Purple wakes slowly.
His eyes seem to take forever to open, revealing a charred floor and the feet of some nearby battered Irkens. They're all eerily soft-spoken as they communicate while they work. On what, Purple doesn't know and can't bring himself to care about in the quiet moment.
He sits up slowly. He's thankful for the moment in time where no Irkens pay him any attention, giving him a moment to regain his breath at the disaster before him.
The emergency lights paint the room in a dim light. Besides the light of the screens reflecting off large eyes and the occasional spark from a broken port, there's nothing else. But it's just enough for Purple to recognize the mess strewn everywhere, much of it having to be carefully stepped over by short legs.
Pieces of the Massive broken and forgotten. Snacks out of the packages and smashed on the ground. Slushies splattered against the wall like bloody smears.
The cracked screen still acts as a window, revealing the stars and the broken pieces of planets that didn't make it out alive. The space anomaly, still plaguing Purple's mind even as the memories fade away, only took them as prisoners.
They were lucky.
A groan beside him makes him jolt out of his thoughts, looking down to find his co-ruler Red beginning to rise from unconsciousness. Crimson eyes peer around, unfocused until they settle on Purple, and he's flooded with relief as they light with recognition.
"... What happened?" Red asks, and that's not the best and the most isolating thing Purple's ever heard...
He almost can't find the words as he helps his companion stand. "... Zim happened. Again."
Red's face darkens, angry enough to begin shouting or even kicking down one of their lower servants. Instead, he turns and stops a passing engineer (a little on the tall side, he thinks their name might be Agi) in their tracks, making them jolt at the attention. "How much damage?"
"W-Well, my Tallest, one of the larger snack compartments got damaged, so we're down half of your supply, and our weapons system has been damaged..." Red lets out an angry growl, but Purple finds himself impressed with the way they seem to stand taller instead of shrinking back in the face of it, gaining confidence as they continue their report. "Our communications system is also down, but we've been working on it for some time now, so it should be up and running soon! Besides that and some fires that we've already taken care of, the Massive is in the best shape it can be after... Entering a deadly space hole."
Both of the Tallest nod along. His partner seems to take the information better than Purple, he always had. But he catches something on the little Irken's face, under the surface of that confidence. Something fearful. Not as they had been before, but it's... Off.
"Anything else?" He asks pointedly.
The mask begins to crack, a worried frown making its way onto their face, but they take a deep breath and look the Tallest in the eyes once more. "We're also going to try and get in contact with the rest of the Armada, but... We've only recovered pieces from their ships. We don't know where they are, or what's left of them."
He can see his partner pale at the information. Purple knows he must have a similar look, but he sees the expectant looks on the faces of their other subordinates and breathes a heavy sigh. "Okay, keep working. And hurry up, all of you!"
Shouts of "Yes, my Tallest!" go around the room before all the workers continue their tasks.
It's not long before Red joins them, using the brilliant mind Purple knows so well to assist. Purple... Isn't great with technology. Isn't even good with it, so he sits that particular adventure out. He uses his time waiting to oversee their remaining inventory; most importantly what's left of his snacks, but anything else that may have gotten lost within the chaos. It's not interesting, though the relief that filled him when he discovers that most of his favorite snack is still safely stored is immeasurable. It's not all of it, but having anything at all is a miracle in itself.
What great news will he hear next?
"Purp," Red calls from across the room, the excited tone Purple shift his attention immediately. "We got the comms on! Now-"
His co-ruler falls silent as a transmission appears on the big screen in front of them. All faces turn to read it, all fall silent as it's translated into their own language. Even with the damage, it doesn't take long for the translations to kick in, and ice begins to travel through his veins at what they find. He almost doesn't notice Red joining his side in his own dawning horror.
UNREGISTERED IRKEN FUGITIVES
Bounty raised from 500,000 credits to 2,000,000 credits.
Bring to the Galactic United Front on Planet Mere.
DEAD or ALIVE
Purple finds himself rendered speechless at the sight of the message, heedless to Red's orders of finding more information behind him. Every piece of information frames the first message like a collage of horrors. Eventually they all fall silent as the gravity hits them all at once.
VICTORIOUS REBELLION!
ARMADA NEVER SEEN AGAIN?
THOUSANDS OF PLANETS REJOICE!
IRK DEFEATED!
FREEDOM FOR ALL UNDER IRKEN RULE!
IRKEN INVADERS IMPRISONED EN MASSE!
IRKEN EMPIRE IS NO MORE!
It's not until there's an uproar behind him that Purple's able to tear his eyes away. He turns around slowly, finding outraged Irkens shaking their fists and using their PAK legs to rise up. No doubt as a meaningless threat.
"You did this to us!" Agi screams, standing in front of their fellow servants and subordinates. "We're trapped here with no help and it's all your fault!"
It's not until things start getting thrown at him and his compatriot that he finds his words again. His blood begins to boil and his face twists in a snarl. "How dare you little worms accuse us , your Tallest ! If you had just taken us away from Zim this wouldn't be happening! We should have you all thrown in the airlock!"
Spurred on by the words, the little traitors begin to descend on their leaders. He's ready to scream in a rage when his partner grabs him, heedless to his anger as they're pulled into a little compartment. The door shuts before their enraged subjects can make it there, and they're pulled away once more, into a surpringly comfortable escape pod. It had been designed after Zim's first brilliant idea to bring the Massive to his little dirt planet. Purple almost didn't want to turn the ship around when the space hole appeared thanks to that incident, but you can't say they didn't try.
Not that it matters anymore.
He can still hear tiny Irkens trying to claw and blast their way through the floor as Red drives their pod out. His own anger is reduced to a hollow ache as he watches their precious ship, their home , get smaller and smaller until it can't be seen anymore.
They don't reach another planet for a couple of hours. It's a risk going to any planet at all, but Purple doesn't have it in him to argue the point.
He recognizes the planet they drop down on- Gadus, he's pretty sure. He doesn't remember how he learned of it, but he remembers it being insignificant. Safe enough for them to stay the night before they figure something else out.
It's been a hard week, and he'd like to rest... And eat, if there's anything edible at all on this backwater planet.
As they land in a wooded area, away from the city they see ahead, all Purple can sense is the silence and darkness. Something they never had before.
Even in the days before he and Red were Tallest they had the sound of guns blazing and bright explosions from battles fought and won. Planets wiped out and made better for their presence.
During their rule they always had chatter from other Irkens. All working hard at their assigned jobs and screaming as they were sent through the airlock. There were always lights overhead, or from their underlings' consoles.
All his memories from the anomaly are filled with his own screams and the eye-burning brightness from stars collapsing outside of the Massive and the fire within it.
And now, neither of them are quite able to speak yet, and the forest around them is eerily quiet. He can see the city's lights a little ways ahead and the stars are twinkling above, but with the lights inside of the pod turned down low and pitch black outside, it's a suffocating kind of darkness.
It's unnerving. Terrifying .
"... What are we gonna do?" Purple asks at last, unable to take the quiet anymore. "We're gone for a week and everyone's out to get us!"
Before his partner can respond, a thought comes to him that makes his breath almost stop. "The Control Brains are gonna be so mad at us! We let the servants run us off our ship and now we're hiding all because of Zim, I haven't had a snack in forever and I just wanna go home-"
"Will you shut up?" Red finally hisses with a scowl, silencing Purple after a yelp. He deflates and sighs before long though, leaning back against the seat. "Look, until we can find our loyal subjects, we need a plan."
Purple uncurls himself and, after just a moment of contemplation, pulls up a light screen and flicks it onto the window. He ignores the other Irken's quizzical look as he materializes a pen and writes "The Tallest's Universe Dominating Checklist" across the top.
"There. We can start it on this!"
"... A to-do list." Red states flatly. "Seriously?"
Purple lets out an offended huff, turning the color on the pen to red and shoving it in the others' hands. "It's a checklist, I thought you'd like it! But if you're just gonna complain about it, you can start us off!"
"Okay, fine!"
Red turns the pen over in his hand in consideration. Purple takes his moment to stick his tongue out when he knows he's not looking, quickly turning his head away and acting casual when the other ruler looks at him. He's stressed, can afford to be a little petty!
Red sighs as he begins to write. "Alright... First thing, we need different clothes. We'll be noticed in our uniforms, and-"
"What about snacks?" Purple cuts him off, ignoring the glare thrown at him. "I'm starving!"
"We just had some in here!" Red shoots back.
"Yeah, but you ate them all!"
"No, that was you!"
"Whatever!" Purple growls. He makes another pen for himself, his own namesake color this time, batting Red's hand away so he can write his own point down. "We still need more!
"Okay, fine! What else..?" Red takes another moment, but it's not long before he writes and announces, "A new ship, too!"
Purple lets out a scandalized gasp. "You can't be serious! This thing's top of the line!" He gestures around them to highlight his point. "We got cozy seats, cupholders, and look at these!" He smacks a compartment beside him, making it open and revealing...
Donuts! Beautiful donuts, probably sent from Invader Jim himself! Oh stars, his luck's beginning to turn!
He rips it open and tears into them excitedly. They're stale, but he can't bring himself to care, they're donuts and they're comforting!
He starts to come back to the conversation when Red gives him a smack on the arm.
"Ow, watch it!" Purple gives his partner a glare. "Ugh, my point is that this thing's the best! Why would we switch it out for some junk heap?"
"Because," Red groans, "if people are looking for Irkens they'll be looking for an Irken ship! We'll get noticed!"
"But this one- oh, fine!" Purple absolutely does not pout, because that's not what superior lifeforms like himself do, but he does stop to think about it for a moment. "Well... We can just steal one from the port! There'll be tons of ships to choose from!"
"Okay, we- hey! We already put snacks down!"
"It's important!" Purple groans in exasperation. "But fine, I'll put something else down!"
He removes the second snack entry and takes a moment to consider his options, but he feels a wicked smile spread across his face as an idea comes to him. He remembers his rage, from before the florpus consumed his whole world with fire and scattered the ashes to the winds. The one responsible for what they endured.
DESTROY ZIM!
Purple glances in his partner's direction once he hears the devilish laughter, feeling his spirits lift as he sees the matching grin on his face. See, he's not the only bloodthirsty one!
" Now you're talking! That little rodent won't know what hit him!"
Laughter fills the pod, and for the first time since the horrible day began, Purple knows they'll be alright.
Is there an exact plan to go along with that pride? No, but they're the Almighty Tallest, the greatest beings to ever live! They'll figure out something great!
They always do.