Chosen lay on his bed, watching Dark on the opposite side of the room as he slept soundly.
These past few days had been quite stressful on him, to say the least.
"GET OUT OF HERE! EVERYONE, RUN!" Navy's guards screamed, getting their master onto his glider before they all began running in an opposite direction.
"Tell your little friend," Navy bellowed towards Second, who took a protective stance in front of the group. "They have 24 hours to surrender Purple. I've been waiting for this moment!"
"What moment?" Chosen questioned angrily.
"Purple has been struck with something so powerful that I must have it. Think about the Master Block, only much, MUCH stronger! I could rule the world with it!" Navy laughed before flying off on his glider.
There was silence once more.
King sunk to the ground, clutching his head in his hands as he sobbed quietly as the others discussed another plan.
"We need Alan. BADLY!" Green exclaimed.
"But, how? It was an arm and a leg to get here! Do you realize how hard it could be to get back?!" Second exclaimed.
"Uhm, guys-" Dark started.
"It wasn't hard the first time," Chosen reminded. "How hard could it be this time?"
"Guys-" Dark said, raising his voice again, body shaking with fear as he took side-eye glances at the crack in the ground.
"We had Alan that time!" Blue said. "We don't have him this time!"
"GUYS!" Dark screamed, catching the entire team's attention. They all glanced at him.
"Look at the hole." Dark said quietly, shaking so badly Chosen feared he might collapse.
A red clawed stick climbed out of the hole. The hollow-headed sticks froze in fear.
"VIRABOTS!" Second screamed. Dark, startled at the shout, slipped before getting caught by Chosen, who glanced at the others.
"RUN!"
"DARK! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! THESE BOTS ARE DANGEROUS!" Chosen screamed.
"Cho, you saw me destroy them! How can they still be alive?!" Second reminded them.
"GUYS! GET OFF THE ROOF!" Dark and Second jumped back as Virabots began climbing up the wall towards the roof.
"BLUE AND KING, START THROWING THE POTIONS!" Yellow screamed. Blue tossed all the potions into a piston and aimed it at the roof.
"Wh-what are you doing?!" King asked in confusion.
Blue snatched the potion from his hand. "Making this plan easier." He muttered before slamming his fist on a newly placed button. Potions began firing out of the piston and towards the roof, where Virabots were pummeled with harming and weakness potions. Yellow and Blue high-fived.
When the potion particles cleared, Second staggered out from behind the shack, obviously under the weakness potion.
"Guess we over aimed some of the weakness potions." Green said, running over to catch Second, who quickly collapsed to the ground.
"Hold up-where's Dark?!" Chosen asked, the absence of the stick in question becoming clear to him.
"He...got grabbed by this...blue stick..." Second said before passing out.
"Blu e stick. If our Blue is here, and Navy went in the opposite direction...who did he mean?" Green asked.
"Gold."
Everyone turned to King.
"Gold...he used to have a few friends. Sapphire, Copper, and Scarlet. Scarlet bared a few resemblances to Dark. Color, head shape, and size," King said to himself, but loud enough for the others to hear. His eyes lit up in realization. "I bet Sapphire grabbed Dark because she though Dark was Scarlet!"
"Well, only Second knows, but we'll need a reference drawing. Do you have a vague memory of what his friends look like?" Yellow asked. King glanced at the stick.
"In fact, I have quite a few memories of my son's friends."
"What happened?"
"You fell off the roof during the ViraBot battle before you started speaking nonsense about Dark and some blue stick. You had a concussion and a badly messed up arm when we saw you, but now you seem fine." Blue said.
King walked over, shoving a picture in his face. "Do you recognize any of these sticks?" He asked.
Second stared at the photo for a few moments before pointing at the blue colored stick. "That one. They grabbed Dark." He said blankly.
"Sapphire?" King pressed. Second only nodded.
"King, calm down. We know who got Dark, but we don't know if they-" Yellow began.
"Sapphire won't hurt a fly! She probably realized she had the wrong person and let Dark go free!" King snapped.
"So your telling me...Dark's LOST out there?!" Chosen screamed.
"Well, I wouldn't say "lost". Just...misdirected." Green said sheepishly. Second threw his head into his hands.
"We have to find him! If Navy's still out there, he could get snatched!" Chosen quickly began to hyperventilate.
"But if he finds Purple and the others, he could warn them! You heard Navy! Red and the others have less than a day to surrender Purple!" King said.
"But, Dark's out there. How can you care more about some stupid stick figure and not my best friend?!" Chosen yelled angrily.
"BECAUSE I CAN'T LOSE HIM!" King suddenly screamed.
The shack fell into silence. King silenced whatever else he wanted to say and ran out.
"Hey, King! Wait up!" Green called out, chasing after him.
Chosen stood as still as a statue, stunned at the sudden outburst.
God dammit.
"DARK! DARK, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?! PLEASE, JUST ANSWER!"
"Cho, if we're lucky, he made it to the others amd warned them of impending danger. But ONLY if we're lucky." Blue noted.
"CODE RED! CODE RED!" Yellow called out, racing out of the woods. "What the hell?!" Blue yelled.
"There's guards coming this way. I think your right, Blue. Dark got to the others and now they're coming for us." Yellow panted.
"DAMMIT!" Chosen screamed, grabbing a rock and throwing it before disintegrating it with fire. Blue instinctively back up.
"Wait-whats going on?" Green asked, coming out of the shack with Second. "We need to find King and get the hell outta here." Yellow said.
"SHIT-GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME, ASSHOLES!" King suddenly screamed, hitting guards away with tree branches. Second and Yellow shared a glance before running to help.
Second dragged King away before Yellow slammed a tree branch at one of the guards, sending most of them retreating into the woods.
King shared a look with the others, and Green said what they all knew by now.
"I don't think Purple's okay."
As the group stood in an eerie silence, Green's statement became more and more seeable in their heads.
Purple was in danger. Grave danger.
"We have to go to Stick City." Chosen said. Everyone turned to look at him, a chorus of responses following suit.
"WHAT?!"
"OH HELL NO!"
"YOU'VE LOST YOUR MIND!"
"IT'S THE ONLY THING WE CAN DO AT THIS POINT!" King silenced as everyone froze in place.
King lowered his voice and looked at the others. "Getting to Stick City and rescuing the others should be priority number one. We've gotten sidetracked one too many times. We have to rescue them, before it's too late." He said.
"What do you mean "before it's too late"? Second asked quietly.
"Oh, Kingy! Time for your friend's crowning!"
In an instant, everyone was snatched up into a large net, only being held up by a helicopter with a very familiar stick inside.
"NAVY?!" Green and King screamed.
"In the flesh, my dears," Navy said tauntingly. "Now, off we go! We must be back to the city soon for my ultimate plan!"
Second, Green, Yellow, and Blue clung to each other like lifelines, while King and Chosen kept themselves steady by holding onto the net. The two looked at each other with the same thought running through their heads.
"Well, shit. This isn't gonna end well."
By this point, Green began sobbing. "NOW WHAT?! Purple's life is in danger! And we're key witnesses!" Was all he could say as Second pulled him into a hug.
King glanced at the city in the distance. "Well, we can try and get his life out of danger."
Yellow gave him a flabbergasted look. "And how in the hell do we do that?!" He spluttered.
King pointed at Stick City. "Right there. We cut off whatever power supply they could get Purple inside, defeat Navy in the process, and get the hell out of there! Simple!"
"Yeah, it'd be simple if we had either Second's full power, or Dark's ViraBands. Sec can't unlock his full power at the moment, and you-know-who has the ViraBand. So we're almost screwed here." Chosen deadpanned.
"Hold up-Cho, you have powers too!" Blue said. Chosen's eyes widened.
"You think I'll use those on some mortal?!" Chosen exclaimed.
"You realize your best friend is also there, right?" Second reminded. Chosen's head was filled with thoughts about Dark in an instant.
After a moment, he gave in. "Fine." He sighed. "You owe me though, Second Coming."
Second smirked, and King flashed a smile at the sticks. "Now, let's get our friends back!" He proclaimed, pumping a fist in the air as the others followed suit.
Navy's helicopter landed a few minutes later, and the net was opened, sending the others falling to the ground. They all groaned at the rough landing. "OW!" Blue whined, being helped up by Yellow.
"Holy crap, this is Stick City?" Yellow asked, marveling at the interior of the area. King was about to say something when something he saw silenced his sentence.
Another helicopter landed moments later, and one part was sent in a separate direction, and King swore he saw Purple and Gold inside. He was about to comment, before a few other sticks were dropped from the helicopter before it took off.
"Wait-where's Purple?" King asked, aiming the question at the three sticks.
"Well, he and Gold kinda...got sent to another area." Sapphire said, rubbing the back of her head.
"Were Dark and Red with them?!" Chosen pressed.
"Oh, the other hollow head and the red dude? Yeah, they went with." Copper said. Chosen's mind stopped.
"You...you guys realize they-they could die there, right?" He stammered, trying to hold back his sadness.
"We didn't know! All we know is they're gonna brainwash Purple, use him against us, and then Navy's gonna rule the world!" Scarlet said honestly.
"They're gonna BRAINWASH Purple?!" King screamed in horror. Green froze in his tracks as well.
"Your kidding, right? Sapphire, PLEASE tell me your joking!" King begged.
"Wish I was. But I'm not." She said sadly.
"Well, what can we do?" Chosen asked, his voice racked with worry and concern.
"Well, we know where they're going, so let's get into town and hopefully stop Navy from brainwashing Purple." Copper suggested.
Would it work?" Second asked.
"If we're lucky, we can get there in time to stop him." Scarlet noted.
"But how would we get to them?" Green asked. "We're basically weaponless, and Blue doesn't have anymore potions we can counterattack with."
"Would this work?" Yellow asked, pulling out his command block staff.
"God damn, when did you get that?!" Sapphire exclaimed as her two companions stared in awe.
"Well, we've had plans the past day or so, so there really hasn't been a need for this. But now, we're gonna need it." Yellow said.
"Okay, here's the plan: me and Gold's friends will go through and ambush Navy from the outside. The rest of you will ambush from the inside. Got it? King said.
"Got it!" Everyone agreed. The group then separated to get inside.
"RED!" Second screamed, racing towards the two sticks before tackling him back onto the ground in a hug. Red didn't hesitate to hug him back.
"Holy shit, thank God your safe. We were worried sick!" Green reprimanded, helping him up before hugging him as well.
"Sorry if I scared you guys." Red said softly.
"It's okay. At least your alive." Second said, bringing him back in for another hug that the others quickly joined in on.
"Dark, where the hell have you been?! You had us scared half to death!" Chosen snapped as Dark ran up to him and King.
"You guys were scared for me? Damn," Dark deadpanned. "Could've expected better."
"Better!? Dude, I was worried sick! Do you realize the danger you put yourself through?!" Chosen screamed, holding back the tears threatening to fall.
"Sorry! I was trying to keep you guys safe! I'm not some heartless monster, ya know." Dark said as he grabbed Chosen's arms.
Chosen brushed it off and hugged him anyway. "I know, Dark. I'm sorry." Dark accepted the affection and hugged him back.
"Where's Purple? What happened?!" Green asked.
"Navy grabbed Purple and kinda...escaped with him." Red answered sadly.
"Damn it," Chosen muttered. "Now what?"
"We kick his ass! He's got our friend!" Second proclaimed, pumping a fist in the air.
"You realize even with the command block staff, Chosen, and Dark, we're kinda out matched, right?" Blue noted.
"Yeah, he's got the ViraBands, and quite a bit of guards, so we're kinda screwed." Green added.
"Does that matter? All we could do is shut down whatever he's gonna use to take over the city and blow it up. Then, we rescue Purple and find a way back to the desktop." King explained.
"That might work!" Sapphire said.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go stop Navy!" Red screamed, running out of the room and out of sight as everyone followed.
"Purple is now brainwashed, Master." One of the guards said.
"Excellent. Now I can-"
"PURPLE!"
Navy's sentence was interrupted by King and Yellow running into the room, followed by everyone else.
"Perfect. Now I can unleash my master plan!" Navy declared. He pressed another button, and Purple collapsed off the concrete and fell to the floor like a ragdoll.
"You said he was brainwashed!" A guard pointed an accusing finger at the other.
"Oh, did I say brainwashed? I meant comatose!" The other said sheepishly.
"Well, when's he gonna wake up?!" King asked desperately as he held the unconscious stick.
"Depends on how many memories he's forced through." Navy spoke.
"Memories?!" Green asked.
"Indeed. Whatever the guard injected him with forces him through memories he's buried in his past until he finally breaks. Once he does, he'll be mine forever!" Navy proclaimed.
King froze where he was.
"And now, ViraBands, ATTACK!" Navy shouted, raising his bracelet high in the high, sending a blast of red electricity out of the bracelet. The beam blasted through the roof and into the sky, tinting the morning blue sky a deep, dark red. The citizens below looked on in horror as Navy rose higher and higher into the air. Many screamed. Many began to run. Others stood, frozen with fear.
And Second and Yellow used the Command Block staff to climb their way to the top with him. Navy took notice and blasted the cobblestone tower, sending both sticks falling to the ground.
"Sec! Yellow! You two alright?" Dark asked, helping them up. Yellow sent a suspicious glance at Dark, but nodded in assurance.
"We have to stop him. Staff or no staff, I'm gonna kill this guy." King said. Yellow handed him the command block staff, and he flew right up to Navy, smacking him as hard as possible with the staff. Navy landed on a tall building, and sent another blade at the stick figure. King dissolved it with the staff before flying towards him. Navy spawned in another blade before attempting to slice the staff. King dissolved the blade again.
"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST ADMIT DEFEAT!?" He yelled angrily.
"I won't stop fighting you until you free Purple from whatever you've put him under!" King snapped, blocking another attack.
"Why do you care so much about some dumb stick, anyway? He's a worthless piece of trash!" Navy snickered, swiping the staff out of King's hands before pinning him to a skyscraper.
"Because, unlike you, I actually love him for who he is. Just cause he can't fight, or sought comfort in people, or cried because you hurt him doesn't mean he's worthless. It means that he didn't have the love and care that he deserved! You pushed him to the point he was at when I finally met him! He was, and is, just a kid! It's not his fault you abandoned him and your wife. It's your own, so I see no point in you wanting to come back into Purple's life when he has me, and Green, and everyone else down there to love and care for him!"
Navy scowled but held his ground. "He could've just fought harder!" He reasoned.
King kicked the stick off of him before grabbing the staff. He tried spawning obsidian. to prevent Navy from getting closer, but he crashed straight through it.
A blast of fire separated the duo, and Chosen flew up, flames spawning from his hands. Second and Green flew upwards using their fishing rods before all three were shot down with a swipe of Navy's blade. Dark flew up and caught Chosen while King used the staff the protect Green and Second. Navy snatched the staff and slammed his two energy sources together. The slam cause a giant blast of dark blue electricity to blast out of the newly formed staff, adding darkness to the deep red sky. A dull purple cyclone spawned, enclosing Navy's base, and most of the city as it got bigger, in a dark cyclone.
The others watched on in horror and two words were shared between each of them.
"Well, shit."
King and the others stared at the dark cyclone enveloping the city. Almost all of them were trembling so bad, most of them were close to falling over as Navy cackled from above them.
"And now," He began, loud enough for the city to hear. "My master plan shall begin!"
"OH NO IT WON'T!"
King glanced up as a purple blur flew past them and up towards Navy before the two of them collided. The blur of Navy and the other stick slammed into the ground full force as a familiar stick escaped the smoke.
Purple.
"Oh my god...THAT WAS AWESOME!" Green screamed from Second's arms. Purple sent a small smile at him before looking at King.
"Your...your alright," King breathed, shakily walking over. "Your alright!" He scooped the stick into his arms.
"I heard you." Purple said quietly.
"W-What? That's impossible! I've been fighting your dad this whole time!" King stammered, holding Purple close.
"You were there. You said...that you've always cared about me from the start. Everything you've done for me ever since I was kidnapped, you've done to prove you care." Purple said, keeping a grip on one of King's hands.
"I did." King said softly.
"You promised you'd be there for me, no matter what." Purple looked up at him, tears shimmering in his eyes. "You...you said you loved me."
"I do, Purple. I love you so much. I'll never leave you." King hugged him tighter.
"Promise?"
King smiled. "Promise."
Purple glanced at his father, who begun levitating again. He spawned blades from the leftover ViraBands he found and grasped one of King's hands. "Let's finish this once and for all. Ready guys?!"
"READY!" Came the chorus of responses from the team, stepping forward into battle positions. King and Purple shared a small smile.
"Let's finish this." Purple said, fiery determination blazing in his eyes.
King grasped his hand tighter.
"Together."
Everything swirled around in his head. It was a lot to handle.
He had been roped into helping his little brother's best friend stop his biological father, which was something, almost got an entire city destroyed...again. Doubled with almost losing his best friend.
Again.
It sucked.
Laying in his bed, he stared at the ceiling. A lot of things were racing through his mind.
What if things had gone different?
What if Purple had actually died in that collapse?
What if Dark had been-
"No. Don't think about that. You've already lost him once."
He's lost him once.
He can't lose him again.
Chosen sighed, staring up at the ceiling.
Chosen walked aimlessly, trying to find his way back to his home.
Even with the giant hole in the wall.
It was one person empty now.
Because he had lost him.
He was dead.
Chosen sighed, looking up at the sky, the same sky that had been filled with an explosion just hours before.
The same sky that he-
No.
Stop thinking.
Stop thinking about it.
You have to stop.
Stop.
Chosen looked up. Nothing but trees.
He was going to be out here for a while. Which was not going to be fun.
He was covered in scratches, cuts, and bruises, and he was worried some could be infected already.
He was lucky the house had a med kit somewhere.
He just had to find it in the rubble.
He moved through the trees, pushing branches away from his face. The grass crunched beneath his feet.
Why did it have to be him?
A rustle from the trees. Chosen's senses heightened, and he flinched.
A fireball made its way into his hand. "Who's there?!"
Nothing.
Not a single movement followed.
A shadow sat in the bush, incredibly still.
Chosen glared it down.
"Alright, buddy, what the hell are you?"
It jumped out of the bushes, and Chosen's heart raced at it's appearance.
It was a ViraBot.
"Shit." He threw the ball of fire, which the spider easily dodged.
"Fuck! Stay still, you fucking bitch!"
Fireball after fireball. The Virabot dodged each one.
"Son of a-!"
Chosen was tackled to the ground. His limbs shouted in pain.
Fuck, that hurt.
"Fuck..." Chosen's body was sore. This was not fun.
"Alright, bitch...let's get you taken care of.."
He tried to stand, but was instantly brought back to his knees by the pain.
"Fuck!"
Another shadow whizzed past him. His senses heightened again.
He sensed another's energy.
"..Dark..?"
No.
Impossible.
There was no way he could be-
Another figure tackled the ViraBot. Chosen flinched.
No fucking way.
"Dark?!"
"I got you, Cho! Get outta here! I can't hold this forever!"
Chosen got to his feet, ignoring the pain.
He blasted it with another fireball.
"Chosen, go!"
"No!"
"Your injured!"
"Yeah? And your supposed to be dead, so I guess we're even!"
Dark gave a visible smirk. "Fine, you win."
Chosen blasted the ViraBot with another fireball.
"Come on, come on! I created you! Now listen to me!" Dark shouted.
The ViraBot blinked at him.
"Master?"
Dark sighed, aggravated. "Yes. It's me. Now quit attacking my friend and go!"
"But, the mission-"
"To hell with the mission! That's my best friend your attacking, and I order you to stop attacking him!"
The ViraBot flinched. Chosen watched it. Another fireball rested in his hand.
Dark grabbed his hand, preventing an attack. "Wait. I think I got through to it."
The ViraBot stared at Dark and Chosen for another moment, before slinking away into the trees.
"HAH! GOT IT!" Dark exclaimed, punching Chosen in the shoulder.
"That was...actually pretty cool! How'd you do that?"
Dark shrugged. "I guess they survived the child kicking my ass...somehow, and their code hasn't been reset. I doubt it can be reset. Meaning unless we defeat them..."
"They're still under your control." Chosen said.
"Essentially."
Chosen wrapped an arm around Dark's shoulders. "I appreciate it, though. I could've taken it out."
Dark scoffed. "In your state? I would have loved to see that."
"Fuck you."