After careful consideration of what was to come, the group decided to split up and start making camp for the night.
Sapphire and Copper, still barely trusting Mocha's friends, kept a weary eye on them. Green, worried for Purple and having nothing better to do, decided to join them, glaring at Crystal like she was some weird bug.
Chosen and Dark worked on, or more or less argued, about drawing attention and making a fire, which King unfortunately had to listen to.
"Don't you have a son to worry about?" Dark snapped, glaring at King, who was watching them with amusement as they argued.
"The only reason I'd have to worry about Purple is if we didn't know where he was or if he is still alive. So far as we know, Navy and the others are powerless against him, and we know where he is," King shot back. "If he had gotten out of the mind control, he knows where Sunny's base is. Sure, I'm worried sick about what Navy could do to him if he got some sort of power back, but Purple's a smart kid. I can't worry about him all the time."
Dark and Chosen shared a glance, before returning to their fire pit. Red cast King a small smile.
"Uhm...is he okay?" Yellow asked, having listened to the entire conversation.
"I'm sure he's fine. He's just letting himself trust that Purple is able to take care of himself. Besides, he makes a point. And Purple has powers! I'm sure he'll be able to escape if he ever gets an opportunity."
"Or even the chance." Blue added.
"Hey. Be optimistic. Purple's smart. Really smart. He'll be able to think of something."
Night fell, and the group tried to come up with a plan to work with.
"Okay, so Night Shade was indeed shot?" Willow clarified.
"Hit 'em quick, get out fast," Dark whispered to himself like a mantra, clutching the gun in his hands tightly.
"The cities gonna be flying a lot of flags half mast." Chosen whisper-added.
"Raise a glass." They whispered together.
"There. The general." King pointed ahead.
Whom it was, they could not tell. They were too far away to make out.
Dark crept closer, having been silently nominated by the other two behind him to carry out the assassination, as he called it.
It felt like one. He, the enemy, going to shoot the other enemy, and it felt as is they would die as soon as the bullet hit skin.
"Well. Here goes nothin'." He said to himself, cocking the gun into place and aiming it.
With the rifles scope seeing for what would've been miles in a different circumstance than Dark was in, he could see the enemy more clearly.
Night Shade.
"Well, isn't this fucking perfect." Dark muttered under his breath, tightening his finger around the trigger, waiting for his friend's signal.
"Any day now, Cho."
"Hold on a second, and..." Night Shade was distracted. "FIRE!"
Without a hint of hesitation, Dark pulled the trigger, and the entire erupted into more chaos.
The moment of silence the gunshot brought felt like sweet release. All the shouting was giving him a headache.
"Okay, one enemy down, three majors to go," King said, barely realizing he'd referred to his dead-alive wife as an enemy. Not that it really mattered. "Let's go aide the others."
The trio jumped from the tree and ran through the crowd to get to the castle. Barely anyone paid mind to them.
There was a war to be won.
King, Dark, and Chosen shared a glance. "Yep. Shot, but unsure if he's dead." Chosen said.
"Would've made a move during the final battle if he survived." King replied.
"Fair point."
"And everyone else went through with their part? We attacked Navy?"
Once Sunny and Second had secured the area and deemed it clear, they readied themselves for what could be one of the most intense parts of their entire battle.
"You ready to dance with the devil?" Sunny asked.
"As ready as we might ever be."
"You think he'll see through it?"
"A chance," Second glanced at the uniform. "We might be painstakingly obvious to him, since he's fought us so many times. He's probably got at least me and my friends burned into his head by now."
"Then I'll go in. He knows I worked under him, so he'll believe I turned back to him upon deciding to assist him in fulfilling his empty promises to these innocent people."
"You are aware these people fighting for him have practically lost all sense, correct?"
"Some might not be too far gone. If they aren't, we might be able to fulfill some families dreams of seeing loved ones again. These are husband's, wives, grown sons and daughters, siblings, and cousins fighting on the opposite sides of the people they love. Somethings got to get them through to reality that they are fighting for what will soon be a lost cause, as long as none of us screw up."
"You speak well of these people that are supposed to be the enemy."
"I held Willow in high regards and was fond of her both when I barely knew she was a person I'd be going to school with and she still saved my life, and also when I was working under Navy as a supposed spy."
"Damn, your smart."
Sunny and Second's could've gone so much more worse than it did.
By the time they had gotten past their stupid nerves and finally gone through with the plan, Navy had already suspected a castle breach and had the quartet out of hiding and defeated in the center.
Both remaining teenagers froze as they realized they were screwed.
"Navy, you don't have to go through with this," Sunny said. "There's a crapton more people that you can get rid of outside."
"Oh, but your losses will be much more in vain. I am more than willing to end this war. I am just hoping I get something out of it."
"And that something would happen to our lives?!"
"Why, of course! Why have anything else when I can have the Prince of Minecraft at his lowest, on his knees in front of your dead bodies!"
"You sick, twisted bastard," Green spat. "You'd watch your son mourn the loss of his best friends and call the war off?!"
"I would."
"Your sick."
"Sick is such a strong word."
"And the right." King started, stepping into the room, Dark and Chosen hot on his heels.
Second turned back to Navy.
"This war cannot be stopped until you're defeated, Navy!" Second shouted. "So just give up now!"
"Oh, but why would I? It's a sacrifice I'm willing to take if it means losing my kingdom?"
"It's not a kingdom when you force them into submission and serve you on a goddamned silver platter!" Blue snapped.
"Well...he was. And then the entire plan went to literal shit."
"Navy and the others could have been killed in that attack!"
"How? I threatened him just before we ourselves escaped."
"I'm sure I know what it was." Second deadpanned.
"MOVING FORWARD!" Willow shouted. "He could have been injured or killed in that attack. Either that, or Purple got rid of them himself."
"And if that theory is correct, than all we have to do is get through to Purple, and we're home free?"
"Bingo."
"At least let King do the honors."
"Hey!"
"Well, Purple can really register only your voice when he's brainwashed, so it's fair."
"He might register our own voices." Blue suggested.
"It's the same thing with Dark," Chosen explained. "The only voice he can really register whenever he is brainwashed is my own or Second's."
"It may be a level of familiarity with the voice. Or how close the person is with another," Yellow said. For example, Dark and Chosen. They're really close. So Dark registers Chosen's voice as getting through to him."
"And it would be the same for Second." King said.
"It's the same with King and Purple," Yellow continued. "With how close King and Purple are, Purple registers King's voice when he's brainwashed."
"With Purple, it does sound like it makes a lot more sense. It would also make sense since King's been there to help Purple through the entire Navy debacle since it's beginning, so it only makes sense that it's King." Green added.
"Exactly."
"So all we need to do is get King to get through to Purple, open up a rift to the real world, and we're home free?"
"Pretty much."
"And if Navy and the others show up?" Chosen said.
"We all know the drill."
A rustle in the bushes. Second and the others hid behind King, and Dark and Chosen spawned fireballs.
Willow grabbed a branch from their fire, lighting the edge with the burning flames and sticking it out into the woods.
They braced for an attack.
A purple stick figure fell out of the green brush.
"Purple?" King asked skeptically. Chosen didn't miss the small gleam of hope that flashed across his eyes.
The figure blinked.
"Yeah, that's not Purple," Chosen said. "Sorry, King."
"It could be Purple!" Dark reasoned. "He might've gotten amnesia!"
"Okay, someone wanna tell me who the fuck Purple is?" The figure snapped.
Yellow moved closer, the torch light illuminating the stick figure.
It definitely wasn't Purple. The stick in front of them was much lighter.
Everyone stared at them.
Green spoke up.
"Someone going to tell me that's not Purple's long lost twin sister right in front of us?"