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"You want me to spy on Tommyinnit?"
Quackity sighed, setting down the stack of papers he was holding and rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Just keep an eye on him for a bit, okay? I can't afford any distractions right now, especially the kind that don't know how to keep their mouths shut.”
Purpled groaned. "You disappear for like three weeks and come back freaking out about how we're under attack, and now you're sending me off to babysit?"
Quackity's frown deepened, and the scar running through his bad eye seemed to frown as well, curling along his cheek. He never mentioned how he got it, and Purpled had never asked. He never had a reason to, and he didn't care enough to bring it up. That's how things worked around here. You didn't talk unless you needed something, and that suited Purpled just fine.
"Don't you think we have more important things to worry about than some kid?" Purpled answered finally. Quackity grabbed a roll of paper off his desk and moved towards the door, replying, "No, I have more important things to worry about than some kid."
He grabbed his coat from where it hung by the door and slung it over his shoulder. "I need to talk with Foolish." He paused in the doorway. "You have your assignment. I suggest you get to it, Purpled." Quackity’s tone left no room for argument.
"You're the boss," Purpled answered.
Quackity nodded, turning to leave. As soon as his back was turned Purpled flipped him off, watching as he went to whatever secret casino bunker he needed to meet Goldie in. Purpled scoffed, lifting himself off the wall and leaving the dingy office. That was another thing he had learned about this place: it was frustrating. Secret bunkers, false walls, doors that didn't seem to lead anywhere, it was almost like the city itself was paranoid. He got it, though. He didn't know how Quackity had convinced Foolish or Fundy to join, but if it was anything like how Purpled was "recruited", then he couldn't blame the guy for taking some extra precautions.
"Purpled, your legacy is gone, and I've taken it from you."
"That's the last peice of evidence that you were ever here. And now? You die along with it."
It shouldn't have bothered him. He was never the type of guy who worried much about the future. In his line of work, you never really got the chance to. There was only the next job, the next score, the next mark. That's how it was on Hypixel, and that's how it'd been here. But something about what Quackity had said that night...
He couldn't get it out of his head.
"Look at me, Purpled. You have two choices right now."
"You kill me, you take the money, and you dissapear. And that's it."
"Or, you join me, and you become so much more than what you are right now."
Purpled laughed bitterly. If his old crew had heard him spouting this philosophical shit, he would’ve never heard the end of it. He just needed to stay focused. He would get the book, he would make Quackity pay, and then he'd be gone. Then Quackity could take his more and shove it up his ass.
His smile lasted until he made it to the border.
Purpled looked out onto the horizon, watching the sun set over the desert city. It would be dark soon, and the forest was hard enough to navigate in the daytime.
He sighed. It was gonna be a long night.
Tommyinnit was an…
Interesting piece of work, to say the least.
When he had first joined, the kid’s loud and brash nature had been sort of contagious, and even though he wouldn’t have called him a friend, Purpled never hated the guy. They fought, sure, but never with any sense of malice.
Then the Wars started. Sure there had been fights before, scuffles between friends, disagreements over items, but after the formation of L’manburg, things felt different. Purpled had never much bothered with the ideals of the people he was hired by, that wasn’t his place, but even he couldn’t deny that something had shifted. It wasn’t just about items or land anymore. It was about something bigger.
And no matter what it was, Purpled could always count on Tommyinnit to be right in the middle.
Purpled had followed the cash to Schlatt and Dream, and Tommy had followed Wilbur Soot to the exact same place. Naturally, he and Tommy ended up crossing swords. It was never personal, and sometimes, they would even find each other fighting on the same side. These moments were rarer, but Purpled had always found them at the very least interesting. But frustratingly, as Purpled started to drift further into obscurity, Tommy only seemed to get lifted higher. The kid was non-stop.
So watching him run around a burger joint in the middle of nowhere was a little weird.
From Purpled’s vantage point hidden in the pines, he watched lazily as Tommy ran around the small clearing, picking up plates of fries and half-finished burgers and running in and out of the beat-up van. Wilbur was there too, and the pair worked mostly in silence. Sometimes one of them would hum something, or crack a crude joke that made the other snicker, basically playing out the domestic fantasy of Purpled’s nightmares.
But tooth-rotting fluff aside, the irony of the situation wasn’t lost on him. Wilbur Soot and Tommyinnit, two of the biggest names on the entire SMP, men who had started revolutions and led armies into battle, were here, wiping down the picnic tables of a shoddy food truck, seemingly perfectly content.
Talk about rock bottom.
Eventually, when the cleaning was finished and Purpled was beginning to wonder whether “inducement of extreme boredom” could be grounds for a cease and desist, Tommy finally packed up and left, and Wilbur disappeared inside the van for the final time. Purpled let out a yawn.
“Fucking finally.”
Purpled was shaken awake by the sound of a jiggling doorknob. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he turned and saw a figure dressed in black exit the burger van. His face was covered by a ski mask, and he was carrying a small bag.
Interesting.
The figure glanced around, and after a beat, started making its way towards the shimmering lights of Las Nevadas. Purpled felt a smirk start to pull at the edges of his lips.
Now, this was something he could work with.
He lowered himself out of the tree, lifting his scarf to cover his face and making sure to step lightly as he followed the figure into the woods. Soon, the thick treeline made it almost impossible to see, and Purpled was sure he was going to need a new pair of jeans with all the thornbushes he’d gotten snagged in. But still, the smirk hadn’t left his face.
Purpled was back in his element. The familiar weight of a sword in his hand, the crisp night air nipping at his fingertips, the beginnings of an adrenaline rush making his heart beat just a bit faster. It felt familiar, it felt right.
Then a boot slammed into his chest and he was knocked into a tree. Pain seared through his shoulder.
Unfortunately, also familiar.
Purpled raised his sword, slashing wide from low to high. His attacker backstepped, and Purpled pushed off the tree, closing the gap between them with a couple more wide cuts.
He swang again, only this time the familiar clang of netherite on netherite filled his ears. His attacker pushed hard against his sword, shoving Purpled off balance. Back-peddling, Purpled fell into a guard stance, but instead of a thrust or a cut, Purpled saw his attacker drop their weapon and charge, tackling him and sending them both to the ground. Purpled lost his grip on his sword and felt a strong hand pin his wrist. He struggled, but before he could free his hand he felt something sharp pressing into his throat.
“Who the fuck are you and why are you following me?"
Purpled stopped struggling. He knew that voice.
He ripped one hand free and pulled down the scarf covering his face.
"Tommy?"
His attacker froze. Then, he ripped off his ski mask, revealing the all too familiar face of Tommyinnit.
“Uh, yeah,” Tommy said, getting off the ground and offering Purpled a hand.
“Uhm, sorry about that,” Tommy said. “Didn’t mean to go all psycho on you, but you were kinda creeping the shit out of me there for a sec.”
“Uh-huh…” Purpled replied, taking Tommy’s hand.
Purpled picked his sword off the ground and made a show of sheathing it.
“So uh, what are you doing out here, Tommy?”
Tommy placed a torch down on the floor and started rooting around in the grass. Probably for the sword he had dropped.
“Does a man need a reason to go on a little late-night stroll?”
Purpled crossed his arms.
“He does when he assaults the head of Las Nevadas security.”
Tommy froze.
“Oh uhm, right, you’re uh, you’re working with Big Q now,” Tommy laughed nervously. “Forgot about that…”
“Yeah.”
Tommy found his sword and looped it through his belt. He turned back towards Purpled.
“Well in that case, why don’t we just forget this little spat happened, yeah? I mean you were creeping on me, and naturally, I attacked you! Really this was simple self-defense when you think about-”
“What’s in the bag, Tommy?”
Tommy looked down at the small sack looped over his chest.
“Well uh, you know, the usual.” Tommy rubbed the back of his neck.
Purpled stared him down. Tommy held his gaze, although his nervous smile didn’t do much to help his case. Finally, Purpled shrugged.
“Alright well in that case-”
In the blink of an eye, Purpled drew his sword and sliced through the cord of Tommy’s bag. Tommy jumped back.
“What the fuck, man?” he cried.
Purpled knelt down and grabbed the bag, dumping its contents out onto the floor. Five cans of spray paint rolled out, along with a facemask and a messily folded piece of paper.
“Well well, what do we have here?” Purpled said, grabbing the paper and unfolding it.
It seemed to be a crudely drawn map of Las Nevadas, with a couple of x’s drawn on a few of the buildings. The words EPIC VANDALISM PLAN were scribbled across the top. Purpled smirked, and Tommy marched up to him and snatched the paper from his hands, stuffing it into his pocket before moving to collect the cans.
“Alright so maybe I had an ulterior motive or two.” Tommy shoved the remaining cans into the bag. “Still doesn’t give you the right to be going through my shit, now does it.”
Purpled tossed Tommy the last can.
“It does actually, considering how you were trying to vandalize my city and all,” Purpled replied. As entertaining as letting Tommy grief Las Nevadas would be, having Quackity on his ass about “underperforming” again was the last thing Purpled needed (or wanted) right now.
“It was going to be light vandalism, tasteful and artsy. It would have been my ‘Agnum Opus. You’d deny me that?” Tommy held a hand to his chest in mock hurt.
Purpled pretended to think about it, just for a second.
“Yeah.” He smirked again. The banter felt… familiar. And as unprofessional as it was, Purpled wasn’t exactly hating it.
“So what now? You gonna arrest me or something?” Tommy said, arms crossed. Purpled scoffed.
“I’m not a cop, Tommy. Besides, you haven’t technically done anything wrong yet, so I guess all I can do is escort you back to your van.”
“What makes you think I need a babysitter?”
Oh, the irony.
“Well I’m not just gonna leave and let you head back to Las Nevadas now am I?”
“I mean, you could do that, it’s always an option.”
“Uh-huh, yeah, totally. Let’s go.”
Tommy fell into step beside him. As they walked back towards the van, Purpled realized that this was probably the type of situation where small talk would be appreciated.
Fuck.
Fortunately, Tommy spared him the potential trauma of having to start a conversation.
“So uhm, what are you doing out here? Not like, in the woods- but y’know here as in Las Nevadas?” Tommy said. “No offence but you never struck me as the pressed suit type.”
“I needed a job, and Quackity was hiring,” and that’s all you need to know . “What about you? I thought you still lived in that house by Church Prime?”
Tommy shrugged. “I do, but I’m out here helping Wilbur set up his burger-thing,” Tommy scoffed. “Between you and me, he needs all the help he can get right about now.” Out of the corner of his eye, Purpled saw a flash of annoyance cross Tommy’s face.
“But, I’ve got it handled. I’m quite the businessman these days.” That same cocky smirk that Purpled knew so well overtook his face once again, but it seemed wrong somehow, forced.
Huh.
“Oh, by the way, I saw your UFO again when I was hiking up here. Sucks that you got rid of it, that was like, one of the staple builds of the server.”
Purpled froze.
After a second, he replied, “I didn’t destroy it.” It came out with more venom than he’d intended.
“Oh.” Tommy turned to face him. “ Oh. Wait, really? I’d just assumed- Oh, that fucking sucks man, who was it?” Tommy was giving him a strange look. It seemed, surprised?
No, concerned.
Who did he think he was?
“Doesn’t matter. It was just a build. I’ll manage.”
“Well yeah, but it was your build. I mean, if someone did that to me i’d be proper pissed o-”
“Look, Tommy, it was just a place, okay? Just a stupid build where I could store my shit and that’s it. So let's move past it, okay?"
Tommy went silent.
Purpled had been expecting a quick retort, probably an insult or two, that he could've dealt with just fine, but not silence. Silence was much more uncomfortable.
So Purpled did what he did best, he kept moving.
But Tommy didn't budge. He just stood there, agonizingly silent, until finally, he spoke.
"Do you remember that time I burned down Tubbo's house? Back before I knew him all too well? And you tried lava-trapping me?"
Purpled mentally cringed. That had not been one of his proudest moments.
"Oh yeah, wasn't that also the time I kicked your ass in the nether?" Purpled replied with a fake sigh. "Fond memories."
Tommy chuckled. "Yeah, fond memories."
"Things were so much simpler back then, yeah?"
...
"Yeah."
For a moment they both just stood there, letting a cool midnight breeze crash against them like waves against the sand. It was strangely peaceful, in a weird way.
"Y'know, Purpled, when I first joined this server, I kinda thought you were an asshole," Tommy said.
And there it went.
"You're really one to talk, Tommy-"
"Wait man just, wait a minute, alright? I'm trying to make a point here."
Purpled crossed his arms. This should be good.
"The thing was, back then, I was also kind of an ass. But a lot's changed since then, I've changed since then."
Tommy paused and took a deep breath.
"And something I've learned along the way is that the things that matter to you aren't stupid. Builds and items and pets and shit like that, they- they do matter. They're important even. And I know we aren't really like, friends or whatever, but you shoudn't be letting anyone tell you otherwise, alright? Because you matter too."
Tommy turned to face Purpled. In the low light, the boy's expression was hard to make out, but Purpled couldn't miss the far-off look in his eyes. The gaze of someone who had seen far too much far too young. And at that moment Purpled realized that this was not the same boy that he'd thought he'd known. Because at that moment Purpled thought he saw a bit of himself in Tommy.
And that scared him.
Purpled turned away, back towards Las Nevadas.
"I'm pretty sure you can make it the rest of the way without me."
Tommy opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. After a second, he just said, "Okay. See ya around, Purpled."
"See ya around, Tommy."
And with that, Tommy turned back towards the burger van, and Purpled began the trek back to Las Nevadas.
And as he walked, he couldn't help but think about what Tommy had said.
Because as the sun began to rise, he couldn't help but wonder how long it'd been since the last time someone had told him that he mattered.