Father & Son 5: Shards Of A Color Drained World

This Is What We Do

It took a while for King to actually find and talk to Purple about whatever the hell he saw in there.

Because it obviously shook him to the core, seeing as he ran off.

After a few hours, King found him hiding on a corner of the roof.

By this point, he'd been extremely worried about the kid, so seeing Purple safe eased his mind a little bit.

"Purple...?"

Purple didn't budge, and King wondered if he had fallen asleep in those hours King spent searching for him.

"Are you..." God, how was this so difficult?! He's done this before!

"Are you okay?"

He really wasn't expecting him to talk. He just wanted some sort of visual cue that Purple was at least partially awake.

"...I guess..."

Well, it was something.

King inched a little closer. "What happened there? You seemed a little shaky about it, and we were worried."

Purple finally glanced up at him. His eyes were still watery with tears. "They're gonna kill me."

"What? They can't be planning something like that!...Can they?"

"They are! I heard it! They're planning to kill me and then erase my memories before bringing me back so that I'm their little toy! They're gonna use me as a toy for their own nefarious world domination plot and I'm too weak to stop them because I can't control my own powers!"

"They're not gonna hurt you, kid."

"How do you know?!" Purple snapped.

"I just do, alright?! I know they won't hurt you because I'm not going to let them!" King snapped back, much angrier than he intended it to be.

Purple fell silent, his eyes watering up again.

"Purple, I...I'm sorry, kid. I didn't mean to yell at you. I'm just...I'm just as confused about this whole situation as you are, and this whole thing with Night Shade, and suddenly Navy's coming back...it's just a lot to take in. I'm sorry."

"It's...it's fine."

"It doesn't sound fine. I'm really worried about you. You've been so much more on edge since this whole thing started and it's like...you're unsure if it'll actually work."

"You know what Night Shade said! I could die if this gets too much out of control! Orchids my mom! Everything about this situation is putting me to the test and I hate it!"

King didn't hesitate to grab Purple's arm. "Purple, breathe."

"Maybe Orchid was right. Maybe I am just a worthless crybaby brat who deserved what happened to him...maybe I do bring shame to people..."

"Orchid was wrong and you know it. You know you're more than that."

"How do you know?"

"Because you and I both know that I know you better than they do. You're one of the strongest people I've ever met, and I know for a fact you can defeat them."

A crash cut of Purple's next sentence, and both of them jumped.

"The hell was that?!"

An energy beam suddenly blasted its way towards the roof.

"Get down!" Purple pushed King down and countered the energy blast with his own.

King was amazed.

Nice work, Chosen.