When the smoke dissipated, King ran for it.

Ran for Purple.

Navy could've erased his memories all over again, but King couldn't care less.

Even if the innocent child doesn't remember him, he's still going to use his life to protect him.

If Purple still doesn't remember him, and won't ever remember him, King still wants to protect him.

King still loves him.

"Purple! Purple?!"

Purple's unconscious form hits the ground, and King fears the worst.

Is he…

No.

No no no.

He's not dead.

"Purple!"

Please don't be dead.

Please Purple, be anything but dead.

Unconscious, comatose, I don't fucking care, just anything but dead!

King slides to the ground next to the child, and he looks physically unharmed.

"Purple…?"

Nothing. Purple lays there unmoving as King dissolves into sobs.

"Please wake up…"

As if it'll do anything. Purple doesn't remember anything so far as he knows.

Purple stirs unexpectedly, catching King's attention.

Yet, he refrains from getting his hopes up. "You don't remember me…do you?"

Purple stares at him in confusion for a moment, seemingly unaware of anything that is going on, before his eyes gleam with a recognition King doesn't catch before he starts crying again.

And suddenly, Purple speaks, a recognizable tone coating his voice and shooting King's hopes higher against his will.

"King..?"

King stares at him wide-eyed.

He remembers him.

He remembers him!

King pulls the kid into a tight embrace. "Purple!"

Purple is understandably confused, yet hugs him back just as tightly.

"I thought I lost you forever…I'm so sorry, Purple, whatever the reason you forgot about us all was, I'm so sorry if it's my fault!"

The one side of him, the logical side, tells him it's not his fault. It's all their fault, and blaming himself is just hurting Purple.

But the other side encourages his half-hearted self-blames and apologies.

He isn't sure which side to believe.

"I've got you, sweetie. I'm not letting go. You're okay…" King sobs to himself, clutching the almost barely conscious Purple a little closer.

He's never letting go.

He almost lost Purple forever because of some asshole parent.

Yet, right now, he focuses on the tight grip he has on Purple's hand, giving him some sense of comfort.

He's safe right now.

For a brief moment, King turns his attention to Red. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks to your buddy's sister."

"Willow?"

"Apparently, Willow helped Red keep Navy and Orchid from capturing me." Purple explained.

"Knew that kid was smart."

"She's been taking this place down from the inside. We've just been getting rid of the major obstacles."

"Speaking of obstacles, where are Navy and Orchid?" King asked.

"We're not sure. You guys showed up, and they must've escaped."

"Fuck."

"We've gotta get rid of them." Willow declares.

"How? No matter how many times Purple takes them down, they always come back with a better plan and stronger magic."

"Then we're gonna have to think smarter…somehow." Willow said.

A crash caught them all from saying anything.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Green shouted.

"Navy."

"NAVY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Orchid shouted.

"AT LONG LAST!" Navy shouted over the wind the portal was creating. "I HAVE FINALLY OPENED THE GREAT ABOVE!"

King and Purple were able to get a better look at the other realm now.

"So it is another dimension." King muttered.

Chosen and the others were in shock. "Holy shit, he actually did it. He actually opened the portal!"

"Did we doubt it?" Purple muttered.

"A little."

Navy grinned evilly, glancing at the small bundle of children. "Don't think you'll be let off easily, Purple. You're coming with me."

"Like hell he is!" Blue shouted.

"HAH! What are you going to do?! Stop me?!"

King pulls Purple by his hand and throws him behind them, grabbing the discarded staff. "Hell yeah we are."

Navy smirked, a facial expression burned into Purple's memories by now.

And God, he hated it.

Navy slammed his palms into the ground, pillars of rocks shooting through the tiles and around the group.

"Yellow!" King tossed the younger stick the Command Staff towards him. "I'll get Purple out of here! You keep Navy from attacking us!"

"Right!"

Nobody is going to fuck with this kid ever again.

King ran towards the exit, being blocked by another pillar, and sending them both flying in the portal's magnetic pull.

"King!" Willow smacked her hand into the ground, forming vines around them to keep them stable.

The vines wrapped around King's legs as he scrambled to get Purple back.

Purple was being pulled by the portal that everyone was fighting to stay away from.

"Hang on, kid!" King tried ignoring the desperation in his voice, and with the growing amount of vines weighing him down, saving Purple was getting farther and farther out of his grasp.

"Don't worry, kid. This story isn't over just yet."

God, he felt so stupid!

"Don't let go, kid…please…"

Purple's shaking hands felt the trembling King had. There was no saving this time.

"I…I'm so sorry…"

King shot his head up.

No, no, NO!

"Purple…no…"

"Guess my story's over…"

King's heart dropped farther than ever.

"Purple, no! Please!"

Purple used his free hand to spawn an energy blast, and as more people failed to fight the portal's grasp, he pushed King completely out of the blast range and let the portal grab hold of him.

"PURPLE!"

Purple tried getting his vision to stop going around in circles as stars faded in and out. He had smashed hard into the ground after being thrown through the portal, following others.

Many. Others.

Sitting up, he tried making sense of the situation he had put himself in. The portal had closed, trapping him and hundreds of others inside the so-called "Great Above".

"Shit. Now what?"

Something grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him to his feet. Navy.

"We did it! Our plan was a success!" They exclaimed.

"For once." Purple deadpanned.

"Now, don't get snippy with us, Purple. After all, we can still harm your family, even from up here."

Purple snarled. "Keep your hands off my family."

"Oh, we will, Prince of Minecraft, as long as you do as we say."

Orchid and Night Shade smirked from Navy's side.

Purple gulped back tears, having no other choice.

His family or his life.

"Okay…just please, don't hurt them."

"Of course we won't!" Orchid chirruped happily.

Navy smirked, moving his hands to Purple's shoulders.

"Welcome home, Purple Rose."