King sighed, staring at the sunrise reflecting onto the ocean.

Dark and Second had given themselves a head start, having left the previous day to make sure the plan they had come up with worked.

King and the others left the next day, leaving a note for Alan to prevent another freak out and subsequent explanation that would take hours to sort out, and decided to head towards the base to fight Orchid and Night Shade.

And maybe Navy, depending on if Navy was going to tap into Purple's head or not.

After a few hours, they had gotten a boat made(since Second and Dark were using the boat they had built with Purple), and were halfway between land and the base.

And they were getting pretty sick of each other.

Although King had spent most of his time thinking about if Purple was still alive(or even already having been turned into a puppet, he didn't know), the remainder of Second's friends had gone from radio silent to not going a second without fighting.

Whether it was worry, or boredom, King only knew Green was the source.

Damn child was so worried about Purple and Second, the others were getting sick of him constantly being a disaster.

King was almost the splitting image, only hiding his worry by taking the leader role and coming up with all the plans and sorting everything out.

Trying not to be constantly worried and overprotective of Purple was really difficult when he was pretty much up for murder.

Chosen was standing by, waiting to jump in and break up this fight, one of the most intense fights and if they were anywhere closer to Navy's base, King would've been impressed they weren't caught.

"For the last time, we're aware Purple is up for murder, but we need you to make distractions!" Blue said.

"How can I make a distraction when my best friend could be dead?!"

"Your point makes no sense, I doubt it would even make an essay topic," Yellow grumbled, clearly sick of the fighting. "Just please go with King's plan and assigned roles for our sake!"

"Why?!"

"Because this bickering isn't getting us anywhere!" King snapped. "Hell, if we were even closer to Navy's base than we are now, I'd be impressed you've gone this far without am end to your bickering!"

Cannot booms from above caught their attention.

"Nevermind."

"Way to go, Green. Now we're going to die." Blue deadpanned.

"Hooray, I'll join Purple in the afterlife." Green said, equally deadpan.

"I swear to Alan Becker, if you say my son is dead one more goddamn time-"

"King, face it! Your kid is probably dead and this entire mission is a setup to get Navy to us!" Green snapped.

"Green, stop it."

"PURPLE IS DEAD AND WE'RE NEVER GOING TO SEE HIM AGAIN!"

Another cannon boom.

"Well, if your theory is correct, we're about to." Yellow said.

"Shit."

Yellow kicked the boat into overdrive, speeding towards the smallest amount of land close to the base. "Get inside as fast as you can!"

King and the others stared at each other, the amount of guards telling then something.

They had a major problem on their hands.

"How the hell did you two survive that?!" Red snapped.

"I survived nothing. You guys just didn't make your move when you had the chance." Night Shade said smoothly.

"We were kind of trapped, plus you practically murdered us, so what could we have done?!"

Orchid sighed. "Well, given King's consciousness had invaded Purple's during that entire death moment, he could've done something."

"How?!" Now Purple had a chance to speak. The hell was she on about?

"You don't remember?"

Of course Purple remembered. Had Orchid not agreed to spare their lives, his entire family would've died.

Purple sunk to the floor, another wave of sobs racking him.

This didn't change anything.

They were still dead.

"I shouldn't have left him..."

"Staying would've just made things worse, kid."

Purple froze, hearing the familiar voice.

He couldn't be...

"I'm so sorry for leaving you, my little flower."

Was that...

No, it couldn't be!

King was standing right in front of him, alive and unharmed.

But...no, this couldn't be possible.

"King?"

"Hey, kid."

Purple collapsed into King's arms, burying his face in his shoulder as he sobbed.

"Your...your here...your not dead..."

Purple felt his body shaking with sobs.

He's here.

He's actually here.

"Not for long, I won't be."

"But your...you...you can't leave me...you can't..."

"I'm not, I promise. I'll still be here. Remember? I promised I wouldn't leave you. I promised I'd always be here to protect you."

"But your dead...I left and you...you died because of it! It's my fault you guys are dead! It's not their fault! It's mine!"

"Purple."

"I'm so sorry...it's all my fault..."

"Purple, stop it. It's not your fault. You went to stop Orchid from killing more people, and it backfired. But your still here. You can still help us. You can still bring us back."

"But...how? The only thing we have are powers, and we don't know how the grey stuff works."

King grabbed his hand and put something small and yellow in his hand. "You'll stop her. I promise. Stopping her will help bring us back, I promise."

"But...

"Purple, baby, listen. You'll bring us back. I don't know how, but you will. You'll rescue Dark and Second, wherever they are. You might think everything's on you now, mainly since it is, but I know you can do this. You've gotten past every obstacle thrown your way since this whole thing started, and this...this isn't any different. You'll stop them. I promise."

Purple calmed down a little hearing the comfort. He would save the others, stop Orchid, and bring King back.

Somehow.

Purple hugs him again. "I'll bring you back. I promise."

King hugs him back tight. "I know you will."

Purple's vision begins to fade before King speaks again just before everything goes dark.

"I love you, my little flower."

"How could I not?" Purple asked sarcastically. "I almost lost my entire family!"

"But I'm your family!" Orchid said, trying to get her tone to match Navy's own deceiving tricks.

It wasn't working. "You would still be a part of my family if you weren't actively trying to kill me."

"Oh, but I'm not."

Red began seeing through the facade. "Bullshit. You two are trying to kill us and capture Willow!"

Orchid snapped her fingers, and in a flash, the two teenagers were separated, with Purple being thrown into a wall and crashing into a table.

"We can now. Don't think your off the hook just yet, Purple."

"For what?" Orchid knew what. "Stopping you from destroying the entire world?"

"Exactly."

Purple smirked, power surging through him. "Smart. Although, I think you can do better."

"How?" Orchid snapped.

"Dodging." Within a second, Purple had formed an energy ball and tossed at Orchid.

The two villains dodged.

"Nice try, Purple! But I'm afraid your not getting away that easily!"

Purple dodged Night Shade's attack, barely realizing he had joined the fight. "God, you guys suck. Hasn't getting your asses beat by a teenager taught you a few skills?"

Orchid snarled. "I can still turn you into a stupid puppet!"

Purple smirked, idly wondering how she could do that with the technology he was surrounded by. "Go ahead and try."

Red tackled Night Shade. "Stay away from him!"

Orchid took her chance, grabbing Purple and a needle from the nearby table. "One wrong move and he's a puppet!"

Red and Night Shade froze. "Orchid, don't." Night Shade said.

"Why?!"

"Let Navy do the honors."

"No. I'm going to make sure this kid loses his memories forever! Whether he's a puppet on strings or not!"

Red contemplated tackling her and stabbing one of the two older adults with the needle and escaping with Purple, but Willow was still out there, most likely, and fighting a bunch of guards.

Those guards could easily overpower them all.

The door was suddenly kicked down, and Red began hearing familiar voices.

"In here!"

"Where's my brother?!"

"Yellow, this way!"

Purple and Red looked at each other.

"Perfect timing."

Orchid and Night Shade shared a look. "Now!"

As the group of Stick figures crashed into the room, alongside a crap ton of guards, Orchid stabbed the needle into Purple's arm, and Night Shade threw a smoke bomb, pushing Red off of him to prevent unwanted company.

The guards quickly ran off, presumably to where Orchid and the others had gone.

Red stared at the group of sticks that was regaining their senses. "That was real great timing, guys."

Green glared at him. "Shut up. Purple's dead."

"Well...not dead. He's a puppet."

"A what?!"

"I'll explain on the way, but we've gotta get to the roof. That's probably where they are."

"Why?"

"I think Navy might be fighting Dark and Second inside Purple's mind, and if we're gonna stop him, we've gotta hurry."

"Why?" Red asked.

"Because that'll cause catastrophic and irreversible damage that we can't risk." Chosen explained.