Another energy ball.
"GET DOWN!" Chosen shouted.
Purple countered the energy ball with his own.
"Where the hell did you get powers?!" He shouted.
"Where the hell did you decide that jumping down from the rafters was a good idea?!" Fern shouted back.
"Oh, you know, AFTER YOU TRIED TO KILL ME!"
"I didn't try. I could have if you didn't escape!"
"Yeah, sure, whatever you say. Don't you morons need me alive for your dumb little puppet scheme?!"
Fern blinked, getting hit with another energy ball Purple had used to his advantage.
"Son of a-"
"Nice try."
Fern snarled. "I'm going to kill you."
"Well, then it isn't my fault that the plan don't work, traitor."
Fern growled at him.
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."
"How DARE you!"
"And how dare YOU for betraying my dad." Purple said with a smile, blasting another energy ball at him.
Fern fell backwards, standing up again before getting blasted with a fireball.
"Chosen, get Dark out of here."
Chosen backed up, being shielded by Second.
Another energy ball formulated in his hand.
"Hey, Fernando! Ready for more?!"
Fern flew upwards, attempting to grab Purple.
"Let's do this, little prince."
Chosen was honestly surprised at how easy it was for Purple to dodge Fern's attacks.
Sure, he was quite good at dodging attacks(the kid had powers), but it had never been this simple.
It was almost as if Fern, who had no magic until now, hadn't trained himself to fire at will.
Chosen knew that Purple could control his, given he had helped him.
Needless to say, Chosen found it ten times easier to train Purple to control his powers rather than Second.
While Second forgot he had powers, and most of the time never had a use for them, and fed off of fear of losing his friends to something he really can't control, Chosen found Purple's powers feed off of intense anger and fear.
To test this theory, Chosen put both sticks(and Dark just for the hell of it), in the middle of a circle with random objects around the house.
One of the objects in the individual circles was a photo that had some sort of connection to each stick.
A photo of their closest allies.
In order to test the theory, and subsequently help Purple in the process, Chosen had them think about something they fear the most.
Knowing Dark, he knew Dark's abilities were easier to control, but Second and Purple were…much harder, to say the least.
They were much harder to understand, given they had multiple fears: Second having fears of losing his friends and letting them down, and Purple having self-worth issues and having fears of being left alone, it was a little bit harder for Chosen to help.
It didn't stop him from trying.
"How the hell are you gonna have Chosen control your powers?!" Red asked Second.
"I'm obviously here to test a theory. We're supposed to be helping Purple, I know that. But Chosen has a theory of some sort."
"Essentially, they're powers run on somewhat of a similar basis: fear and anger. When Dark killed you guys before Navy took control of the ViraBots, Second's only major emotions in that moment were rage and fear, which activated his powers."
"And how does this fit with Purple?" King asked.
"Purple's powers have a similar basis. His powers activated when we were in danger, which caused the overload that defeated Navy and Orchid."
"Interesting. And you're thinking…"
"I'm thinking if I can channel those emotions again, they might have an easier time controlling them so when Purple does go after Orchid, his powers don't go haywire and potentially kill him, like Night Shade worries about."
"Night Shade might not know what he's talking about. He's probably just paranoid."
"If he was right about Orchid's powers, which are unstable and led to her downfall, then he might be right about Purple's. The chances that Orchid took the time to control her powers are low, and that led to her dying. We can't risk it with Purple."
"That's your explanation? Really?" Green muttered.
"Would you rather Purple die killing his mother and have King deal with that, or do you want to have powers Purple could use for good in the future?"
Green glared at him. "Fine."
"I still don't get why you're sitting us in a circle with random objects." Second pointed out.
"I want you two to try levitating items before we try anything else. Obviously, we know Purple can create giant energy beams with his hands that he can control seemingly fine. We're also aware Second has laser eyes-"
"Which I still don't remember!"
"You're called The Chosen One's Return in the task manager for a reason when you were first created," Chosen deadpanned. "Anyways, we're aware Second has laser eyes, which we'll figure out later. For now, we need to focus on what really drives Purple's powers to grow the strongest and how we can activate them."
"How do we do that?" Second asked, obviously knowing the answer to the ridiculous question.
"Simple."
"How is controlling my powers simple?!" Purple snapped, staring down at his hands again.
Chosen was about to answer Purple's question before he suddenly went still.
"Purple…?"
Looking a little closer, Purple's eyes were whiter than he'd ever seen them before.
"Uhm…King? Slight issue?"
"What?"
"Your kid's under some sort of spell or something…"
Chosen didn't get to finish his sentence before King was at his side.
"Purple! Purple, hey, listen! It's King! Wake up!"
Second and Dark left their respective circles and joined the two with Purple.
"What the hell is happening?!"
"This didn't happen last night!" King exclaimed, shaking Purple's arm to wake him up. "Wake up!"
Chosen suddenly noticed a faint lilac colored glow among the items in Purple's circle. "What in Alan's name is going on…"
Chosen started drowning out King's frantic voice and focused on the items around Purple. They were all illuminated in a faint glow, something they easily could've missed if not for Chosen's keen eye.
"Guys….I think I might know how Purple's powers activate." He suddenly said.
"How?"
"Purple's seems to be under an intense amount of pressure from fear and stress. That's what's causing the object to…start….flying…"
Chosen stared as the small objects started lifting off of the ground. "Holy shit!"
King wasn't focused on that. "Purple, please! Wake up!"
"Come on, Purple. This is child's play for you-"
Purple was blasted into a wall.
"Shit!"
"The fuck?!"
"Seems Fern has some training in energy balls after all." Chosen said.
"Either that, or he's just got more power than Purple." Dark said.
"How?"
"Simple. Navy. Purple must've zapped his powers out of him, and Fern got a hold of it." Yellow theorized.
"Makes sense enough."
Purple slowly staggered to his feet, glaring at Fern. Another energy ball sat in his hand.
"Come on, Purple." Chosen whispered.
King watched with worry from next to him.
Chosen watched in anticipation.
Come on, kid. You can do this.
I know you can.
You can stop Orchid even if your about to die yourself, you can stop Fern, who's got that exact amount of power.
Orchid, not noticing the bright beam of light behind her, launched another energy blast, and the two braced for impact.
"It's the end, Dark Lord!" She declared.
Second and Dark stared at their impending doom.
"Well…at least we tried."
"Maybe Purple will show up at the last second and save the world?" Second asked meekly.
"Eh, who knows, but I'll die with dignity!" Dark declared.
Death never came, as a purple energy blast blocked the attack before it hit the two.
"What in the Alan Becker…"
Orchid stared at the beam for another moment before snapping out of her trance. "WHAT THE HELL?!"
Dark and Second stared at where the crown used to be, and instantly brightened up with awe.
"Purple?"
Purple stood where the crown used to be, donning the crown, a cape, and the Dual Block Staff Second vividly remembered destroyed months ago.
"Holy shit…" Dark said, awestruck.
"That's…that's actually Purple. Oh my god. That's actually Purple!" Second exclaimed with excitement.
"Impossible! You lost your powers!" Orchid snapped.
"So? I don't need my powers to kick your ass, Orchid." Purple said, and the monotone, almost brainwashed voice Purple had scared the shit out of Dark and Second.
Despite the fact that they'd heard it before.
"You…you can't do this!" Orchid shouted.
"Well, it's not my fault that you gave us a shard of the crown, which was what would release all that power!"
"Maybe that was my plan!" Orchid snapped.
"Well, it was a stupid one. One that I'm going to use against you."
"In your dreams, brat!" Orchid barked, blasting another energy blast at him.
Purple dodged it before launching himself into the sky and blasting a pale purple laser at her.
It reminded him too much of the Nether Battle.
"Your never going to win, Purple! I'm stronger, and your nothing but a weakling!"
The words struck something inside of Purple.
He'd been told the exact opposite for so long, the words almost meant nothing but fuel for stopping Orchid.
" Your one of the strongest people I've met, and nothing will ever change that. Even if you were weak, I'd still be there for you, no matter what. I promise."
"I'm always here for you. I always will. I'll stay right here. I won't leave your side, no matter what. We will get through this together. Cause I'm staying right here with you."
"With me?"
King pulled him close. "With you."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"There's nothing to be sorry about, Purple. I understand you've been hurt by people your entire life, me included, and I wish you weren't, but that's not something I can decide. Navy made the choice to turn you into what you are, and I chose to hurt you even if I didn't realize what I was doing then. You're still just a kid, and you're still stuck in that mindset because all the universe has done to you is hurt you."
"Kid, Navy could kill you! Even him kidnapping you is enough to hurt me! But killing you?! I'd be devastated for the rest of my life. I'm doing this for your own safety."
"I just...I don't want you to get hurt. If these guys ever find you...you'll die. And I don't...I don't wanna lose you, Purple! I love you so much it would hurt me so badly to see you leave."
"You were there when I needed someone the most. You became my family after I lost my own. It was you who stopped my rampage. You who brought me back into reality. You, Purple. All you. I need you to realize that. You have to fight against Navy's control. He isn't true family. I'm your true family. I'm the one you see as a father, not him. I'm there when you need someone, not him. You said I was the best thing that ever happened to you. I'm always there to comfort you when you need it! So, please, Purple, fight it! I'm here. I'm right here! I love you, kid. I always have, and always will. Please!"
"Purple, please. You fought through this before, you can fight through it again. I'm here. I'm right here! I made a promise to you, remember? I promised I'd always be there for you. I promised I'd always be with you. I'm not breaking that promise, am I!? I'm here for you, and I'm here with you. I'd never break a promise I made to you, okay?! Please Purple, listen to me! I know your in there. I need you to fight. For yourself, your friends, and for me. I love you, Purple. Always have, and always will."
"Of course. Listen, Purple, no matter what your dad says, always remember nothing he's done is your fault. Only his. Your dad can say anything he wants, but when he says I don't love you, he's wrong. I love you so much, Purple. Always have, and no matter what, I always will."
"What Navy's done to you has shaped you into who I know and love. Hell, if it weren't for you, I would've destroyed all of Minecraft. You've been through so much thanks to him, but it's shaped you into the person I grew to love. You're not Navy's kid, or guard, or an enemy of ours. You're my kid, my best friend, my everything. I can't risk losing you again, not when you're the only one I have left..."
"Please, Purple. Fight it! You've fought Navy's control before, and we all know you can do it again. Fight it!"
"Purple, he's wrong. You're not stupid, or worthless. And you are good enough. Any one of your friends can tell you, but I know you'll listen to me the most. You are good enough, even if your dad doesn't acknowledge it. You're a good friend to everyone, and you're an amazing kid, Purple. I wouldn't have let you come with me if I thought you were a failure. Because you aren't. You are amazing in so many ways. And...I am so, so proud of you and how far you've come, even with everything you've gone through."
"Purple…I know you're in there somewhere. Please, fight through this. You've fought through Navy so much throughout every single ordeal he's put you through, and I know this time won't be any different! Please, honey, I know you can do this. I believe in you, Purple. Nothing is going to change that."
"Come on, Purple. I know you're in there. Please."
"Purple, it's me! Please listen! I know you're probably too far gone to hear this but...I need you to listen. I'm right here. And...I love you. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you that sooner, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't change the fact that it's true. I love you, and I am so proud of you."
"Your my entire world, Purple. And your all over got left, and all I have left is so important to me, that I can't lose it. I can't lose you, Purple. I'm sorry...for ever making you think that you weren't important to me, but you are! You mean more to me than world domination ever did! Please...I can't lose you again..."
"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."
"I love you, my little flower."
The memories echoed in his head.
Throughout all of this, King still believed in him.
King still had faith in him.
That was what gave him the courage to keep going.
Because King knew that somehow, Purple would defeat them.
"You know what, Orchid? Maybe you were right." Purple said, still refusing to stop the staff's power.
"Oh, was I?"
"Yeah. Maybe I am worthless, and weak, and nothing but a good for nothing useless brat who does nothing but bring shame to this entire family! Maybe I am a disappointment, and it was all my fault that Navy abandoned us!"
The words crept back into Dark's head.
Orchid had used these exact words before they escaped to the desktop.
"Oh, so you finally admit defeat, huh?" She smirked.
"In your dreams!" Purple said, the course of where he was going changed drastically. "I've been told the complete opposite of those phrases ever since this entire thing started, and you know what? I actually believe the opposite of what you and your disappointment of a family think of me!"
Orchid tried to gain the upper hand, but it was no use.
Purple had a major advantage.
"Get her ass, Purple!" Dark shouted.
Purple's eyes shone a dark violet as Orchid realized how far she was from victory.
And how close Purple was to it.
"NOW EAT THIS, SUCKER!" Purple screamed, launching an enormous energy blast at Orchid, engulfing the area in a large, bright light.
"PURPLE LOOK OUT!" Dark screamed, launching a fireball at the energy ball coming from Orchid's final attack.
Purple blasted another energy ball at Fern. Fern didn't see it coming.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
"Yeah. Nice try, Fern, but your not getting rid of me that easily."
Fern snarled.'
Chosen smirked. "TAKE THAT!"
"You shut up!"
Another energy ball. "I'd tread lightly. That's the Chosen One. You know, the feared hollowhead that wreaked mayhem on the Internet for about seven years?"
Fern shrunk from where he was. Purple returned Chosen's expression.
The energy ball in his hand turned yellow. Purple's eyes widened.
"Holy shit."
"But…I failed. I lost my powers and let Orchid defeat us…there was no cost, just the biggest failure."
"Kid."
"No! I failed you! I failed the others! I failed the entire city because I made a stupid choice that was built on the belief that I could keep you safe! I did everything I could to keep you guys safe! And…it wasn't enough…I wasn't enough…"
"Purple."
"I failed everyone…"
"No. You didn't fail anyone."
"Of course I-"
"Purple. You didn't fail anybody. We're all still alive, albeit captured by Night Shade and under whatever plan he's got up his sleeve, and Orchid can still be stopped," King held out the shard Purple had lost earlier back during the battle. "And there's still the crown to be fixed."
"But, without my powers.."
"Dark and Second still have them, right?"
"...Maybe."
"Then there's still a chance. You can still fix the crown and save the world. You can still stop Orchid, and we're still alive for the time being."
"But for how long?"
"Who knows? But what I do know is you're able to stop her, with or without your powers."
"You're sure?"
"I still believe in you, Purple. I'm sure that no matter what, you'll be able to stop her."
Purple stared at him for another moment.
"You're still Minecraft's little prince, after all."
It's only then Purple notices King's been holding his hands tightly. He smiles at the gesture.
He hasn't felt that in probably days.
"You're still my little flower."
The two stare at each other for another moment.
"Thanks…dad…for everything."
King returns the small smile. "Right back at you, kid."
"Purple? Purple!"
Purple doesn't realize he's regaining consciousness until he feels a pair of hands hook under his arms and pull him above water.
Finally, some fresh air.
"Jesus, kid, we thought you were a goner down there. You alright?"
Purple coughs up water again, feeling the ice cold feeling run down his face.
It feels good, knowing how badly he needed the feeling earlier when Orchid attacked him.
"Purple?"
Purple breathes in deeply, grateful to be out of the water and back into fresh air.
"Yeah…I'm alright."
"Thank Alan, we woke up from wherever the hell we were, and figured you'd drowned because you weren't resurfacing, so Second jumped in to find you."
Purple notices that he's gripping something tightly in his hand, and opens his palm to find the crown shard he'd lost earlier.
He stares at the golden yellow object for a brief moment, and has a reminder of what he just went through.
"You found it!" Second exclaimed. Purple stares at him.
King found it and gave it to him.
"I wouldn't say…find it." Purple said, smiling at the object.
Minecraft's little prince.
"Purple? Are we going home, or…"
"No."
The tone in Purple's voice gives Dark clarification.
"We're not going anywhere. We're gonna fix the crown and stop Orchid." Purple said.
Dark smiled at his determination.
"But…you don't have your powers."
"He doesn't need the reminder, Sec." Dark said bluntly.
"So? You guys still have your powers, right?"
Dark and Second shared a glance before nodding.
"That's all we need. Second, you'll try your plan again while Dark…" Purple reached into the soaking wet bag and pulled out an almost black bracelet. "Fights off Orchid with these."
Dark gasped. "The ViraBands."
"I think you'll need them." Purple said, grabbing another one from the bag and placing it on his own wrist.
"Your…gonna fix the crown?"
"Or at least try to?" Second clarified.
"I'm going to fix it." Purple corrected. "And your plan is how."
"What?! That failure of a plan that almost killed us?!"
"You'll get Dark behind the formation so he can attack Orchid and catch her by surprise, while I get to the crown and fix it before defeating her for good."
"But that plan failed horribly!"
"Second." Purple grabbed his hands. "It was a failure at first, but both of you have powers you're very aware of, and Dark will have the ViraBand's power if you can't launch a surprise attack. Even if the surprise attack doesn't work, you can still hold her off long enough for me to reach the crown."
Dark smiled at Purple's sudden confidence boost.
"When did you get so confident in this?" He asked subtly.
Purple stared at the shard again. "I had a little encouragement."
"I think we all did." Second said.
"Well…"
"Dark."
"Okay, fine. Maybe Cho and Red and King gave us some encouragement."
Second and Purple stared at him.
"Whatever, let's just get this over with so we can go home. Right, Purple?" Second looked at him.
"Right."
"So we're gonna try and stop Orchid?" Dark said.
Purple stared out into the horizon, still gray and stormy.
"We're going to stop Orchid."
Second helped both of them climb up to the top, where Purple remained for a few extra moments while they waited for Dark's attack signal.
Another moment later, an explosion erupted from above them, and Second and Purple shared a look.
There's the signal.
Purple climbed the rest of the way up, and Second launched himself up into the sky to protect Purple.
Orchid almost hit Dark with another energy ball before Second countered it with a fireball of his own.
"Plans over, Orchid!" Dark shouted.
"IN YOUR DREAMS!" She shouted back, attacking both of them with an energy blast.
Purple watched the battle unfold, before running to where the crown was.
He stared at the shimmering shard for a moment.
"I still believe in you, Purple."
Purple looked back up at the crown and continued the climb towards it.
Orchid attacked Dark again, but he blocked it with a ViraBlade.
"Nice try, but your gonna do better than that to stop us!" Dark said with a smirk.
"Oh, really?" Orchid caught him by surprise with another energy blast, sending him flying into Second.
The gray spots that covered their bodies grew larger, and Dark noticed how much color had been robbed off of them.
Orchid's strength.
Purple ran up to the crown, trying to figure out a way to put the shard back onto the main piece.
And despite the few feet between the shard and the crown, a small spark emanated from the shard and the missing spot on the crown.
Purple moved the shard closer to the crown, and the pieces magnetically locked together.
The crown shined a brighter yellow than it's color, brightening the entire area.
"What the hell…"
The center of the bright light, the crown, suddenly emanated a violet purple color that surrounded the small child as he braced for impact.
"The crown?"
He was sure he had destroyed it earlier.
Purple stepped into view, a crown atop his head and a dark expression on his face. "Your going to listen to me. I'm done being walked all over like I was when I was treated as your slave, King Orange."
"But…"
Purple grasped the crown, smashing it into pieces. "I'm king of this kingdom now, Navy Rose."
Second watched the energy ball sitting in Purple's hand turn from purple to yellow.
It reminded him of the final battle with Orchid, when she had drained the color from everything.
"Holy shit...nice work, Purple!"
Chosen smiled. "Fire!"
Purple fired the ball at Fern, who once again didn't see it coming.
"What the-"
Purple smirked. "Yeah, weren't expecting me to have more power, did you?"
Fern glared at him.
"Look!" Dark pointed at Fern.
Fern stared down at his hands, which were dissipating.
Purple stared at his hands.
"Holy shit."
Did I do that?
"HAH! TAKE THAT, FERN!"
King watched with a mix of sadness and satisfaction.
Traitor.