Work Text:
Quackity actually didn’t seem like that awful of a person to work with.
When he had found the man in his spaceship it was late at ‘night’ and he was trying to sleep, curled up in the driver seat, his headphones in his ears. He was almost asleep, too, when something felt wrong. Too wrong. He blinked, rubbing his eyes and looking around. His eyes instantly landed on his security cameras and his chest lurched.
Explosives littered the floor of his hull, and in the middle of it all was Quackity, box of matches in hand, talking to the gods knows who on his communicator. The strong smell of gunpowder and smoke clogged his senses momentarily, his head throbbing and practically screaming ‘danger’ in his face. Purpled had lifted his head, grabbed his sword and silently unlocked his door.
But, after a brief conversation, things seemed resolved. Quackity took him on a tour of a place he called ‘Las Nevadas’, a city that reminded him vaguely of home, from the blazing lights to the towering buildings, Purpled couldn’t help but feel himself begin to enjoy what was going on.
Quackity was interested in hiring him. It was just another business exchange.
But Purpled had to admit, he was slightly excited.
“That was actually pretty cool.” Purpled chirped, laughing and leaning against the wall. They had ended the night at the community house, sitting on the roof. Quackity had bought him a soda and had insisted they hang out a bit longer before Purpled disappeared into his ship once more, and Purpled had agreed. He raised his small can in a motion towards the direction they had been at. “Thanks for showing that to me.”
“It was no problem, no problem.” Quackity waved his hand dismissively, although Purpled could see a spark of joy hidden in his eyes from the way they crinkled at the edges. He smiled to himself. Humans were so funny. Quackity leaned forward as Purpled took a sip of his drink. “You like it, then? Maybe want to be a part of it?”
“Oh, no, I’m not going to do that, I’ve got– I mean, I’m not settling down anywhere, I’ll be leaving any day soon anyways.” Purpled laughed, nearly choking on his soda. He hummed, looking up at the sky. The moon was nearly in the middle of the sky. He hesitated, glancing back at his ship. “Actually, speaking of, it’s getting kind of late, I should probably go.”
“Wait!” Quackity stepped in front of him as he started to heave himself to his feet. Purpled titled his head curiously, squishing his can so it was a tiny cylinder he could toss away easily. Quackity backed up, reaching into his pocket with a cheery demeanour. “Before you do, I have one last present for you.”
And then the ground shook, and Purpled’s entire body jolted as the loud, resounding boom of explosives nearby rocked him to the floor. He ran to the window and saw the trail of fire behind his ship as it crashed into the ground and combusted, shattering into thousands of pieces. His mouth went dry for a moment, then he ran out of the doors. Maybe– Maybe there was still-
Quackity was right behind him as he reached the crash sight, watching as he traced the wreckage with his eyes calculatingly If he could find his radio, or his fuel crystal– He pursed his lips. There was only ash. He went silent. Quackity cleared his throat but Purpled whipped around before he could speak, whispering, “Did you do this?”
Two beats.
Two beats too long.
Purpled drew his sword from his hilt and attacked but Quackity quickly dodged, rolling to the side. He hit the wall of the community house with a thump as he scrambled to his feet but Purpled was faster. He sliced downwards and he saw Quackity’s flash of fear, the expectation of sudden, instant death, but he stopped centimetres from his neck. Quackity barely managed to half gasp half nervously laugh out, “Purpled-!”
“Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you, right here, right now.” Purpled demanded, voice devoid of any emotion but his eyebrows were furrowed tightly and his entire body was tense. Quackity swallowed and Purpled saw sweat begin to form on his brow. Purpled lifted his sword closer and Quackity yelped.
“Okay! Okay! Calm down, calm down– I was trying to help!” Quackity insisted. Purpled narrowed his eyes slightly, then forced out a breath between his teeth that ended up being more of a menacing hissing sound. He cursed quietly in ender and reached down, grabbing Quackity’s shirt collar, yanking him to his feet and slamming him against the wall.
“That was my only fucking way home! Do you know how hard it is to get a power source off-world?! Do you have any idea what you just did?” Purpled growled. Quackity nodded quickly. Purpled’s antennae were the only light, as the sun was so low in the horizon it was shaded by the community house, so everything was tinted in an eerie purple hue.
“I did you a favour! I know you sit up there, hunched over your stupid fucking transmission device, just waiting! I know it, Punz knows it, everyone fucking knows it! They don’t care about you, Purpled. You’re nothing to them.” Quackity pushed Purpled’s sword away slowly, his fear vanishing almost instantaneously. Purpled shook his head.
“You don’t know that. You’re just a human, you can’t possibly comprehend any of this! You don't know anything!” Purpled motioned with his sword to the ruins of his ship. His chest felt like it was on fire; He was trying, so, so fucking hard to remember what Punz had taught him, to stay calm but it was starting to hurt. Quackity frowned, like he had any right to.
“I know people.” Quackity shrugged. Purpled noted the hue of his light turn a shade redder. Screw Punz, screw being calm, screw all of it, Quackity didn’t deserve any of it. Quackity deserved his full wrath, a slit throat, and even that was too good. There was some guilt at that thought but he ignored it, lifting his sword. Quackity paled and covered his face.
“I’m not a person!” Purpled screamed, ignoring how his voice warbled into an enderman like sound as he started to strike down on Quackity. Quackity speedily rolled aside, brushing his hands off on his pants and giving Purpled a wary glance, pursing his lips indignantly, like he was dealing with a larva throwing a tantrum.
“How long have you been here?” Quackity sighed. Purpled gritted his teeth together, averting his gaze. Quackity smiled, stepping towards him, lowering his voice and tilting his head with a hint of a laugh in his voice. Purpled threateningly stepped towards him and Quackity’s laughter became shaky. “Have they sent you one damn message, even one?”
“No- You don’t know what they’re doing. There could be another war.” Purpled insisted numbly, pushing Quackity away. Quackity laughed, stepping back and reaching in his pocket with a composure that only made Purpled’s blood boil even more. He groaned and vwooped, stepping away and throwing his hands in the air.
“You’re on your own, Purpled.” Quackity reminded him, arm outstretched. Purpled had half the mind to sever it from his body, but Quackity was offering out a small card. Purpled studied it bitterly as Quackity continued. “But you don’t have to be. You have two choices. You can go back to your sad little existence, alone, or you can make yourself another home.”
“I don’t want a ‘home’ anywhere near the human who destroyed the only way to return to mine!” Purpled buzzed, digging his heel into the dirt. Before he could impale him like he intended to, Quackity shoved the card into his arms. Out of pure reflexes Purpled kicked his legs out from under him and Quackity landed with a yelp onto the dirt, crawling backwards. Purpled’s antennae twitched in annoyance.
“Okay, if you need proof so badly that I’m aware of the territory I’m treading in. How many of them were there? Did you even know your parents? You’re a soldier. I can see through you. You’re a meaningless soldier to them and they don’t care if they lose one, two, or even a hundred. I’m sure it doesn’t even put a dent in their numbers.” Quackity pointed to the community house. “Doesn’t that sound familiar?”
“I’m not– It’s– It wasn’t like that, you don’t know what it was like!” Purpled stepped on Quackity’s leg, keeping him fixed in place. Quackity was making his head spin and he didn’t like it. Quackity squirmed, knowing there was no mercy in Purpled’s eyes. He covered his face. “You don’t know anything, Quackity!”
“I guess I don’t.” Quackity sighed. “But I can tell. I can tell from the stories you tell and the way you look at Punz and even the way you hold yourself. How many wars did you fight before this, hm? How many times were you welcomed back only to be fighting again and again and again? Aren’t you tired of it?”
“I had a life.” Purpled argued, lifting Quackity’s chin with the blunt side of his blade. He wasn’t some war traumatised kid, not like Tommy, or Tubbo, or Ranboo. He was Purpled. Purpled didn’t lean into contact like a flower to sunshine. Purpled wasn’t broken. Below him Quackity shook his head.
“You had a war.” Quackity disagreed softly. Purpled inhaled sharply, air catching on the sides of his throats so he felt like he was choking on it. Quackity shifted beneath him and Purpled, for some reason, stepped back, allowing Quackity to get up. “You had a war and a colony to tell you everything you were supposed to think.”
Purpled took a shaky breath in. His body was meant to naturally adapt to the atmosphere around him but for some reason he felt like he couldn’t get any air in his lungs, like his head and his thoughts were spinning out of control. Quackity was giving him a sympathetic look; He didn’t want his sympathy, he didn’t want anything from him, but he couldn’t bring himself to move as Quackity passed.
“You know where to find me if you change your mind.” Quackity informed him before disappearing into the dark, leaving Purpled in confused, frustrated silence.