Navy snarled, a gun making it's way into his hand. "We'll just see about that."
Purple's eyes widened, and his heart dropped.
He recognized that gun.
"King, get the others out of here. Now."
"What?! No! I'm not-"
"King, please. Just trust me. I'll join you guys as soon as I'm done dealing with this guy. I promise. Just go!"
It hurt Purple sending King away, because King was trying to protect him, but he had no choice.
He had to protect King.
In one way or another.
Navy fired, and Purple jumped out of the way.
"Shit, shit." He grabbed a discarded ViraBand.
"Okay, here goes nothing. Let's just hope these still work."
King and the others were grateful to escape with their lives.
"Purple!" Green shouted.
"Kid, come on. We've gotta get out of here." King said.
"No! That's your son! Your not losing a son, and I'm not losing my best friend!"
"Green."
"No! Your son is in there!"
"And I trust my son. I know he knows what he's doing. Please. You have to trust him." King said, a reassuring hand on Green's shoulders.
Green took one last glance at the throne room, and sighed. "How do we get out of here?"
"First, we come up with a defense. Dark, Chosen, Second. The three of you will protect Purple and keep any guards at bay."
The three hollowheads shared a glance.
"Willow, Sunny. You two will make sure Gold and the others are okay. Get them out."
Willow and Sunny high fived and ran off.
"The five of us will keep Orchid at bay, making sure that she is taken care of. The less problems Purple has to deal with, the easier it will be on him to defeat Navy."
"Your trying to protect him with this."
"That's Chosen's job."
"Your still putting precautions in place to make sure Purple is protected."
"Like Green said, that's my son. I trust him, and he knows what he's doing, but he can't take all of this on his own. If he does, he's going to die."
Green looked at him. "Is he-"
"No. Purple is going to be fine. I promise."
Green smiled.
"Okay, let's get out of here. I'm sure Orchid is around her somewhere." Yellow said, running off.
"Second."
Second turned to look at the older stick.
"Keep Purple safe."
"I will."
"HEY, COWARD! COME OUT AND FIGHT!"
A fireball flew over Purple's head.
"Fuck."
He glanced at the ViraBand around his wrist.
"Okay...let's do this."
He jumped behind another piece of rubble. "HEY! CHARIZARD COCKBURN! COME AND GET ME!"
Another fireball came flying at him. Purple flew up into the air.
"Missed me!"
Another fireball. Purple swiftly dodged it again.
"Hah! What's wrong, dad? Running low on energy?"
Navy snarled.
"Yeah, you've got a long way to go before you even get a chance to hit me."
"Are you talking back to me?!"
"Hey, your trying to kill me! I'm reacting appropriately to the situation at hand!"
"Your giving me attitude!"
"Oh, so you like when I was against a wall, covered in blood and bruises after you threw me across the room?!" Purple smirked. Getting on Navy's nerves was his favorite thing about this so far.
"I liked it when you took my hits like a weakling!" Navy shouted. Another fireball.
Purple countered it with an energy ball this time. "So...when I was an abused, helpless child? No wonder your mom went crying to your brother! Your a horrible husband! No wonder she was fucking him behind your back!"
That sent another fireball, a larger and presumably stronger one, flying right at him.
"Gotcha."
Purple flew up into the air, blasting another energy ball at him.
Navy dodged it.
"Son of a bitch!"
Navy flew at him.
"Now what, weakling?!"
Purple put the ViraBlade between him and Navy, hoping for a shield.
"FUCK!"
A fireball moved between the two.
Purple blinked. Navy flew backwards, his equivalent to jumping back in shock.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Dark flew up to Purple.
"You okay?"
"I could've handled him!"
"He could've killed you, kid. King's not taking chances. Let us help. Your going to need it."
Purple stared at him, and was reminded of King's reluctance to leave.
He was still terrified of losing him.
"Fine. Just...let me take care of Navy. If he sends out any guards, you guys can take care of it."
"Gotcha."
A flash of red flew past them.
"Fuck."
"What? What was that?"
Dark glared down below them.
"ViraBots."
"So where exactly is Orchid supposed to be?" Blue asked. He already had potions in his hand, and a crossbow.
"Not sure. But Amethyst went with Gold and the others just before Purple sabotaged Fern, so she might have gone and taken care of, exactly where we're going."
"So then what are Willow and Sunny doing?" Red asked.
"I sent them to find Gold and the others. If they find Amethyst and the others, the only thing we've gotta do is take care of Orchid."
"Unless she went to help Navy." Yellow suggested.
"She still wouldn't be able to get to Purple," King reminded. "The hollowheads are protecting Purple and giving him a chance to take Navy out without any other problems. Meaning if Orchid went for them, Dark and the others will take care of her."
"True. Then what about us?"
"If Orchid's going after Purple, and Gold and the others got to safety, then we're going to find them, then a way out of this goddamn dimension."
"Someone's antsy."
"You aren't the only one who hates it here, and we're all exhausted. None of us have had decent sleep in days."
"Fair argument."
"So the plan?" Blue asked.
"If Amethyst and the others took care of Orchid, then we're going to make sure Amber is defeated. Then, we'll find the others, get back to the throne room, and help stop Navy."
"Got it!"
A crash, followed by an explosion.
"Shit!"
"Was that from the throne room?!"
A shadow from the smoke.
"Oh, fuck."
"What the hell is that?!"
Amethyst was thrown out of the clouds, followed by the others.
"Fuck."
A pink stick stood menacingly over them.
"Well, well, well. Isn't this going to be fun!"
Green and the others moved into fighting stances.
"Orchid."
Willow and Sunny had not been expecting to be ambushed by fucking Amber.
Sunny was sure that Amber had escaped while she still had a chance, but she was fucking dead wrong.
The same tendrils from the last time burst from the corridors in front of them, snatching Willow up within seconds. Sunny caught a glance of the orange stick on top, smirking down at them.
Amber.
Sunny shook Amber out of her head and returned her attention to the task at hand.
"Willow!"
Sunny pulled out her knife, jumping up to slice her friend free. Willow's vines burst from her palms, smacking the creature in the face.
"Nice work!"
"Learned from the best!" Willow shot back.
Sunny gave her a smile. "Okay, Amber, time for you to get your ass kicked."
Amber smirked from her spot on top of the creature. "Well, let's see how this plays out!"
Sunny lunged forwards, knife gripped tightly in her hand.
King didn't realize how badly they needed the Hollowheads until it was far too late for them to do much.
Orchid had propelled attack after attack at them, and it was after Red had gotten hit that it finally sunk in what she was using.
The color-draining murder tool.
While Yellow worked on duplicating enough command blocks to break the forcefield, everyone else worked to get Chosen cured of the curse.
It was not going well.
"Come on, Cho. Hang in there." Green muttered to himself.
King and Red stared outside, watching Night Shade intently.
"Worried about Purple?"
King looked at him. "A little."
"More like a lot." Red saw through his guise.
"Yeah...your right. I just...this is one of the biggest battles we've ever gotten into and if this goes wrong...he's going to die..."
"He'll be fine," Red reassured. "He's got Dark and Sec with him."
"And they can only do so much! If they die or get separated, Purple's gonna be all alone and nobody's gonna be able to protect him!"
"He has his powers, though."
"They can't do much either. Orchids abilities out-strength Purple's, and if they overload, he'll..."
The thought scared him too much. "He'll die and I can't do anything about it.
"I get what you mean...hold on. Look," Red pointed to where Night Shade's original position was. "Is he..."
"He might've spotted something outside...Alan might've logged on to check on us and caught their attention!"
"What are you two talking about?!" Green snapped, helping Yellow get command block down the stairs into the main room.
"We've gotta think of something else! Night Shade might be distracted by Alan!" Red whisper-shouted.
"So?"
"That means...he's going to have to restart the computer entirely! We don't need to restart anything! We need to escape this forcefield some other way!"
"What if we...summoned a thunderstorm?" Blue suggested.
"With the command blocks?"
Chosen found the strength to speak. "It's worth a shot.."
Everyone shared glances. "Let's give it a go!"
King and Yellow snuck out of the house via the far corner of the roof, which was right at the edge of the forcefield, and looped around the house to check where Night Shade was.
"We've got to get to the center of the forcefield. It'll evenly split alongside the whole thing." Yellow whispered.
King tried not to notice the widget opening. "Right."
"Just make sure he isn't looking in our direction and breaking this down should be a piece of cake." Yellow whispered to himself as he stared at the outside.
Night Shade seemed to have vanished, which could be determined as a good thing for now.
"Keep an eye out. He could've found another perch."
"Got it."
Yellow carefully stepped into the open and started placing blocks, occasionally looking out for Night Shade.
Looking at the staff, he prepared to shock the blocks.
"Okay, let's do this."
He slammed the rod into the ground, zapping the blocks with blasts of electricity that ricoched onto the forcefield, causing a thunderstorm overhead.
"Yellow, your a fucking genius." He said to himself with a smirk.
It was not long before the storm was cracking the fragile forcefield. Yellow stared at the house.
"Hurry up, guys. Get out of there." He muttered.
Before long, the forcefield was crashing down around him.
"Yellow, get down!" King shouted, and Yellow scrambled to grab the staff to make a forcefield around him.
"Shit!"
Blue and the others ran outside, having seemingly found zero luck in helping Chosen.
"We've gotta get to the Outernet! We've gotta get to Second and the others before Orchid gets there first!" Red shouted.
Yellow grabbed the staff and ran for the widget.
Night Shade, seemingly distracted by the sudden thunderstorm, got to him first. "Where are you going?"
"Fuck."
King saw Night Shade before Yellow did, but couldn't call out to him in time.
"Shit! Yellow, get out of there!" Blue yelled, just as Yellow dodged an energy blast.
Green and Red grabbed weapons and ran for Yellow. "Get Chosen to the widget!" Red shouted.
Blue, who was holding a barely conscious Chosen, ran for the widget, King following suit.
Night Shade had been attacking Green and Red, and obviously failing to get them. "Son of a bitch!"
Red and the others ran past them and helped Blue and King get Chosen and Yellow through the widget before jumping in themselves.
Only God knew if he'd follow them through, but they needed to get out of there.
Gold and the others really weren't expecting the others to show up, unless something unexpected and really bad happened.
But, King and the others did show up,and it didn't seem like they were doing great.
"Holy Alan, what happpened?!" Scarlet asked.
"Night Shade happened." King deadpanned, taking Chosen from Blue and placing him on the ground. "Anything that can help him?"
"Probably not. If we're lucky, it's stopped spreading, but he really doesn't have much longer."
"Shit."
"We don't have a lot of time either. We need to find a way to help the others if we're gonna save Chosen."
"Then you guys are gonna have to get to the base, wherever the hell they are," Copper said. "We'll stay with Cho and the others, you guys just find a boat and get to Orchid's base before Night Shade gets to us first."
Blue was already running down to the shoreline with the others when King and Yellow regained their senses and followed them.
The coastline didn't look infected, but God knew how long that would last.
"Come on! We've gotta make a boat or something!" Green exclaimed.
"How?! We don't have enough blocks!" Blue shouted back.
"And the thunderstorm took a lot out of the staff, I doubt it's gonna do much." Yellow added.
"So we're screwed?" Red deadpanned.
"Essentially."
Green was cut off by a large energy blast from above, followed by numerous screams.
Nobody had to think twice about what that meant.
Night Shade had followed them.
"Fuck."
"Then how are we going to get across the ocean to the base to rescue Purple and the others?!" King asked.
A faint cackle came from above them. "Oh, that's an easy answer."
A blast of energy surrounded them, followed by a gust of cold air.
"You won't be able to."
The world around Yellow felt cold and stiff. After the energy blast, his entire body was covered in Grey spots that rapidly grew in size and spread across his body.
"Leave...my friends...alone." He gasped out, staring at the others suffering similar fates.
He could only think about how Gold and the other's final moments were.
"Oh, don't worry. Your friends are fine. Oh, and look on the bright side! You'll remaining alive friends will have a front row seat to your demise!"
Yellow could feel King's reaction. Purple would be forced to watch them all die.
Second and Dark would, too.
Their three remaining friends would have to watch the only people left in their lives die before them.
God knows how Purple would take that.
"Purple's lost his entire family..." King snapped with what remaining strength he had. "Don't make him watch the deaths of the only people he has left..."
"Oh, but then where's the fun in that?!" Night Shade smirked."
Yellow couldn't take anymore. He left the cold feeling wash over him before it all went black.
"I'm sorry we couldn't stop him, Purple."
"Get down!" King jumped out of the way of another attack.
"What the fuck?!" Yellow shouted.
"Aw, what's the matter? Not having any fun?" Orchid said, as if she were talking to a child.
"Yeah, that's real fucking funny." Blue deadpanned.
"You people are being ridiculous!" Crystal shouted.
"They've done worse." Green snapped.
"Yeah, listen to the little boy!"
"YOU BE QUIET!" Green shouted.
He too was blasted a second later.
"Fuck!"
"Tread lightly, my little angels! I'm dangerous!" The woman snapped villainously.
"Really funny, Orchid."
"We're not your little angels!"
"We're demons."
"Lucifer if we're really pushing it."
Orchid smirked, glancing up to the ceiling. "Well, you will certainly try..."
Willow and Sunny fell to the group, covered in grey spots.
"...And you will certainly fail."
Another energy blast, this time larger.
Most of the kids screamed, and that was the last King remembered.
Purple dodged another one of Navy's energy balls, blocking a second with his blade.
"Son of a bitch!"
He glanced down at Dark and the others, who were backed against a wall, ViraBots surrounding.
"Fuck."
The distraction worked, since Navy blasted another fireball at him, sending him crashing into the opposite wall.
"Shit!"
"What's wrong, son?" Navy said sweetly. "Running low on energy?"
He turned to the Hollowheads.
"This should be fun."
"What the hell is with the ViraBots?!" Second shouted.
"I thought we stopped them!"
"We did!"
Chosen glanced at the sea of blue, until something caught his attention.
"Is that...?"
Chosen lay on his bed, watching Dark on the opposite side of the room as he slept soundly.
These past few days had been quite stressful on him, to say the least.
"GET OUT OF HERE! EVERYONE, RUN!" Navy's guards screamed, getting their master onto his glider before they all began running in an opposite direction.
"Tell your little friend," Navy bellowed towards Second, who took a protective stance in front of the group. "They have 24 hours to surrender Purple. I've been waiting for this moment!"
"What moment?" Chosen questioned angrily.
"Purple has been struck with something so powerful that I must have it. Think about the Master Block, only much, MUCH stronger! I could rule the world with it!" Navy laughed before flying off on his glider.
There was silence once more.
King sunk to the ground, clutching his head in his hands as he sobbed quietly as the others discussed another plan.
"We need Alan. BADLY!" Green exclaimed.
"But, how? It was an arm and a leg to get here! Do you realize how hard it could be to get back?!" Second exclaimed.
"Uhm, guys-" Dark started.
"It wasn't hard the first time," Chosen reminded. "How hard could it be this time?"
"Guys-" Dark said, raising his voice again, body shaking with fear as he took side-eye glances at the crack in the ground.
"We had Alan that time!" Blue said. "We don't have him this time!"
"GUYS!" Dark screamed, catching the entire team's attention. They all glanced at him.
"Look at the hole." Dark said quietly, shaking so badly Chosen feared he might collapse.
A red clawed stick climbed out of the hole. The hollow-headed sticks froze in fear.
"VIRABOTS!" Second screamed. Dark, startled at the shout, slipped before getting caught by Chosen, who glanced at the others.
"RUN!"
"DARK! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! THESE BOTS ARE DANGEROUS!" Chosen screamed.
"Cho, you saw me destroy them! How can they still be alive?!" Second reminded them.
"GUYS! GET OFF THE ROOF!" Dark and Second jumped back as Virabots began climbing up the wall towards the roof.
"BLUE AND KING, START THROWING THE POTIONS!" Yellow screamed. Blue tossed all the potions into a piston and aimed it at the roof.
"Wh-what are you doing?!" King asked in confusion.
Blue snatched the potion from his hand. "Making this plan easier." He muttered before slamming his fist on a newly placed button. Potions began firing out of the piston and towards the roof, where Virabots were pummeled with harming and weakness potions. Yellow and Blue high-fived.
When the potion particles cleared, Second staggered out from behind the shack, obviously under the weakness potion.
"Guess we over aimed some of the weakness potions." Green said, running over to catch Second, who quickly collapsed to the ground.
"Hold up-where's Dark?!" Chosen asked, the absence of the stick in question becoming clear to him.
"He...got grabbed by this...blue stick..." Second said before passing out.
"Blu e stick. If our Blue is here, and Navy went in the opposite direction...who did he mean?" Green asked.
"Gold."
Everyone turned to King.
"Gold...he used to have a few friends. Sapphire, Copper, and Scarlet. Scarlet bared a few resemblances to Dark. Color, head shape, and size," King said to himself, but loud enough for the others to hear. His eyes lit up in realization. "I bet Sapphire grabbed Dark because she though Dark was Scarlet!"
"Well, only Second knows, but we'll need a reference drawing. Do you have a vague memory of what his friends look like?" Yellow asked. King glanced at the stick.
"In fact, I have quite a few memories of my son's friends."
"What happened?"
"You fell off the roof during the ViraBot battle before you started speaking nonsense about Dark and some blue stick. You had a concussion and a badly messed up arm when we saw you, but now you seem fine." Blue said.
King walked over, shoving a picture in his face. "Do you recognize any of these sticks?" He asked.
Second stared at the photo for a few moments before pointing at the blue colored stick. "That one. They grabbed Dark." He said blankly.
"Sapphire?" King pressed. Second only nodded.
"King, calm down. We know who got Dark, but we don't know if they-" Yellow began.
"Sapphire won't hurt a fly! She probably realized she had the wrong person and let Dark go free!" King snapped.
"So your telling me...Dark's LOST out there?!" Chosen screamed.
"Well, I wouldn't say "lost". Just...misdirected." Green said sheepishly. Second threw his head into his hands.
"We have to find him! If Navy's still out there, he could get snatched!" Chosen quickly began to hyperventilate.
"But if he finds Purple and the others, he could warn them! You heard Navy! Red and the others have less than a day to surrender Purple!" King said.
"But, Dark's out there. How can you care more about some stupid stick figure and not my best friend?!" Chosen yelled angrily.
"BECAUSE I CAN'T LOSE HIM!" King suddenly screamed.
The shack fell into silence. King silenced whatever else he wanted to say and ran out.
"Hey, King! Wait up!" Green called out, chasing after him.
Chosen stood as still as a statue, stunned at the sudden outburst.
God dammit.
"DARK! DARK, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?! PLEASE, JUST ANSWER!"
"Cho, if we're lucky, he made it to the others amd warned them of impending danger. But ONLY if we're lucky." Blue noted.
"CODE RED! CODE RED!" Yellow called out, racing out of the woods. "What the hell?!" Blue yelled.
"There's guards coming this way. I think your right, Blue. Dark got to the others and now they're coming for us." Yellow panted.
"DAMMIT!" Chosen screamed, grabbing a rock and throwing it before disintegrating it with fire. Blue instinctively back up.
"Wait-whats going on?" Green asked, coming out of the shack with Second. "We need to find King and get the hell outta here." Yellow said.
"SHIT-GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME, ASSHOLES!" King suddenly screamed, hitting guards away with tree branches. Second and Yellow shared a glance before running to help.
Second dragged King away before Yellow slammed a tree branch at one of the guards, sending most of them retreating into the woods.
King shared a look with the others, and Green said what they all knew by now.
"I don't think Purple's okay."
As the group stood in an eerie silence, Green's statement became more and more seeable in their heads.
Purple was in danger. Grave danger.
"We have to go to Stick City." Chosen said. Everyone turned to look at him, a chorus of responses following suit.
"WHAT?!"
"OH HELL NO!"
"YOU'VE LOST YOUR MIND!"
"IT'S THE ONLY THING WE CAN DO AT THIS POINT!" King silenced as everyone froze in place.
King lowered his voice and looked at the others. "Getting to Stick City and rescuing the others should be priority number one. We've gotten sidetracked one too many times. We have to rescue them, before it's too late." He said.
"What do you mean "before it's too late"? Second asked quietly.
"Oh, Kingy! Time for your friend's crowning!"
In an instant, everyone was snatched up into a large net, only being held up by a helicopter with a very familiar stick inside.
"NAVY?!" Green and King screamed.
"In the flesh, my dears," Navy said tauntingly. "Now, off we go! We must be back to the city soon for my ultimate plan!"
Second, Green, Yellow, and Blue clung to each other like lifelines, while King and Chosen kept themselves steady by holding onto the net. The two looked at each other with the same thought running through their heads.
"Well, shit. This isn't gonna end well."
By this point, Green began sobbing. "NOW WHAT?! Purple's life is in danger! And we're key witnesses!" Was all he could say as Second pulled him into a hug.
King glanced at the city in the distance. "Well, we can try and get his life out of danger."
Yellow gave him a flabbergasted look. "And how in the hell do we do that?!" He spluttered.
King pointed at Stick City. "Right there. We cut off whatever power supply they could get Purple inside, defeat Navy in the process, and get the hell out of there! Simple!"
"Yeah, it'd be simple if we had either Second's full power, or Dark's ViraBands. Sec can't unlock his full power at the moment, and you-know-who has the ViraBand. So we're almost screwed here." Chosen deadpanned.
"Hold up-Cho, you have powers too!" Blue said. Chosen's eyes widened.
"You think I'll use those on some mortal?!" Chosen exclaimed.
"You realize your best friend is also there, right?" Second reminded. Chosen's head was filled with thoughts about Dark in an instant.
After a moment, he gave in. "Fine." He sighed. "You owe me though, Second Coming."
Second smirked, and King flashed a smile at the sticks. "Now, let's get our friends back!" He proclaimed, pumping a fist in the air as the others followed suit.
Navy's helicopter landed a few minutes later, and the net was opened, sending the others falling to the ground. They all groaned at the rough landing. "OW!" Blue whined, being helped up by Yellow.
"Holy crap, this is Stick City?" Yellow asked, marveling at the interior of the area. King was about to say something when something he saw silenced his sentence.
Another helicopter landed moments later, and one part was sent in a separate direction, and King swore he saw Purple and Gold inside. He was about to comment, before a few other sticks were dropped from the helicopter before it took off.
"Wait-where's Purple?" King asked, aiming the question at the three sticks.
"Well, he and Gold kinda...got sent to another area." Sapphire said, rubbing the back of her head.
"Were Dark and Red with them?!" Chosen pressed.
"Oh, the other hollow head and the red dude? Yeah, they went with." Copper said. Chosen's mind stopped.
"You...you guys realize they-they could die there, right?" He stammered, trying to hold back his sadness.
"We didn't know! All we know is they're gonna brainwash Purple, use him against us, and then Navy's gonna rule the world!" Scarlet said honestly.
"They're gonna BRAINWASH Purple?!" King screamed in horror. Green froze in his tracks as well.
"Your kidding, right? Sapphire, PLEASE tell me your joking!" King begged.
"Wish I was. But I'm not." She said sadly.
"Well, what can we do?" Chosen asked, his voice racked with worry and concern.
"Well, we know where they're going, so let's get into town and hopefully stop Navy from brainwashing Purple." Copper suggested.
Would it work?" Second asked.
"If we're lucky, we can get there in time to stop him." Scarlet noted.
"But how would we get to them?" Green asked. "We're basically weaponless, and Blue doesn't have anymore potions we can counterattack with."
"Would this work?" Yellow asked, pulling out his command block staff.
"God damn, when did you get that?!" Sapphire exclaimed as her two companions stared in awe.
"Well, we've had plans the past day or so, so there really hasn't been a need for this. But now, we're gonna need it." Yellow said.
"Okay, here's the plan: me and Gold's friends will go through and ambush Navy from the outside. The rest of you will ambush from the inside. Got it? King said.
"Got it!" Everyone agreed. The group then separated to get inside.
"RED!" Second screamed, racing towards the two sticks before tackling him back onto the ground in a hug. Red didn't hesitate to hug him back.
"Holy shit, thank God your safe. We were worried sick!" Green reprimanded, helping him up before hugging him as well.
"Sorry if I scared you guys." Red said softly.
"It's okay. At least your alive." Second said, bringing him back in for another hug that the others quickly joined in on.
"Dark, where the hell have you been?! You had us scared half to death!" Chosen snapped as Dark ran up to him and King.
"You guys were scared for me? Damn," Dark deadpanned. "Could've expected better."
"Better!? Dude, I was worried sick! Do you realize the danger you put yourself through?!" Chosen screamed, holding back the tears threatening to fall.
"Sorry! I was trying to keep you guys safe! I'm not some heartless monster, ya know." Dark said as he grabbed Chosen's arms.
Chosen brushed it off and hugged him anyway. "I know, Dark. I'm sorry." Dark accepted the affection and hugged him back.
"Where's Purple? What happened?!" Green asked.
"Navy grabbed Purple and kinda...escaped with him." Red answered sadly.
"Damn it," Chosen muttered. "Now what?"
"We kick his ass! He's got our friend!" Second proclaimed, pumping a fist in the air.
"You realize even with the command block staff, Chosen, and Dark, we're kinda out matched, right?" Blue noted.
"Yeah, he's got the ViraBands, and quite a bit of guards, so we're kinda screwed." Green added.
"Does that matter? All we could do is shut down whatever he's gonna use to take over the city and blow it up. Then, we rescue Purple and find a way back to the desktop." King explained.
"That might work!" Sapphire said.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go stop Navy!" Red screamed, running out of the room and out of sight as everyone followed.
"Purple is now brainwashed, Master." One of the guards said.
"Excellent. Now I can-"
"PURPLE!"
Navy's sentence was interrupted by King and Yellow running into the room, followed by everyone else.
"Perfect. Now I can unleash my master plan!" Navy declared. He pressed another button, and Purple collapsed off the concrete and fell to the floor like a ragdoll.
"You said he was brainwashed!" A guard pointed an accusing finger at the other.
"Oh, did I say brainwashed? I meant comatose!" The other said sheepishly.
"Well, when's he gonna wake up?!" King asked desperately as he held the unconscious stick.
"Depends on how many memories he's forced through." Navy spoke.
"Memories?!" Green asked.
"Indeed. Whatever the guard injected him with forces him through memories he's buried in his past until he finally breaks. Once he does, he'll be mine forever!" Navy proclaimed.
King froze where he was.
"And now, ViraBands, ATTACK!" Navy shouted, raising his bracelet high in the high, sending a blast of red electricity out of the bracelet. The beam blasted through the roof and into the sky, tinting the morning blue sky a deep, dark red. The citizens below looked on in horror as Navy rose higher and higher into the air. Many screamed. Many began to run. Others stood, frozen with fear.
And Second and Yellow used the Command Block staff to climb their way to the top with him. Navy took notice and blasted the cobblestone tower, sending both sticks falling to the ground.
"Sec! Yellow! You two alright?" Dark asked, helping them up. Yellow sent a suspicious glance at Dark, but nodded in assurance.
"We have to stop him. Staff or no staff, I'm gonna kill this guy." King said. Yellow handed him the command block staff, and he flew right up to Navy, smacking him as hard as possible with the staff. Navy landed on a tall building, and sent another blade at the stick figure. King dissolved it with the staff before flying towards him. Navy spawned in another blade before attempting to slice the staff. King dissolved the blade again.
"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST ADMIT DEFEAT!?" He yelled angrily.
"I won't stop fighting you until you free Purple from whatever you've put him under!" King snapped, blocking another attack.
"Why do you care so much about some dumb stick, anyway? He's a worthless piece of trash!" Navy snickered, swiping the staff out of King's hands before pinning him to a skyscraper.
"Because, unlike you, I actually love him for who he is. Just cause he can't fight, or sought comfort in people, or cried because you hurt him doesn't mean he's worthless. It means that he didn't have the love and care that he deserved! You pushed him to the point he was at when I finally met him! He was, and is, just a kid! It's not his fault you abandoned him and your wife. It's your own, so I see no point in you wanting to come back into Purple's life when he has me, and Green, and everyone else down there to love and care for him!"
Navy scowled but held his ground. "He could've just fought harder!" He reasoned.
King kicked the stick off of him before grabbing the staff. He tried spawning obsidian. to prevent Navy from getting closer, but he crashed straight through it.
A blast of fire separated the duo, and Chosen flew up, flames spawning from his hands. Second and Green flew upwards using their fishing rods before all three were shot down with a swipe of Navy's blade. Dark flew up and caught Chosen while King used the staff the protect Green and Second. Navy snatched the staff and slammed his two energy sources together. The slam cause a giant blast of dark blue electricity to blast out of the newly formed staff, adding darkness to the deep red sky. A dull purple cyclone spawned, enclosing Navy's base, and most of the city as it got bigger, in a dark cyclone.
The others watched on in horror and two words were shared between each of them.
"Well, shit."
King and the others stared at the dark cyclone enveloping the city. Almost all of them were trembling so bad, most of them were close to falling over as Navy cackled from above them.
"And now," He began, loud enough for the city to hear. "My master plan shall begin!"
"OH NO IT WON'T!"
King glanced up as a purple blur flew past them and up towards Navy before the two of them collided. The blur of Navy and the other stick slammed into the ground full force as a familiar stick escaped the smoke.
Purple.
"Oh my god...THAT WAS AWESOME!" Green screamed from Second's arms. Purple sent a small smile at him before looking at King.
"Your...your alright," King breathed, shakily walking over. "Your alright!" He scooped the stick into his arms.
"I heard you." Purple said quietly.
"W-What? That's impossible! I've been fighting your dad this whole time!" King stammered, holding Purple close.
"You were there. You said...that you've always cared about me from the start. Everything you've done for me ever since I was kidnapped, you've done to prove you care." Purple said, keeping a grip on one of King's hands.
"I did." King said softly.
"You promised you'd be there for me, no matter what." Purple looked up at him, tears shimmering in his eyes. "You...you said you loved me."
"I do, Purple. I love you so much. I'll never leave you." King hugged him tighter.
"Promise?"
King smiled. "Promise."
Purple glanced at his father, who begun levitating again. He spawned blades from the leftover ViraBands he found and grasped one of King's hands. "Let's finish this once and for all. Ready guys?!"
"READY!" Came the chorus of responses from the team, stepping forward into battle positions. King and Purple shared a small smile.
"Let's finish this." Purple said, fiery determination blazing in his eyes.
King grasped his hand tighter.
"Together."
Everything swirled around in his head. It was a lot to handle.
He had been roped into helping his little brother's best friend stop his biological father, which was something, almost got an entire city destroyed...again. Doubled with almost losing his best friend.
Again.
It sucked.
Laying in his bed, he stared at the ceiling. A lot of things were racing through his mind.
What if things had gone different?
What if Purple had actually died in that collapse?
What if Dark had been-
"No. Don't think about that. You've already lost him once."
He's lost him once.
He can't lose him again.
Chosen sighed, staring up at the ceiling.
Chosen walked aimlessly, trying to find his way back to his home.
Even with the giant hole in the wall.
It was one person empty now.
Because he had lost him.
He was dead.
Chosen sighed, looking up at the sky, the same sky that had been filled with an explosion just hours before.
The same sky that he-
No.
Stop thinking.
Stop thinking about it.
You have to stop.
Stop.
Chosen looked up. Nothing but trees.
He was going to be out here for a while. Which was not going to be fun.
He was covered in scratches, cuts, and bruises, and he was worried some could be infected already.
He was lucky the house had a med kit somewhere.
He just had to find it in the rubble.
He moved through the trees, pushing branches away from his face. The grass crunched beneath his feet.
Why did it have to be him?
A rustle from the trees. Chosen's senses heightened, and he flinched.
A fireball made its way into his hand. "Who's there?!"
Nothing.
Not a single movement followed.
A shadow sat in the bush, incredibly still.
Chosen glared it down.
"Alright, buddy, what the hell are you?"
It jumped out of the bushes, and Chosen's heart raced at it's appearance.
It was a ViraBot.
"Shit." He threw the ball of fire, which the spider easily dodged.
"Fuck! Stay still, you fucking bitch!"
Fireball after fireball. The Virabot dodged each one.
"Son of a-!"
Chosen was tackled to the ground. His limbs shouted in pain.
Fuck, that hurt.
"Fuck..." Chosen's body was sore. This was not fun.
"Alright, bitch...let's get you taken care of.."
He tried to stand, but was instantly brought back to his knees by the pain.
"Fuck!"
Another shadow whizzed past him. His senses heightened again.
He sensed another's energy.
"..Dark..?"
No.
Impossible.
There was no way he could be-
Another figure tackled the ViraBot. Chosen flinched.
No fucking way.
"Dark?!"
"I got you, Cho! Get outta here! I can't hold this forever!"
Chosen got to his feet, ignoring the pain.
He blasted it with another fireball.
"Chosen, go!"
"No!"
"Your injured!"
"Yeah? And your supposed to be dead, so I guess we're even!"
Dark gave a visible smirk. "Fine, you win."
Chosen blasted the ViraBot with another fireball.
"Come on, come on! I created you! Now listen to me!" Dark shouted.
The ViraBot blinked at him.
"Master?"
Dark sighed, aggravated. "Yes. It's me. Now quit attacking my friend and go!"
"But, the mission-"
"To hell with the mission! That's my best friend your attacking, and I order you to stop attacking him!"
The ViraBot flinched. Chosen watched it. Another fireball rested in his hand.
Dark grabbed his hand, preventing an attack. "Wait. I think I got through to it."
The ViraBot stared at Dark and Chosen for another moment, before slinking away into the trees.
"HAH! GOT IT!" Dark exclaimed, punching Chosen in the shoulder.
"That was...actually pretty cool! How'd you do that?"
Dark shrugged. "I guess they survived the child kicking my ass...somehow, and their code hasn't been reset. I doubt it can be reset. Meaning unless we defeat them..."
"They're still under your control." Chosen said.
"Essentially."
Chosen wrapped an arm around Dark's shoulders. "I appreciate it, though. I could've taken it out."
Dark scoffed. "In your state? I would have loved to see that."
"Fuck you."
"Dark! Look! It's that ViraBot we battled!" Chosen shook his friend's arm, catching his attention.
"What?"
"After Second kicked your ass? I was heading back to our base, and that red one attacked me! You jumped out and saved me! Remember?!"
Dark looked at the red creature, and the flicker in his eyes showed clear recognition.
"Fuck."
"What do we do?"
"I..."
The trio was blasted into a wall.
"FUCK!"
"OW!"
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"
Purple joined them soon after.
"Shit-Purple! You okay?!"
"Oww..."
"Yeah. Hurts like a bitch."
Second glanced up at Navy, who had an expression similar to that of a person receiving information. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
Navy turned to them, lowering himself to their level. "Oh, don't worry. You'll join your friends soon enough."
Orchid brushed past them, and Chosen's heart dropped.
"No.."
Purple visibly froze, eyes widening in fear and realization.
"No...no no no no no!"
"Oh, yes. Now that your friends are dead," Navy spat out the word with an evil smile. "You'll watch us destroy every other thing you've known and loved, and then you'll join them in your new home: the land of the dead!"
The quartet looked at each other, each with a similar thought.
We are so fucked.