pillow and running back into the woods.
You are the reason to go on livin'
I need to try this and be on my own
We'll always be friends but keep our distance
We'll be together from afar forever
The End
And here we are!
As I've mentioned before, I've been working on another IZ fic that's inspired by Harry Potter and Little Witch Academia. I'll focus on that one before I start working on the third arc of this series, as I've been planning it for a good while now. Don't worry, I'll also keep working on Shades of Purple, and I also got a one-shot featuring the birth of Red and Lena's smeets in the works too.
Again, thanks to everyone who follows my stories, and I hope to see more of you soon in my next work. See ya!
-Ladyanaconda.