When Purple first walks through the portal, dragging King in by the hand, he automatically knows Yellow is up to something.
Judging by the...giant machine in the middle of the desktop, and Yellow tinkering with something in top.
Purple lets go of King's hand for a moment and gently taps the machine. "What the stick did you make now?"
"Simple!" Yellow jumps down, nearly crashing into Purple(if King hadn't dragged him backwards. King really still didn't trust the Color Gang as much as Purple did.) as the others came outside. "Red had a question about the memories of feelings of animals, and asked me to make a machine that allowed us to watch them!"
For once, the nerdy part of Purple's brain was activated. Even King's eyes widened with interest. "That's...quite an interesting inquiry."
"Well, it makes sense," Yellow explains. "Everyone's brains work differently."
Red in question steps forward. "And I wanted to see how Ruben's worked different from mine!"
"Easy there, buddy," Yellow gently pushed him away. "I need to make sure it works."
"How?"
"Well...maybe we could test it on a smaller animal?" Purple suggested. "Like a chicken? Or we could just try Ruben's first before moving onto yours. I don't think Yellow's machine has the capabilities to handle a human-or stick-brain...no offense."
"None taken, and I think your right." Yellow waved his hand in dismissal. "I think we should try it on smaller animals first. Like, say, a chicken or a parrot. Even a bunny would do."
Red looked thoughtful for a moment, before reaching into his inventory and spawning in a rabbit. "Sniffles!"
Purple snorted at the nickname. Typical Red, he figured, coming up with the most hilarious nicknames for possible temporary animals. The duo ran off, but Purple stayed.
Even after being forgiven, Purple still felt weird intruding on their adventures.
King, however, pushed him forward. "You okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I just-I just don't want them to think I'm intruding on them."
A gentle hand wrapped around his shoulders. "Come on, kiddo. They invited you, I'm sure they'd love to have you join in on their fun!"
"You think?"
"I know. And besides, who wouldn't want a little ray of sunshine like you to brighten their day?" He ruffled Purple's hair.
"Okay, okay!"
"There's the Purple I know."
Yellow and Red ran back out, Second, Green, and Blue trailing behind them. Purple didn't realize it until Green cut off Yellow's rambling.
"Okay, Yelly, we get it." Green said. "Now show us!"
Yellow sighed in defeat, "Aw, but I wanted to explain it!"
"Explain later, show us!" Blue exclaimed.
"Fineeeeeeeee."
Yellow picked up the rabbit, gently placing it on a chair before tossing Purple his staff. "I'd recommend you make a barrier block shield just in case this goes south."
The group backed far behind Purple, huddling close to each other. Purple stared back at the staff, waiting for Yellow to turn the machine on.
Yellow flipped a switch and jumped behind Purple before the barrier blocks came up, and the group braced for impact.
Fortunately, no impact ever came. The machine was a success.
"YES! WE DID IT!" Yellow exclaimed, jumping back towards his machine as soon as Purple had the shield down.
Purple wearily eyed the staff before setting it down, watching Red carefully take Ruben over as Yellow took off the magnetic patches off of his rabbit.
"Okay, just set Ruben here and I'll attach these to his head," Yellow coached Red through the process, carefully attaching the patches to the pig's head. "Purple, get that barrier back up as soon as this turns on. There is a high chance Ruben will thrash around, or it will blast you into it's head."
"It will what." King snapped.
"It's supposed to transfer data/memories into a computer screen," Yellow gestured to the screen. "But instead, it could break out of it's containment if the subject is too unstable, and hit someone. God knows what it'll do to them."
Purple's body freezes slightly, but relaxes when King gently takes his hand.
"You okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." Purple grabs the staff, waiting patiently for Yellow to turn the machine on.
"Aaaaaaaaaand...Now!"
Yellow flipped the switch, but Ruben was faster, thrashing about, kicking and oinking in pain.
"Yellow, look out!" Purple ran forward, grabbing Yellow's arm and dragging him away.
"No! I need to turn it off!" Yellow shouted, pulling against Purple's grip. Unfortunately, Purple's grip was tighter, and Yellow pulled hard enough where they both crashed to the ground.
Narrowly avoiding one of the patches.
"Shit, shit-"
"Yellow!" Green jumped to Purple's aid, grabbing Yellow and pulling him back to the ground. Purple jumped for Ruben, pulling him away from the machine as the patches swung around.
"Purple, get down!" Green shouted, pushing Yellow towards the group and jumping to protect Purple. King shoved Yellow into Blue's arms before jumping in front of both teenagers.
A flash of light, and it all went dark.
"Ow, fucking hell, why did we land on concrete-"
Green's pained groan echoes throughout the space. For Purple, it's confusing as hell.
The desktop shouldn't have an echo.
"Uhm, Green? The desktop isn't supposed to have an echo...is it?" Purple asked, blinking at the echo his own voice gave off.
"No? It isn't?"
"So then why..." Purple trailed off, something Yellow had said earlier bouncing around in his splitting head.
"Purple, get that barrier back up as soon as this turns on. There is a high chance Ruben will thrash around, or it will blast you into it's head."
"It's supposed to transfer data/memories into a computer screen. But instead, it could break out of it's containment if the subject is too unstable, and hit someone. God knows what it'll do to them."
"Shit, shit, shit-"
"What? What's wrong?!"
Purple glanced at him. "We're not on the desktop anymore."
"Well, then, where are we?"
"Someone's head. Who's is anyone's guess." Purple said. "And it's a pitch black space, so good luck figuring it out."
Green glanced up at the never-ending ceiling above them, nearly falling over from how far he tilted back. "Jesus Christ, it's like a never-ending void!"
A small, faint sound caught Purple's attention, and he immediately turned to investigate.
"What the-"
"Dad! Dad, look at me!"
A small yellow stick figure ran in front of Purple, a branch in hand.
The single image replayed in Purple's head over and over, the same photograph on a bookcase in the living room almost putting the piece together.
And it was only confirmed when he took another step forward, and the scenery changed entirely. The once pitch black echoey void became a park in the city, lush green grass, tall trees, and a bright blue sky with the sun shining brightly.
Green backed closer to Purple, grabbing his arm tightly. "What the-"
"I think I know who's mind we got sucked into."
Yellow groaned, his hand reaching up to clutch his head. Everyone else raced over to check the damage, Red and Second immediately at King's side, helping him up.
What happened to him?
"Yellow! What were you thinking?!" Blue snapped. "That was dangerous! You and Purple almost got killed!"
"Sorry, sorry, I-I tried to get Ruben out before he did any damage and..." Glancing over at Red gushing over the pig in question, it gave him a confirmation. "I guess it worked."
Second hesitantly let go of King's arm, despite the older's reassurances that he was fine. Yellow double checked everything was okay before something dawned on him.
Wait...
Where are Green and Purple?
"Everyone okay?" Second asked, stepping away from King and looking at the other three. He looked between each of them before blinking.
"Where are Green and Purple?"
Yellow's hand brushed against the machine, now destroyed. It's power source was in shreds, having completely exploded.
He looked between the metal and King, his eyes widening.
"Yellow?"
"I-I think I know where they are..."
The group shared glances between him and King, before it clicked.
"Oh, fuck."
King glanced at Yellow, confusion in his eyes.
"What are you...talking about...?"
"King...They're...in your head."
King blinked, his eyes widening.
"No, no...no, please...please tell Purple's okay...please-"
"Purple's alright...I believe. We have no way to tell unless I fix the machine."
King's hands shook. "Please, no...Purple's..."
"King, breathe." Yellow instructed.
King all but collapsed to the floor, clutching his head, breathing heavily, shaking.
Yellows heart dropped.
Fuck.
"We are in King's mind?"
Purple sighed. "For the fourth time, YES."
His eyes were still trained on the small yellow stick figure walking beside King. He looked familiar, he just couldn't place it.
Where had he seen him before?
The scene suddenly disappeared.
"What the-"
"PURPLE LOOK OUT!"
Sparks of electricity and gusts of wind nearly knocked him off his feet.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
A huge whirlwind had formed in the center of the void, nearly knocking Green to the ground. Purple shoved them both out of the way, trying to get away from it.
"HOLY SHIT, IT'S A TORNADO!" Green shouted.
In King's mind?
...Okay, that makes sense.
But that shouldn't be happening!
Right?
Purple sucked in a breath, jumping forwards into the whirlwind, ignoring Green's panicked calls.
Nearly crashing into the tall orange stick figure in the middle.
"King?"
Oh.
Oh.
This was a panic attack.
Fuck.
"...King? King, breathe."
Purple reached out to grab his hand, but was slapped away. Suppressing the pain, Purple reached out again. This time he succeeded.
King glanced up at him.
"Hey, King."
King stares at him, tears in his eyes.
"It's okay, King. I'm here, everything's okay."
The shaking and crying doesn't cease. Purple gives him a sympathetic smile before pulling the older stick into a hug.
King doesn't hesitate to return it, burying his face in his arms. Purple hugs him tighter, gently brushing a hand through his hair.
"It's okay, I'm here, everything is going to be okay."
Purple slowly notices that the near-tornado around them was dying down, replaced with a blinding light. Purple winced, waiting for the inevitable.
Before a familiar voice is heard.
"EVERYONE GET DOWN!"
Yellow?
"Purple? Hey, Purple, wake up. Wake up!"
Purple doesn't want to, the soft wool underneath him is way too comfy for that.
It's a far cry better than the cold hard void.
But alas, King's worried himself enough.
Purple barely squints his eyes open, almost wincing at the light.
Ow.
God damn it, is he trying to trick me into going blind?
"Purple?"
Eventually, his vision clears up, giving him a clear view of King, alive and well.
"...King..?"
"Hey, kiddo." A gentle hand cards through his hair. "Are you okay?"
Well, he doesn't hurt like a bitch. So that's a plus.
"...Physically or mentally?"
"...Both?"
King helps Purple stand to his feet, keeping the firmest yet gentlest grip on his hands.
"I'm fine."
King is surprisingly gentle with him, holding his hand and brushing hair out of his face. "Hey, whatever you did in the shitshow I call my head...thank you."
Purple smiles up at him. "I'm only returning the favor. You help me, I help you."
King returns the smile, tugging the smaller stick into his arms. "Thanks, kiddo."
Purple doesn't mention how much tighter King hugs him when he does return the embrace.
"...I love you...dad.."
"I love you too, kid."