Chapter 4: Close, Yet Out Of Reach

Seeing Purple getting whisked away in front of you gifted you with the burst of energy you needed. Finding Markery wasn't just a goal of yours anymore — it now served as a rescue mission.

    Bolting toward the Factory, your ears echoed your own footsteps and the worried chatters of the other Markers who witnessed the scene. Part of you wanted to gather more information from them, but you resisted that strong urge. Saving Purple was top priority.

    Once in the Factory, you ran past Security Marker, jumping down into the crate leading to the Basement. You landed in a cool action pose, which made your anger simmer down a bit. It wasn't enough to extinguish it, though.

    "Hey, Y/N?" Oopsie Marker called in their usual messed-up manner. "What's happening?"

    "Just a bit of chaos," you replied quickly. "I'll fix it, don't worry."

    "What about Purple? Why can't he fix it?"

    You hesitated, hand touching the small rocketship. Your breaths were relatively quick, but you kept them silent in order to keep your words clear. "Purple's not here right now. I'm going to go find him."

    Oopsie was about to say something, but you didn't quite catch it before you were teleported to the otherworldly environment of Mars. As soon as everything was correctly loaded in, you sprinted toward the very edge of the map.

•————————————————————•

They're coming closer, Markery, the voice said.

    Really? How close are they? Dark Markery asked. Pulling this kidnapping stunt has probably been the most exciting thing in a while.

    The collector is approaching the Void.

    Wow, already? They're fast...

    "Ahem, sorry to break the very unsettling silence, but this is very awkward," Purple commented. Markery turned to face him, and he continued on. "Listen, I know you're my captor and all, but I'm longing for some social interaction. So... conversations, please!"

    The way Purple's talking... He's pushing all the touchy-feely buttons in Markery's memory without even meaning to. He crouched near Purple's jail cell, one hand holding a bar. The metal felt cold and refreshing at first, but it soon became warmer, much to his displeasure. Dark Markery rolled his eyes, sighing with an unamused tone. "Fine, fine. Go on then, speak."

    Purple congratulated himself with a silent "yes!" before saying, "Okay, first up: What's your name? I think I asked this, but I don't think you answered."

    Markery hesitated, afraid that answering this question might spark a couple of things. He pushed those irrational worries aside. "Dark Markery," he responded.

    "Dark Markery... All right!" Purple exclaimed. "Second off: Why am I here? I don't think I asked that yet, but it seems like a logical thing to ask."

    "Ah, all right," Dark Markery muttered. "Well, to put it short, you're here because I know a certain someone is going to try and 'rescue' you. That urge to bring the world's favorite person back will lead them right to me." Obviously, he's leaving out an extremely important detail, but that'll be revealed later.

    "Soooo I'm bait for this person, basically?" Purple assumed. "And the person is Y/N?"

    "Yes, and yes." Dark Markery snickered. "Nice to see that you catch on quickly."

    "Thanks!" Purple exclaimed, tone a bit too happy for Markery's liking. "So... What're you going to do once Y/N gets here?"

    "That's a special thing for you to find out later. "The lilac-capped Marker retracted his hand from the bars, walking away but still within earshot.

    "Ooh!" Purple's eyes lit up in excitement. "Like a surprise?"

    Markery stopped, barely glancing back at his former acquaintance. "Sure. You could put it like that." Wasn't Purple smarter than this? Wasn't he less oblivious?

    Perhaps I hit him a little too hard during that fight...

•————————————————————•

"Are you sure you haven't seen anything out of the ordinary?"

    Inverted paused, thinking for a short while. After that, he shook his head. "Not that I can recall, sorry," he replied with a clueless shrug.

    You sighed, feeling somewhat defeated. "All right, then. Thanks anyway." As you were about to walk away to continue your search, Inverted stopped you.

    "Hold on, wait," he said, arm extending to enhance his statement. "This may not be much, but I have a feeling that there might be something on the bottom left side of the maze. The three of us in here — we've been getting a feeling that there's something more sinister sneaking around in that corner."

    You smiled, regaining that spark of energy. "You have no idea how much that just helped." You managed to figure out your way back to the beginning of the Void Maze, now with a new sense of direction.

    According to Inverted, there was probably something in the bottom left part of the Void. Taking many left turns over a few rights, you started regaining hope.

    Now, you knew Inverted was a bit of a trickster. There was a very high chance that he was messing with you. But the way he stopped you so urgently — that undermined your previous thoughts.

    Good thing you trusted him, because you soon found a room unlike any other in the Void.

    The entrance was lit up with a glowing magenta outline; everything seemed more elegant and refined, yet you felt a malicious undertone. Rows of large, purple marble pillars stretched to the ceiling. A dull magenta carpet extended beneath you, its eastern and western sides blocked off by rope fencing with the same properties as the entrance.

    You entered the room, staring at the walls and ceiling. Small, pearl-white dots were scattered in numerous places. Considering their darkness-tainted background, you were reminded of the neverending sky of the Space Hub.

    At the end of the room, there was a sort of box-shaped machine. A glossy, light blue panel laid on the front of it, off with no action or movement.

    Once you were close enough to the machine, it suddenly turned itself on, screen now black with green text. The text Password was written in bold, a black space underneath it. Of course, a code would be need. But what code...?

•————————————————————•

Huh. They're faster than I expected them to be...

    Well, what did you expect? They'd do anything to save Purple — you know that.

    Fair enough. I just didn't expect them to have this amount of speed, though.

    "Hey, uh..." Purple suddenly spoke up, Markery being slightly caught off-guard by his voice. "I know this might be an awkward and possibly irrational question, but is there, um... any other reason I'm here? Other than entertainment purposes?"

    Huh. Purple was right; this was certainly an awkward thing to ask. "Well—" Markery stopped himself. How would he explain years worth of history responsible for his decided actions to him? "How would you feel if I told you that I was planning to rid of you?"

    Purple's face fell, expression now confused with a small tinge of hurt. "... What? What do you mean?"

    "It's hard to explain. You probably don't even remember anything, anyways." Dark Markery broke eye contact, looking off to the side in a semi-saddened manner.

    "That's—" Purple exhaled. He didn't even know how to react to that. He should be offended, right? Perhaps even outraged. But he didn't even know what to feel, nor how to respond.

    Is this doubt I feel within you, Markery?

    ...No.

    That's what I like to hear. You shouldn't feel bad for him — you'll gain what he's lost once this is all over.

    With the collector on my trail, even?

    Even with them on your trail. The outcome will be one that you will appreciate.

•————————————————————•

It took you an unnecessary amount of time to remember the needed password for the machine. You felt so dumb after finally recalling the writing on the back of the aged Abandoned Clocktower. Obviously, that was the correct password — why were you even thinking that hard about it?!

    Ugh, whatever... You shook your head. The password is... EVILPURPLECHAINSAW. You clicked on the blank space, and a keyboard appeared.

    Hesitant, you typed in the password you found. You weren't completely sure what this would lead to, which only heightened your nervousness. If this led to Dark Markery, that would be great! (Kind of.) If not... then you'd have to keep searching, and who knows what would be happening to Purple by then.

    Once the code was typed in fully, you carefully clicked the 'enter' button. Password changed to Success, and you felt yourself being transported to another dimension. Not in the way where you just instantly got there like usual, but in a way that seemed more... dramatic, but in a well-done manner.

    This time, you actually felt yourself being teleported, like small fragments of your physical form were flying off and being taken away. It didn't hurt at all; all you felt was a slight tingle. Overall, it was a strange experience, even though everything about this world is strange as it is.

    Eventually, all the little pieces of you reconnected to one another, your form rebuilding itself in a different dimension. You could say you were an asset — loading into the game yourself. Once everything was done with, you began to inspect your surroundings like you always did.

    The new area you found yourself in looked like an arena — a more dark and corrupted one, at that. There was an obvious menacing tint to the air; it made you extremely uncomfortable. Circling the walls of the arena stood a couple of pillars, each seemingly made from marble and colored two different hues of dark purple. Every pillar was cracked in half, yet the top parts were floating... somehow. Right in the middle, there was another pillar, elevated by two octagonal platforms. It was the same color as the columns surrounding it, only a bit lighter. It's top was cracked as well, except with no other half.

    Behind that pillar seemed to be a jail cell... with Purple in it. It was at that moment you realized that you'd entered the area of Purple's captor, Dark Markery. You noticed that he was holding a chainsaw, metal reflecting the light. Foliage warned you about something like this, didn't they?

    Purple noticed you, expression switching from stressed to exasperated relief. "Oh, thank goodness you're here," he whispered. "Please help, Dark Markery kidnapped me, and he refuses to let me go."

    You shook yourself, exhaling to try and lower your stress. You'd most likely have to resort to other measures in order to free Purple.

    "Who are you talking to?" the voice of Dark Markery asked. "Whatever. You ruined my life, so I'm ruining yours!"

    "Your grudge is from years ago — heck, I don't even remember anything myself!" Purple exclaimed. It seemed like you've walked in on something without any context. "Can't you just forgive me?"

    Dark Markery scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Ha! As if." He lowered his voice to a low, menacing level. "You've made a fool out of me for the last time, Purple Marker."

    "My name's, uh, Marker, actually." This caught you by surprise. You always referred to Purple Marker as... well, Purple Marker. Wasn't that what the Markerdex said?

    "Yeahhh, but the game calls you 'Purple Marker,' so shut up."

    Purple Marker growled like a baddie, obviously gaining a bit of a temper. It quickly vanished as he called out to you in a loud voice, "Oh, hey, Y/N! Can you help me?"

    "Wha— Why'd you have to call me out like that, man?!" you exclaimed. You had the vision of a sneaky stealth mission, and Purple shouting out your name ultimately ruined that.

    "Let's face it," Markery began, now facing you and acknowledging your existence, "you would've been caught sooner or later." His tone switched to that same low one from earlier. "But don't you even dare think of helping him!" He then turned to Marker, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "And if you ask them for help one more time, I swear I will give them the number on your Roblox gift card."

    This left Purple speechless for a while. "What?!" he exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.

    "You heard me. I will if I have to."

    "Noooooo!" Purple cried out. "Please help me, Y/N! Try to defeat Dark Markery and let me out of here!"

    Markery himself had already started up his chainsaw, his weapon roaring loudly and echoing throughout the arena. "You know what?" he asked himself, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "That's it! It's time for you to face my wrath, Y/N!"

    It was at this moment when you realized that you might have gotten into something way larger than you had originally thought.

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