Purple was grateful that it wasn't a giant thunderstorm.
The last time, there was a thunderstorm, and it didn't end well.
(Besides staying the night at Gold's, but he couldn't do that now, could he?)
Purple sighed, throwing his hood over his head. He wished he had his headphones, but he'd really just walked out on King, hadn't he?
Good God, he'd just walked out on King.
He'd hurt him for all he knew.
"Purple, calm down!"
"No!"
An energy ball was blasted into the wall right next to him. Purple froze.
No.
He just-
King stared at the wall for a moment, before looking back at Purple, who was already stepping backwards.
"Purple."
Purple's hand hit the doorknob, and he reacted before he even had a chance to realize what he was doing.
He bolted out the door, slamming it behind him, ignoring King's panicked calls.
Purple's hand brushed his phone. He could feel the texts flowing into it without feeling the vibrations.
King, just stop!
I don't want to talk to you right now!
Just leave me alone-!
Purple stumbled, catching himself before he hit the ground, before looking back at what he'd tripped over.
A crack in the ground.
"What the-"
They'd just rebuilt the city, why was the sidewalk already cracking?
Was that just how it was coded?
Or-
Purple blinked, opening his eyes at the exact moment the ground continued to crack, spreading across the sidewalk and into the street.
"What in Becker-"
The ground opened, revealing dark, gray water.
Purple's memories caught up to him, and he realized what was going on.
"Fuck."
Gold was already running out of the house hearing a scream.
"Gold, calm down!"
"I'm sure it's nothing!" Copper said, opening the curtains next to the door the girls were holding Gold back from opening.
"Oh, sure, like you hear a scream and think it's nothing, especially after what's happened to the city!" Gold snapped.
"Navy's supposed to be dead! It's nothing!"
"Holy shit, it's another dimension!"
"There's another dimension beneath the city, what the fuck!?"
The quartet stared at each other in a frozen silence.
"You were saying?"
Copper shut the curtains and shoved the younger kids away from the door and threw it open. "We need to find Purple."
Gold ran down the stairs of their house, hopping the gate before crashing into someone.
"Ow!"
"Gold, can you not crash into me?"
Gold pulled hair out of his face before blinking. "Shit-Purple! Sorry, I didn't see you there."
Pulling himself to his feet, Purple readjusted his sweater. "Seeing as you just jumped your fence, I don't blame you. What the hell's going on?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, but we should find King and get the hell out of here."
Purple visibly flinched at the mention of their dad.
Shit.
"King's being a moron, huh?"
"You could say that."
Gold sighed, pulling Purple into a side hug. "Well, Gold's got this. We're gonna get to the desktop."
"If we can get out of the city," Sapphire said, pointing to the chaos erupting.
"Shiiiit."
King didn't know how long he was staring at the door after Purple left, but it was a while.
A long, silent, agonizing while.
Just staring at the door, as if Purple would magically walk through the door.
He wouldn't. King knew this
(Green was going to fucking murder him.)
"Jesus Christ, Green's gonna kill me-"
A scream from outside, and King had to force himself onto his feet to check his window for answers.
Sticks were running left and right, and in the center of King's street, a crack.
Opening to another dimension.
King sighed. "Here we go again."
Another energy ball. Straight through the portal. Purple was easily able to slide under it before it threw him inside, so it wasn't a big loss, but unfortunate he couldn't destroy them.
"Any luck?"
"Nothing! They go straight through!"
"I figured they would. Their portals."
"Fair, but it'd be cool if we could just...blow them up."
"That's fair."
Sapphire skidded to a stop, placing her arms in front of the others. "Look out!"
Scarlet crashed straight into her, but not hard enough to make her fall. "Fuck!"
Purple snagged both girls before either got a chance to fall. "We should find another way."
"Purple's right."
King rounded another corner, barely dodging the crashing opening of another portal. "Fuck-!"
What the hell was going on?!
God, where was Purple?
King skidded to a stop in front of the park, glancing around to try and find someone.
"Fuck.."
Maybe he's at Gold's?
King backed away slowly, already making the mental path in his head before crashing into something.
"Ow!"
King blinked for a minute before realizing who he'd run into. "Purple! There you are!"
"Dad, what the hell is happening. The city's gone wild!"
Purple stared at the two for another minute before thinking. "Maybe it's another dimension, or reality."
"But how?"
King thought for a moment. "Purple, question: what exactly was Orchid planning at her ocean base?"
"Which time?"
"After you got your powers."
"Not sure. We'd destroyed the machine before she'd been able to use it."
"Maybe it's an alternate reality where you didn't destroy the machine," Copper suggested. "Where..."
"The three of us wouldn't have been able to escape the first time to stop her from using her machine."
"So...can we stop it?" Sapphire asked.
"Hopefully, but likely not."
"Sap...look out."
Sapphire blinked, staring at her boyfriend. "Wh-"
"Sapphire, look out!" King shouted.
Sapphire turned around, and screamed.
Something crashed into her, before everyone ducked.
"Oww.."
"My head."
"Sap, you okay?"
King groaned, pushing hair out of his face and looking around, taking inventory at who had made it through the explosion that was Sapphires near-demise.
Him, Gold, Sapphire, Scarlet, Copper...
Where was Purple?
"Guys...?"
Everyone looked at King.
"...Where's Purple?"