"Everybody still alive?" Second asked, not really expecting much of an answer, given the narrow escape with their lives they just went through.
"Barely," Dark grumbled. "I'd be doing a hell of a lot better if we weren't fighting Purple's biological father, who's supposed to be DEAD!"
"Oh, shut up," Second snapped. "That was our only other choice to save Purple."
"Sure it was." Purple deadpanned.
"It was!"
"Whatever. We just have to find Navy, and defeat him." Second said. "Then, we find King and the others, take care of the rest, and we're home free!"
"Aren't we gonna defeat Night Shade first-"
"You know what I mean." Second shot him a look. After Purple had told them Night Shade had to be their secret weapon since he somehow had Regeneration abilities, Second had been formulating a plan on how to defeat all of them. Permanently.
"What about Willow?"
"We'll find her afterwards."
"And how is that going to go?!" Purple snapped. "Knowing that King and the others currently have a spy in their group, aka Willow's brother, and they don't even realize it!"
"You mean Agent Fernando?"
Dark and Second turned to see a hooded figure, barely at the midway point between Gold and Yellow's colors.
It gave Purple shivers, remembering this was exactly how he and Gold met.
"Gold?" Dark stared at the figure for another moment, before retracting his statement. It couldn't be Gold! Their color was too bright, in comparison to his own.
"Yellow?" Second asked.
"Sunny." The figure said.
Suddenly, everything made sense to Purple.
"Willow's best friend?"
"Yep."
The three shared a glance. "Shit."
King glanced around another hallway. With the seven stories worth of a building to explore, and no time to do so, they had to go quickly if they were going to find the others.
All the while, he couldn't help but notice how…off Fern looked. He continued glancing around the building, like guards lurked around every corner they went around.
Eventually, Scarlet, the person who spoke up about almost anything, confronted him about it. "Okay, Mister Paranoia, the hell is going on?!"
"W-What?! I don't understand what you're on about!"
King sighed. "Don't play dumb, Fern," He said. Pausing after looking around to make sure they weren't going to catch any attention, he continued, "You keep looking around like guards are looking around every corner, you keep freaking out at the slightest noise, and every time one of us brings up Sunny, or anyone we're searching for, you freeze up!"
"And you keep looking at the sky, or at least above us, so are you hiding something from us, or what?"
Fern look at him, a mix of astonishment, and offense, mixed in his expression. "Why would you think I'd hide something from you! We've been friends for years!"
"And that means something to you?!" King snapped. "You're hiding something, I know it!"
Fern looked at the ground for a moment, allowing the others to figure out what was happening.
"Willow, I think your brother is hiding something." Red whispered.
"He's gotta be hiding something. Why else would he act like this towards us?!" King whispered angrily.
"King, calm down."
"I'm trying, okay?! This guy could be hiding something, and he could pose a danger to Purple and the others if we let him out of our sight! Second and the others could be in danger!"
"Nice to see you worrying about the others for a change." Red said.
"Purple's a smart kid. He'll get himself out of anything, and he knows what he's doing."
Red smiled. King's overprotective phase was growing out of him, for now.
It probably wouldn't take long for it to grow back into him.
A buzzing sound suddenly filled their ears.
"What the…"
"You know your fatal flaw, King Orange?" Fern said over the buzzing, and everyone glanced in his direction.
Fern was standing tall, arms outstretched, a barrage of drones behind him, and an evil smirk plastered on his face.
"Your assumptions are almost always correct."
King and the others watched in horror and betrayal.
"Fern, you…" Willow struggled to find the right words. Her own brother.
"YOU TRAITOR!" King screamed, lunging for the man.
"Oh, King," Fern sent a drone for him, which promptly tossed him into a far wall, knocking him out. "Traitor is such a strong word."
Gold and Sapphire ran for King, shaking him.
"Dad, come on! Wake up!" Gold begged, not realizing there were more drones surrounding them.
"Gold."
"What?!"
"Look."
Within seconds, they were surrounded by drones.
"Fuck."
King opened his eyes a little, trying to make sense of what had happened.
And why his head felt like an anvil was dropped on his head.
"Dad? You okay?"
"I…think so? What happened?"
"Fern," Willow grumbled. "He tricked and trapped us."
Oh.
Oh.
That's what happened.
"Got you too, huh?"
King and the others glanced to the side of their high-suspended cage, noticing another one, with a few familiar faces.
"Dark?! You're alive?!" Chosen exclaimed.
"Should be asking you the same thing." Purple deadpanned.
"Are you guys okay?" King asked.
"Would be if Willow's traitor brother didn't kidnap us and throw Purple into a wall." Second muttered.
"That makes two of us, kid."
"Got you guys off guard, didn't he?"
"He kept acting all paranoid, and once we confronted him about it, he changed demeanor entirely and attacked us." Gold explained.
"He used drones on us, too!" Blue added.
"There has to be a way to stop him, without dying." Willow said. "So long as Night Shade's alive…"
"They're unstoppable." Purple finished for her.
King glanced at him. "How did you know that?"
"Navy trapped us in a void, and I figured it out myself."
"Told you he was a smart kid." King looked at Red.
"I'm aware."
"CHOSEN, LOOK OUT!" Dark screamed suddenly.
As the others looked up, something collided with the chain holding King's cage up in the air, sending it falling to the ground.
"Shit! Willow!" Sunny screamed.
"Oh, don't worry. You'll join them soon enough." A voice said.
"Navy, you son of a bitch." Purple shouted.
"Oh, calm down son," A hooded figure from the rafters said gently, an energy ball resting in their hand.
"Look out!" Red shouted.
"Dark, get ready to attack!" Second shouted. "Who knows what that ball has."
The figure tossed it, and Sunny and Second threw themselves in front of Purple to protect him.
Dark countered the energy beam with a fireball, and the force of the collision and heat of the fireball broke the chains holding their own cage.
"GET DOWN!" Chosen screamed just before the cage hit the ground.