Chapter Text
"…Okay, I give up. What is that."
"Wh— it's pizza, duh!"
It's been about a week since the Skeld became a crew of two.
A week since Red and Purple realized they would have to maintain the Skeld all by themselves.
At first, it seemed pretty simple. The mountainous list of tasks would slowly whitte down day by day. And when that was finished, they could do whatever they wanted.
Oh, how wrong they were.
Purple was convinced that the Skeld was built with merely duct tape and a dream. The damn ship keeps falling apart nearly every day! Wires break loose, shields get scrambled, and don't even get them started on the reactor.
And now there was a new task; never leave Red alone in the kitchen.
"That is NOT pizza." Purple furrowed their brows. "Calling it a pizza is an insult to pizza-kind."
"How dare you." Red said in mock offense. "Not only is it beautiful, it's also edible."
"I doubt it."
"C'moooonnn!" Red poked at Purple's side. "Aren't you the one saying we should trust each other more?"
Purple rolled their visor. "Not when my digestive system is at stake."
In a sudden act of betrayal, the ex-security guard heard a grumble escape their body.
And so did the ex-captain.
Et tu, gut?
Red slid the tray in Purple's direction.
"Seems like your 'digestive system' knows what it wants~"
"Yeah, actual food." Purple scoffed as they got up to walk to the kitchen.
"H- hey! These ingredients will go to waste, y'know!" Red yelled from behind.
"Then eat it yourself! Taste the fruits of your labor, or whatever!"
"I did! I left these slices for you!"
Purple had a hand on the kitchen door when they stopped.
They did some thinking.
And then a bit more.
…
"Auuuggh, fine."
Purple could already see the glowing expression on Red's face before they turned around.
The ex-security guard picked up a 'slice' from the plate and lifted it to their mouth.
"You know, if I get sick because of this 'pizza', you'll have to carry all the ship tasks to yourself?"
"It is a punishment I will accept with pride and dignity." Red nodded with an obscenely low voice.
Purple stifled a laugh as they moved to take a bite.
And then they chewed.
And chewed.
And swallowed.
…
"HURK!" Purple jerked their head to the side.
Red dropped the tray and held onto Purple. "Was it really that bad!?"
Purple lifted their head back up with a grin, no vomit to be found.
"Nah, just messing with you. It was alright."
Red quickly recovered from the scare and rapidly pumped their fists in the air.
"YES YES YES! HAHA! I can cook!"
Purple watched with fondness as their co-worker began breaking out the dance moves on the cafeteria floor.
They missed this. Being on speaking terms. Joking terms, even.
As co-workers, of course.
It'll take a long time before they could even consider being friends again.
But at least they started.
Purple reached out to grab another slice—
CRREAAAAK!
The floor shook.
The two found themselves tumbling into walls.
Purple picked themselves up first and ran to Red, still in shock.
"What's happening!?"
Red could only point at the cafeteria window, visor wide.
Purple looked out and—
"BLACK HOLE!"
Shoot.
As the ship leveled out, Red booked it to navigation, Purple following suit.
Shoot shoot shoot.
How did they not notice?!
Were the alarms down? Horrible time for the alarms to break down!
The ship kept shaking, accompanied by the screech of crumpling metal.
Purple slid into navigation as Red gripped the controls.
"THRUSTERS AREN'T STRONG ENOUGH!"
They could only watch as they grew closer and closer to the pitch black sphere of certain death.
"PURPLE! I'M SORR—"
Purple always thought death was a mercy. A release. To let go of all your senses.
Except pain, apparently.
Not anything overkill, no. Just aching. A lot of aching.
Whoever was in charge of the afterlife was gonna get a piece of their mind, that's for sure.
Purple slowly opened their eyes.
The afterlife looked a lot like the Skeld…
Wait.
Purple patted themselves down, checking to see if their whole body was intact.
No visor cracks.
Still two legs. Still two hands.
No broken bones.
At least, not any they could feel.
Just a bunch of sore muscles turning—
Red.
Purple shot up as their visor scanned the room, landing on an overturned chair laid on top of—
No no no no no…
Purple shoved the chair off of Red's person and gently shook their friend.
"Red. Red.
Redsie.
Wake up.
Please.
Don't leave me again."
…
Seconds passed like years until a cough escaped the ex-captain.
"…Purps?"
"Yeah buddy." They sniffled. "It's me."
"…Are we dead?" Red sat up with support from Purple. "Why are you here? You shouldn't be in hell…"
"I— wh—" Purple stammered. "No, we're alive Redsie!"
"Ohhhh good lord…" Red pulled Purple into a hug on the floor. Purple didn't fight it. "I thought hell looked like the Skeld."
The ex-security guard wiped their visor. "Honestly, that would make sense."
Red let go of Purple and reached for their captain's hat across the floor.
"So, um," They adjusted it as they stood back up, "if we're not dead, where are we?"
Purple snagged their own cap as they looked out the window.
It looked like space. There were definitely stars. If they remember correctly, black holes didn't have stars inside them.
"Alive, I guess?" They turned to the other. "Isn't there a space map in here?"
Red smacked a lifeless console two times. "Pretty sure it's busted." They dragged a finger over to a flickering panel. "Thrusters are dead too."
"Wonderful." Purple picked themselves off the floor. "So we got no movement, no idea where we are, dwindling food supplies, and no way to call for help."
The ex-security guard could've sworn a lightbulb flashed over Red's head.
It wasn't long before they found themselves being dragged by the hand down the hall.
"Red, where are we going!?"
The duo skidded to a stop before the communications room. "To call for help!"
Red ran into the dark, leaving Purple to flick the lights on. Well, light. Only one shattered lightbulb heeded the call and shined upon the room.
The ex-captain dug through the overturned desks and machinery, fishing out a jet-black box.
Purple tilted their head.
"Aren't comms down? Not even Lime could fix them on their own."
"Oh, this SOS system works on it's own." Red patted the box in their hands. "It said so in the handbook."
It—
It what.
…
Purple clapped their hands together and took a deep breath.
"You've known this was here the entire time."
The ex-captain raised their brow.
"…Yeeesss?"
"And not once did you think to use it when we were slowly dying to ALIENS?!"
"I thought it was no bi- I thought it wasn't gonna be a problem!"
"YOU IDIOT! YOU-"
…They could feel Red's breathing.
Purple looked down to see their own hands gripping the ex-captain's uniform, the seams looking ready to give.
It's wearer's visor shrunk back in fear, but they made no attempt to break out of the hold.
…Purple let go.
They stepped a few feet away, hands still raised.
"…'m sorry."
"No no no," Red cut them off, "You were right. I should've used this sooner."
Purple wrung their hands together.
"…Doesn't justify me hurting you."
"You didn't hurt me—"
"I could've."
…
They both stood there in silence, as the single flickering bulb threatened to plunge the room back into darkness.
…
A barely audible beep! pulsed as Red activated the SOS.
Purple took a seat on the cold metal floor, with Red following suit.
A faint red glow flushed out onto the floor as the box sat in Red's lap.
The two waited.
And waited.
And waited.
BEEP! — BEEP!
Purple had nearly nodded off when they jumped to attention.
Red had also woken, scrambling to put down the box as it emitted a flashing green light.
A signal had been returned.
From a MIRA ship.
As the two rushed to Navigation, Purple couldn't help but think.
Once they got on board that ship, they would have to explain the state of the Skeld.
'Yes officer, the Ore+ we've been transporting turned out to be alien eggs for parasites that took over two of our crew and killed everyone else. So we dumped it all into the vacuum of space.'
'No officer, i'm not off my rocker. Why do you ask?'
That is to say, nobody would believe them. They and Red were definitely going to get fired and blacklisted. Hell, maybe even shot.
Those were the likeliest outcomes. Purple knew that.
They just hoped they would've accepted it by now.
The doors to Navigation flew open when Red pressed their face against the glass.
Purple propped themselves up on a nearby console as the ship came into view.
Red leaned forward, visor squinted.
"It looks an awful lot like the Skeld."
"Another cargo ship. Figures."
"No, I mean a lot lot like the Skeld." Red rubbed the back of their head. "Pink told me this ship was a new test model. No other ships like it should exist."
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time MIRA lied to you." Purple patted Red's shoulder before turning around. "C'mon, let's pack our things. I'll meet you in storage."
Purple stepped out of navigation as they made their way back to security.
They passed by the weapons room.
For the last time.
Then the cafeteria.
For the last time.
Then medbay.
For the last time.
…
The security doors hissed as they slid open.
Purple wasted no time in gathering all the essentials. Which, admittedly, wasn't much. It's not like they had much to bring anyways.
Just their binocular collection and…
Heracles.
The security guard picked the shoebox-turned-coffin off the ground, opening it up for a quick check. Once they confirmed their petmate was inside, they stuffed it in their backpack.
Purple was one foot out the door when they stopped and turned around.
They took one last look.
At their filing cabinet that only ever acted as a coffee holder.
At their crappy desk setup with the keyboard whose delete button didn't work anymore.
At their shitty makeshift sleeping corner, which gave their dingy apartment couch a run for its money.
They sighed.
And walked out the room.
Purple watched from behind the glass as the other ship's docking tube fastened onto the storage's hull breach. Once the tube had stabilized, they opened the door.
They were waiting in front of the passageway when Red walked into the room, steps slow and heavy.
"Alright, how many games were you able to cram in there?"
A smirk painted Red's face.
"All of them."
The ex-captain walked up beside the ex-guard as the docking tube began to hiss.
A hand found its way onto Purple's own.
"Purps… whatever happens, we're doing it together. I promise."
Purple returned the hold.
"Same here, Redsie."
The docking tube opened its doors to reveal two crewmates on the other side.
One was a red-colored bean with a darker red uniform. A similarly-colored pilot hat rested on their head, brandishing the MIRA logo above a yellow trim.
The other was a sheen of violet, donning a navy blue cap and a matching color shirt. A yellow badge was clipped on as a dark tie draped next to it.
Purple felt their grip tighten.
Nobody moved.
…
…
Red awkwardly cleared their throat.
"…Permission to come aboard?"