"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.
"The fuck are these bars made of...?" Chosen muttered, blasting another fireball at them. Dark rammed his arm into them, only getting more pain.
"Ow!"
"Don't do it and it won't hurt."
Dark glared at him. "Fuck you."
"Can you both just...not? Please?" Came Second's quiet voice from behind them. Curled up in a ball with his face buried in his knees, neither Chosen or Dark could recognize him.
Chosen knew Second didn't give up easily. So, looking at the broken, visibly hopeless boy in front of him break down did not sit right with him.
Dark had seen Second make something crazy happen in a mere matter of seconds, so seeing Second be at a complete loss for what to do didn't make Dark feel any better about their situation.
They weren't even sure where they had gone wrong. They had been overpowered by Navy at some point, then Orchid showed up, and then suddenly King and the others were dead.
Wherever that had come from, Chosen didn't know, and it was incredibly difficult for him to understand how that had happened so fast.
None of them could, for that matter.
"Dude, where's the Second Coming? We kinda need him." Dark said. He looked to Purple for backup, which he didn't get.
"The hell are we supposed to do?!" Purple snapped. Chosen noticed the tear tracks on the boys cheeks. Poor kid. "Our allies are dead, we ourselves have been captured, and anything the two of you can do will result in our demise!"
Dark was going to snap something back, perhaps something similar to his call to action for Second, but Chosen stopped him.
"The kids just lost their friends and family in one fell swoop, Dark," Chosen said, a look of sympathy crossing his face. "Give them a break."
"But-"
"Dark. I know you want to escape, but we're going to have to find another way."
He took a glance at the events unfolding below them. Navy and Orchid about ready to unleash mass mayhem among the Great Above, and maybe even their own world.
Chosen watched Orchid intently.
"Why are we just watching Orchid?" Dark asked. "Navy's doing the whole...murder and chaos and world destruction."
"Because...Navy's had a history or brainwashing Orchid. That's what happened the first time...and many other times before. I think it's happened again."
"What makes you think that?"
"Purple wouldn't have a use for him and Orchid when he was brainwashed, and everyone else has been preoccupied with us, so...it's gotta be Navy."
"So how are we going to escape and unbriajwash her, while also defeating Navy and bringing our friends back?"
"Simple," Chosen said. "We do nothing. We let Orchid take care of the hard parts, like freeing us and bringing our friends back, which we know she can do, and we'll take care of Navy and the ViraBots."
"And how are we going to free Orchid?" Purple asked.
Chosen flinched slightly at hearing Purple's voice again, but turned to look at him. "That's where you come in, my little friend."
Although he hadn't expected it, Purple was surprised their Minecraft tools still worked in The Great Above. Hell, when he had learned Second, Red, Blue, and Yellow had brought their mob friends with them, he was surprised that they had gotten in.
Did not stop them from being some of the early victims in the carnage that had been Night Shade's army.
Second had gotten an ender pearl from whatever the hell was in his inventory, and Purple had gotten across the throne room, hiding behind a pile of what was the roof...before he and Navy had decided to try and kill each other.
He glared at Orchid, the woman who had killed his family.
Spawning an energy ball, he tossed it at their machine before ducking back under the concrete. He spared a glance at Chosen and Dark, who were watching the scene unfold.
Purple looked back up, and nothing had happened.
Had he missed?
Had it bounced somewhere else and gone through the giant hole in the roof and launched itself into the sky?
Had it-
*BOOM!*
Purple jumped back under the concrete. Bits of machinery flew over his head.
Nevermind, it did hit.
"Nice work, Purple." He whispered to himself.
Navy and Orchid stumbled around in the smoke the explosion had formed, and Purple took that as his advantage and tackled Orchid.
Lightning stuck Navy, sending him crashing into a wall. One less problem, thanks Second.
Orchid threw him off of her. "Get off of me, you stupid brat!"
Purple landed on his feet, shocking Orchid for a mere second.
That second was used to Purple's advantage. He spawned another energy ball and blasted her with it.
"CHOSEN, NOW!"
Chosen and his agility came in handy. He flew down so fast Purple didn't see him coming. He tackled Orchid and tried holding her down.
"What do we do?!"
Chosen's eyes flickered with an idea.
Chosen had not been expecting Orchid to throw Purple, but he silently thanked her for it.
It had distracted her for a moment for Purple to gain a higher upper hand and for Chosen to show up and hold her down.
As he tried freeing her from the brainwashing spell, which it was becoming very clear that the theory had been correct, a thought came to him.
"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."
"That's it!"
"What's it?" Purple had another energy ball at the ready.
"We need someone to get through to her! Someone close!"
"Like me?!"
"It was one of Yellow's leading theories! Brainwashed people can register people close to them! Like you and King! You register his voice when your brainwashed! I think that might work with Orchid, too!"
"I don't think I'll be able to get through to her. Navy or Night Shade might, but I don't think I can!"
Chosen's plan fell apart in his head. Purple had a point. Brainwashed or not, Orchid and Purple hadn't had a decent conversation on years. Chosen highly doubted Purple would be able to do much of anything, except put himself on a suicide list.
"Fuck."
The only other option Chosen could think of was killing Orchid. It was one less villain, but it would also ruin their chances of bringing the others back.
"We might have to kill her."
Purple's face fell.
"I know, we'll lose the easy way to bring your family back, but it's all I've got. If we can't bring Orchid back to resurrect them herself, we're going to have to kill her."
He watched Purple weigh the options. Chosen didn't even think there was another way to bring King and the others back, unless Purple had some miraculous resurrection abilities, which he didn't remember having.
Hell, he doubted it was Purple who brought them back the first time.
"Do it."
He could tell Purple didn't like the option any better than he did.
Chosen raised a hand, a fireball already forming, and was ready for an attack...
...before a burst of pain went through his side.
He knew that feeling.
And it sucked.
Dark couldn't watch. Orchid was killing his best friend right in front of him.
Second could. And Second did not like it.
Jumping forward, he tried tackling Orchid, who threw Chosen away and went for him.
Dark jumped from their hiding spot and followed Purple to where Chosen had been tossed.
"Cho!"
Not again.
Fucking not again.
The memory of how pained Purple sounded when he told them of Chosen's fate last time echoed in his head.
He wanted it to stop.
Purple wanted it to stop.
The last time this happened was bad enough.
Dark realizes too late that he didn't grab a radio before he escaped.
Meaning they had no way of communicating with King and the others.
"Ugh...there's no reception out here!" Second groaned, almost tossing his phone into the water. "Any luck, Purple?"
"Nothing. No reception. There's no way of communicating with the others."
"Fuck."
Purple stared down into the water. "Really wish that vision thingy would do its thing right now. Maybe it'd give us some Intel on where everyone else is."
"Yellow! He's getting worse!"
Blue's frantic voice shot him back into reality.
Or whatever reality he was seeing.
"Get a Regeneration potion!"
"Come on, Cho. Hold on a bit longer."
"Yellow! Start getting command blocks so we can break down this forcefield!"
Purple stared at what was happening in front of him. Chosen was dying.
Night Shade was standing outside the faint purple forcefield Blue was talking about, and cast a glance in his direction.
Shit.
"Purple!"
A cold and wet feeling washed over his body. "What the hell was that for?!"
"Sorry! You just did that space out vision thingy you do and we got worried." Dark tossed the bucket aside. "Sec, get me a towel."
"Got it."
"Is everyone okay?"
Purple stared at him with blank wide eyes. "Not everyone is."
A flash of yellow. Purple stopped. Dark kept moving.
Purple tuned out what was going on in his area and stared at the yellow flash.
A part of him thought of it as familiar.
"Is that..."
Purple grasped the crown, smashing it into pieces. "I'm king of this kingdom now, Navy Rose."
"It...it can't be..."
"Damn it, Purple…why are you such a failure?!" He slammed his fists onto the ground. "You had a simple job and you fucking failed it! One simple job to complete and it all comes crashing down on you because you're nothing but a goddamn failure!"
His parents were right.
"Mom and dad were right…I am nothing but a failure. A weakling. A useless, worthless, good for nothing-!"
"Most loved child by a former villain?"
Purple's self-loathing was cut off by a familiar voice.
"Who…"
"The King of Minecraft himself, kid."
"King, your…"
"Alive? Barely. Thanks to you."
"But…I didn't…"
"Yeah, you did, kid. The prince of Minecraft saved his King, despite the cost."
"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 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.
It was.
It really was.
"The crown."
"Now that that's settled," Navy said, turning to Orchid, who had been surprisingly quite injuried from the attack. "Get rid of the others."
Orchid stood blank for a moment, before spawning an energy ball in her hand. "No."
"What?!"
"I said, no! In fact, to hell with your plan! I'll bring the others back, and I'll stop you!"
Orchid was blasted. Shot.
"Good fucking luck." Navy chuckled.
Orchid grabbed a remote laying amongst the rubble, before throwing it at the wall. It smashed to pieces.
Then she was gone.
King wasn't sure what had happened.
One second, he was frozen in place as Orchid blasted them with the killing blow, and the next, he was falling to his knees and gasping for air.
In fact, the others were.
"Someone...someone gonna tell me what...what the hell happpened?" Amethyst asked, pulling herself up on shaking legs.
"First off, everyone alright?" Blue asked.
Nods of approval.
"Good. Also, for Amethyst, your mom just murdered us."
"WHAT!?"
"Yeah. It's a lot to handle. Purple will, hopefully, explain the main part of it later."
"Speaking of Purple, we should probably go help them out." King said, pulling himself up with Gold's help.
"King's right. Let's go."
"Cho!" Dark flinched back when Chosen moved again, and the grey spots on his body vanished.
"What happened?"
"Navy tried to kill you."
"Of course he did."
Second was blasted backwards. "FUCK!"
"Sec!"
Chosen and Dark both flinched at the voice.
"GREEN!?"
Navy turned towards the entrance.
"Fuck."
King and the others burst into the room, and were automatically pushed back.
Purple flinched. "King!"
Purple was then blasted with a yellow light.
One that Dark quickly recognized.
"The crown."
Navy snarled. This stupid setback!
Naturally, he would've gone to Purple to attack him, but Purple had vanished for whatever reason, so King and the others were the next best target.
King shoved the kids behind him. "Your going to get yourself killed messing with these kids."
Navy smirked. "Uh huh. Your going to get yourselves killed protecting Purple. The useless, weak, unloved, UNGRATEFUL-FUCK!"
Navy was hit with an energy ball. And blasted into a wall.
King and the others flinched, caught off guard from whatever the hell had just happened.
"What..."
"The hell..."
Navy pushed rubble away from him, flying back up into the air. "YOUR GONNA PAY FOR THAT!"
He blinked. King and the others followed his gaze.
"Purple!" King shouted.
The others watched in awe. "Is that...?"
"That's the crown Purple talked about!" Blue exclaimed.
"That crown he killed Orchid with last time?"
"Yep!"
Navy instinctively lunged for the pile of guns nearby. Purple gave chase, attempting to tackle him.
"Oh no you don't!"
Purple dodged the gunshot Navy fired at him.
"Good fucking luck." Purple snapped, a smirk on his face.
Navy snarled. "You fucking brat!"
"Your decision, not mine!"
Green snickered. "Nice work, Purple."
King had to admit, it was one of Purple's best insult at Navy. And he had used a crapton on Navy since they had gotten there.
Purple grabbed one of the guns laying on the ground, and aimed for Navy.
"Might not have to use my powers on you after all, Navy Ribbon-Rose."
Navy growled. "You will regret disrespecting your father like that."
Purple scoffed. "You? My father? Please. The only father I have is King, right down there, watching me kick your ass."
"That is your father?! Can't even protect Gold. What makes you think he can protect you!?"
Another gunshot. "The fact that I mean more to him than you will EVER MEAN TO ME!"
Navy fired the gun right as Purple fired his own fatal blow.
"And that means, you will no longer exist to me. Nothing is going to stop me from killing you ONCE AND FOR ALL!"
The bullets collided...
...and an explosion followed...
...and they were gone.