The rocking motion is what first wakes Purple up.

The next is the all-too familiar, overwhelming feeling of pure dread that washes over him.

The third...well, the third is the pain that spikes into his head.

"Owww...what the fuck?"

Pushing himself up, Purple took a glance around, and immediately, his heart dropped.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck."

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."

"Where in Becker-"

Something hard crashed into him full-force, sending him crashing back to the ground.

"OW! What the fuck-"

"Who the hell are you?!"

Purple grabbed the figure's wrists, before the voice finally clicked into his head.

Why did the voice sound so much like his?

"O..Kay? What the fuck is happening?"

The figure glanced back at him, and Purple suddenly realized what he was looking at.

Himself.

It was him.

"And why the fuck is there another version of me."

"So, your from a reality where you won this fight?"

After a recap, Purple had nicknamed his counterpart Violet, and given them the rundown as best as he could.

"Yeah."

They stared at him, before nodding. "So everything's fine in your world?"

"Yeah...how did that not work out here?"

"I..." Violet stared at the ground.

"You don't have to explain if, but it would help us both if I knew what happened here, so we could fix it."

"I don't know where it went wrong..." Violet started. "Everything was going fine after me and King talked in the void, and then..."

Purple could vividly remember what they were recalling.

After the conversation in which Purple had to watch King and the others die, he'd gone after Dark and Second, and then struck a deal with Orchid.

"The deal, was it?"

"Yeah...I struck a deal with Orchid, and then..."

After escaping the void, Purple found a hooded cape and used that to stay hidden while he searched for the others.

They could be in visions, or in a cell, but who knew?

Orchid did, but he wouldn't get their location out of her even if it saved her life.

So he was on his own, trying to figure out where the others were without being detected.

It was going the way Purple expected.

Last minute hiding spots that barely saved his life.

The cloak concealed his identity, thankfully, but they would still question why a teenager was hiding in a giant building in the middle of the ocean.

Which, in his situation, was to stop a crazed woman from bringing back her dead husband and ending the world.

Yeah, that was not going to happen.

Or maybe it would.

Only time would tell.

And holy shit, Purple didn't have a lot.

Making sure nobody was in the area, Purple bolted for another corridor and checked for any other guards.

God, the guards seemed to be fewer than there were earlier.

Maybe they were all guarding Orchid and were aware of intruders.

"Where is everyone?" He asked himself, clearly confused by the lack of security. "Surely there should be double the normal amount of guards with Orchid's entire plan and all, so where is-"

"SOMEONE LET US OUT NOW!"

A familiar scream cut off Purple's question.

"Second?"

The quiet halls allowed Purple to hear much more clearly, giving him clear hear of Second's screams a few hallways down.

So that's what happened to them.

"Why didn't they get their own fantasies forced on them?" Purple asked.

Maybe they did and they got out of it.

Pushing his thoughts aside, Purple ran to where Second was screaming.

A cell up towards where the outside world was.

Thank Alan.

"Sec!"

"Wait, Purple?! How did you-"

"Long story I don't have a lot of time to explain. For now, we've gotta get out of here!"

"Why?! What about the others?!"

"Purple's lost his entire family…don't make him watch the deaths of the only people he has left…"

"They're…"

Second stared at him for a moment, knowing what happened. "Oh…"

"It's not important right now. Let's just defeat Orchid and get the hell outta here."

"Right."

Purple quickly unlocked the door via the lever outside(God, how stupid were they?), and ran for the stairway outside.

"Are we sure this isn't a dead end?" Second asked over the loud wind blowing.

"It can't be! If anything, it'll just be something like a sky dome! Like their old one!" Dark answered back.

"He makes a point."

"True. Anyway, let's just stop Orchid and get the others back, okay?"

"Right!"

Purple led the way outside as the wind increased. Amidst everything, Purple took note of the dull laser machine…whatever the hell it was, blasting a gray energy beam into the sky.

"Quick, hide!" Second pushed the other two behind a few stacked crates.

"Think that's what's causing the whole gray death thing?" Dark asked.

"Then how did Night Shade use it as an energy beam on the others?" Purple asked.

"He what?!" Dark whispered.

"Long story, we'll explain later. But we've gotta stop it before it does any more damage."

"Right, sorry."

Second crept towards Orchid, hoping to tackle her and fight her off while Dark and Purple tried to stop the laser.

It…was not a good plan.

Orchid had for sure proved she had much more strength and speed build-up when it came to attacking, and she shut down Second's strategy within seconds.

Dark and Purple, having powers and being used to fighting people off, weren't easy to take out.

Both of them attacked Orchid while Second decided to take out the laser.

Swapping roles was not the idea, but Second didn't want to get his ass beat, despite having his own powers.

God damn it, why wouldn't they just unlock already?!

"Second's only major emotions in that moment were rage and fear, which activated his powers."

"When Dark killed you guys…"

"Purple seems to be under an intense amount of fear and stress…"

"Wait a minute…"

Did their powers feed off strong emotions?

"Damn it Chosen, why didn't you elaborate this kind of shit before Night Shade killed you?!" He snapped to himself, slamming his fist into the machine.

For a brief moment, the space under his palm turned a bright neon green.

"What the fuck…"

"SECOND LOOK OUT!"

Purple screamed, catching Second out of his thoughts. He jumped out of the way, blasting a green fireball at Orchid.

"What the…"

"Holy shit! Nice work, Sec!" Dark exclaimed.

Second gave a brief smile.

Holy shit, that was cool.

Orchid snarled. "Get back here, you little shit!" She snapped before Purple cut her off by tossing her to the ground.

"Get away from my friends!" He shouted.

Orchid turned on him, tossing him in return. "Buzz off, brat."

That sent Purple's anger boiling.

"Get. Away. From my friends!" He shouted, tossing another barrage of fireballs at the older woman.

Orchid dodged each other, tossing Dark and Second aside and moving with such speed Purple didn't even see it coming.

"Purple, get away from the ledge!" Dark shouted.

Purple would've fallen if not for him remembering he had levitation abilities, sending Orchid flying over the edge as he flew above the ledge.

"Nice work, kid!" Dark said happily.

Purple landed back on the ground and ran for the other two. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're alright." Dark answered.

"Good."

"That asshole's gonna pay," Dark sneered. "That bastard killed my best friend!"

"Relax, Dark. We'll think of something." Purple reassured.

"How do you know?! King's dead because of her! Doesn't that make you upset?!"

"Of course it makes me upset! What do you think she made me watch?!" Purple snapped. "She forced me to watch him and the others die! Wouldn't it hurt to see the people you love the most die in front of you?!" Purple's eyes shimmered with tears.

Dark backed down. "I'm sorry, Purple…"

Purple sighed. "I know. Let's just stop Orchid and get this over with."

"And how are you gonna do that?"

The trio looked up to see Orchid flying in the dull sky, an evil smirk plastered on her face and pink fireballs resting in her palms.

Purple returned that very smirk that told Dark and Second that he had an idea.

"Why don't we make a deal, mom?"

"A deal, you say?" Orchid quickly took interest in Purple's offer.

"Purple, what the hell are you doing?" Second whispered.

"I've got a plan, trust me." Purple whispered back.

Second looked at him for a moment, questioning the motives of whatever the plan was.

"I'll let you guys go through with your amnesia plan, if you let King and my friends live."

"You would let us brainwash you into doing our bidding?"

"If you revive King and the others and let them live, I'll let you go through with the plan."

Second could almost feel Orchid's skepticism forming into a completely different plan. The problem was, they knew exactly what Orchid was planning:

She'd revive Navy, kidnap Purple, kill him(for all they knew they were just going to kill him and use his body as a puppet), brainwash and erase his memories, and use him for their own purposes.

Second would actually rather be imprisoned in the damp cell then watch his friend be used as a puppet for world domination.

"Once we resurrect Navy, we'll kill off that purple menace, bring him back, erase his memories, and then all world power will be ours!"

The quote echoed in Purple's head like a mantra, and wouldn't stop.

Of course he wasn't going to let them use him as a puppet for their own nefarious purposes. He was that stupid!

Of course, he'd play along as long as Orchid brought the others back.

Which was going exactly the way he had hoped it would.

If his plan went in favor of him, he'd get out of being stripped from his family forever, defeat Orchid, and the others would survive the curse.

If he was lucky.

If he wasn't, only God knew what would happen to the others.

Well, that, and he would be forced to live amongst his memories as a slave to his old family.

"I understand how you people must feel, chasing your useless, good for nothing child away from bad influences," Purple said. "I understand your need to rescue a kid from a life of nothing but evil and spiraling. That's why if you let these innocent people who have nothing to do with you or your domination plan, I will help you."

Orchid stared in complete confusion. What was he on about?

Second stared at Dark, a knowing look shared between them. Genius.

"Let me help, and spare the mortals."

An evil smirk crossed her face. "Then shake on it, son."

Second was about to run towards Purple, before Dark stopped him, aiming a fireball at him, ready to attack.

He tossed the fireball, hitting Orchid and leaving Purple open to an attack.

Which he did, blasting her with an energy ball and tackling the laser machine with all the strength he could muster.

"We have to destroy this before it does anything worse!"

Dark, using the only other idea he had, started pushing the machine closer to the ledge and motioning for the other two to do the same.

"YOU TRAITOR!" Orchid screamed directly at Purple.

"Me? A traitor? Hah!" Purple spat. "I've been called that before for much worse reasons, and I've also been called worse!"

"Like what, brat?"

As Purple gave the last shove, he snapped at her, "Your son!"

The trio pushed the laser off the ledge.

"NO!" Orchid screamed, starting to chase after it before Purple tossed her into a wall.

"BRING MY FRIENDS AND FATHER BACK NOW!" Purple screamed, readying another fireball in his free hand.

Orchid snarled. "Why would I?"

"Bring. Them. Back." Purple snarled. "I will not hesitate to snap every bone in your body and throw it off this base like a puppet."

Orchid still didn't seem too fazed. "Like I'll listen to a child like you."

"You realize something crucial, Orchid," Second said. "Purple currently has control over whether or not you live or die. So either bring the others back or he will murder you with no remorse or hesitation."

"He's not capable of that!" Orchid spat with a cackle.

"Do you really want to test what I'm capable of with your life in my hands?" Purple said, an amount of venom coating his voice that sent shivers across Dark and Second.

"Have you seen him this mad before?" Dark whispered.

"Not since he learned Navy killed his mom with that virus." Second whispered back.

Orchid trembled under Purple's hold. "Ugh…fine! I'll bring your stupid friends back! Under one condition."

"And what's that?" Dark asked.

Orchid smirked. "The two of you give up your powers."

Purple's eyes widened. "What?!"

"Have you lost your mind!?" Dark snapped angrily, fireballs shooting from his hands.

"Dark, calm down."

"Why would I give up my magic after all I just went through to bring my family back?!" Purple snapped.

"I gave you the magic, and if you want your friends back, I suggest you give me back what's mine."

Purple's heart sank.

"After all, King's life is on the line here. Would you like to lose the person who has shaped you into the person you currently are?"

Purple looked down at his hand.

"King's little flower has a really big choice to make. So, what's it gonna be?"

"You might think everything's on you now, mainly because it is, but I know you can do this."

"I love you, my little flower."

"Fine," Purple let go of Orchid. "I'll give you my power, in exchange for my friend's lives."

"Purple, no! Please!" Dark exclaimed, feeling arms grab him. "We can't do this!"

"Do you or do you not want Chosen to live?!" Purple snapped through tears.

Dark backed down.

"Take these two to a holding cell until it's time for the extraction," Orchid said before turning to Second. "And you, return to Stick City, and your friends. You are not needed for the plan. The Dark Lord will join you soon enough."

"Dark! Purple!" Second exclaimed, running towards them, before being stopped by guards.

"Protect the others while you still can, Sec," Purple said. "It's the best you can do for now…"

The doors slammed, leaving Second alone.

"...And then when we escaped, Orchid attacked us, and we were all sent flying."

Purple blinked at them. "Oh, God...so all three of you have been separated?"

"Yeah. I can't go back to the city, because everyone there is dead, and who the fuck knows how far away from it, and the base has Orchid! She'll kill us!"

"Hey. Calm down. We'll think of something."

"Like what?!"

Purple blinked.

"Well...since I was able to stop her in my universe..." Purple's gaze went out to the watery landscape around them.

"...I might be able to use that to help you."