Father & Son 6: Shades Of Future Night

Keep-Away, Part 1

Red couldn't tell if they were in a car or on a boat for a good portion of the trip.

Then again, he wasn't sure how he and Purple ended up in a cage in the first place.

They had gone from being out in the open, and the next thing he knew, they were both in a cage.

Purple, in contrast to what Red had figured, was less panicky and more confused.

"Mind telling me what the hell I missed that involves being taken against my will?" Purple asked in confusion.

Red suddenly remembered Purple had no memories, and no idea what was going on.

Which meant he'd be spending the better portion of transportation explaining the past few months.

And if it came to Purple in bits and pieces, then Red had accomplished something.

"Just...out of pure curiosity, do you know who we're being taken to?" Red started.

Purple blinked. "No?"

Red sighed. At least Purple's memories were completely wiped, and he had no idea who Navy and Orchid were.

Right. He still doesn't know who King and the others are. Better get started on explaining that.

"We're being taken to your crappy, incredibly powerful, biological parents," Red began. "They're going to manipulate you into believing a lot of mean and horrible things that aren't true."

"But...why?"

"Because your biological father abandoned you when you were a kid for some stupid bitchy fantasy, and came back a few months ago and kidnapped you. The past few months have been me and the others from our last location playing what they refer to as "hot potato" with you because we all have our own beliefs on where you belong."

"Where do I belong, then?"

"That's the second part of my explanation. See, the reason this dude abandoned you is because he thought you were weak, and would never be good enough. And he's got this whole twisted fantasy he wants you to join that forces all of those statements onto you."

"That doesn't sound very fun."

"It isn't. Trust me. But then there's us. That tall, mango colored stick from earlier? He loves you a lot, and on more than one occasion has almost killed people to keep you safe."

His memories flashed to every time King had practically murdered someone with his own words to keep Purple alive.

"I'm not pretending. I've always cared for Purple, ever since the day I met him. You cared for him for what, ten years before ditching him and Orchid? Yes, I betrayed him, and in a way killed him, but at least I had the courage to tell him that I love him and I'm proud of how far he's come, even with you burning a deep, dark, and depressing hole in his memories. I don't care what you say, Navy, but Purple's my kid now. He's with me now, and you can't change that!"

Red let a small smile cross his face. King was always fighting tooth and nail to keep them safe.

"Is he gonna do it this time?" Purple had grown interested.

"Probably. If he loves you enough to put himself on the line by going into your memories and talking you out of spiraling into a deep hole, he loves you enough to find a way across the ocean and murder everyone in here."

"Wow."

"Yeah. He can be overprotective, but he lost his biological kid to a really bad accident, and then you marched into his life. He's adored you ever since."