Chapter Text
Purpled scans his inventory one last time. He needs to be absolutely sure he’s ready, because there’s no coming back once they leave. His tools are neatly arranged at his hotbar: axe, pick, silk touch pick, shovel, and the Big Man Sword, all netherite with maxed enchantments. Lore is also in his inventory - a diamond sword with Sharpness IV and Unbreaking III - just in case the worst happens and all his netherite weapons are broken or otherwise inaccessible. His crossbow is loaded, and he has over a half-stack of arrows to his name. His shield rests in the offhand slot.
The mercenary adjusts the straps of his armor, which he has already been wearing for hours. The entire set is maxed netherite, of course. Everyone but Jack has made a habit of wearing their armor everywhere except to bed, and even Jack keeps his own set in his inventory at all times. Just in case.
(It took a lot of convincing to get Technoblade to take off his own armor when he sleeps.)
With all his gear accounted for, Purpled moves on to the other necessities. Three stacks of baked potatoes await consumption, one sitting in his hotbar. A handful of golden carrots the others had forced on him are there as well. Two stacks of TNT and a flint and steel are tucked safely into a corner of his inventory. He has a bottle of holy water, though he won’t need it until he gets to his destination. Purpled wishes he could take more with him, but there’s been a shortage of it following XD’s increasing apathy to their plight and decreasing visits. The god has been their sole supplier of the stuff since the fall of Church Prime, and without that...
Their group needs as much holy water as they can get - desperately so. That’s why he’s only taking enough for a single emergency use. If this mission succeeds, Purpled can get a lot more of it for himself where he’s going and it won’t be a problem. If not... it won’t matter how much holy water he has, and Purpled doesn’t want to take away a huge chunk of something so scarce and so vital to the group’s survival.
Especially considering Jack’s condition. He needs it the most. Purpled can’t stand the thought of Jack dying ( because of him ) because of such a stupid miscalculation.
Finally, there’s Karl’s journal. The book is arguably one of the most important items in his inventory. It contains all the information he’s going to need on his mission. And what the mercenary has been tasked with... well. It’s probably the most important thing he’s ever done in his life.
Purpled cannot fail.
The rest of his inventory is filled with all the riches they could spare - which, considering the abundance of precious metal blocks Ranboo had left them, was a lot.
Final inventory checks done, Purpled looks up at his partner on this mission.
“Well... are you ready to go?” Karl asks. His hands are fiddling with the drawstrings of his hoodie, twisting them around his fingers absentmindedly.
Purpled checks the straps of his armor one more time. A nervous habit, he silently realizes. Maybe not a bad one, but it’s something to keep in mind. “Yeah. We should be good to go... eeeexcept you aren’t wearing any armor.”
Karl shrugs, unconcerned. “I don’t need it where we’re going. There won’t be any mobs, and if the castles want us dead a little measly armor isn’t gonna stop ‘em.”
The mercenary grimaces. Karl’s probably right. He is the expert. “I’m still keeping my armor on.”
“You do you, man.”
“That might actually be smart,” a deeper voice comments. Purpled barely blinks at the intrusion; Technoblade is a familiar presence, and not one he needs to be wary of. “You never know where you’re gonna end up once you get to the other side. It’s always better to over-prepare than under-prepare, you know what they say.”
Karl giggles. “Oh, we’re going to the Other Side alright!”
Technoblade snorts. Purpled groans at the terrible pun, just as a green blob suddenly darts into the room. That, too, is familiar enough a sight that the mercenary barely startles.
“ Karl from Everywhere! Didn’t you say you were going to switch to the Inbetween last week?!” a very distinct voice exclaims, rather dramatically scandalized.
“I did, I did! Don’t worry, Charlie, I was just joking!” Karl reassures. “See? No more timesickness!”
The time traveler pulls up his sleeve. True to his word, the dark rash that had been setting in last week is now gone. He looks healthier, too, now that he mentions it.
“It better be, for both our sakes,” Purpled grumbles. He is summarily ignored.
“That’s good,” Charlie says cheerfully. “It’s important to take care of yourself!”
Karl nods. “I am, I am.”
“What about your memories? Feel like you’re forgetting anything?” Purpled questions.
“Nope! I mean, I don’t think so, at least...”
“Hey nerd, pop quiz,” Technoblade cuts in. “Name everyone in this building.”
“Technoblade, Purpled, Charlie, Jack, and Foolish!” Karl fires off, unfazed. The piglin hybrid nods approvingly.
“And you. What’s your name?”
“Karl Jacobs.”
“Where are we right now?”
“The sky base!”
“Good, good, you’re doin’ great. And why are we gathered here today?”
Karl sobers up at the reminder of their goal, the smile slipping from his face. “To send Purpled back in time to the early days of the SMP, so he can stop the Egg before it becomes too powerful,” he intones.
“And you, idiot,” Purpled adds, the words coming out softer than he’d meant them to. He quickly smooths out his voice into something less vulnerable. “Don’t talk like you’ve already decided you’re gonna die.”
The man frowns. His eyes are gold, the teen notes; last week they’d been fading grey with the influence of time travel - and more importantly, its side effects. The lack of grey is a good thing. It means Karl’s balancing act between the castles is working.
“You know what happened last time,” Karl reminds him. “They really didn’t like me bringing Foolish and George in. Both of them. I think that’s the only time I’ve ever seen the Inbetween and the Other Side work together.”
“That doesn’t guarantee your death,” Purpled argues.
“I told you, they both threatened me not to do it again. I’m not the only Karl out there. I’m not indispensable.”
Purpled falls silent at that.
A goopy green appendage gently glorps around Karl’s arm. “You’re indispensable to us, Karl from Everywhere,” the slime says solemnly.
Karl smiles faintly. “Thanks, Charlie.”
There’s still a resigned look on his face, and Purpled fucking hates it. Frustration burns beneath his skin. Even if he agrees with Charlie, he can’t do anything about it. None of them can, because everyone has already tried everything they could to avoid this outcome, and look where it got them.
He hates that they’ve had to resort to this, because Karl isn’t dispensable. He isn’t, no matter how many other time-hopping Karls there are in the universe. Purpled may be a mercenary, but if there’s anything this hellhole of a server has taught him it’s that lives are precious. People are precious, especially when they’re his close and valued allies, and Karl Jacobs falls into that category. Everyone in the sky base does; they’d have to, for Purpled to tolerate them this long. Karl is important, and he is not dispensable.
(The mercenary almost wants to say that he cares. )
The weight of a hand on his shoulder breaks Purpled from his thoughts. He knows it’s Technoblade before he even thinks of looking up for visual confirmation, knows the warrior’s presence the same way he can tell Charlie apart from any other slime with his eyes closed. The mercenary knows these things the same way he can instantly recognize Foolish’s light footsteps, Karl’s specific kind of laughter, the way Jack’s eyes widen when he tries to hold his tongue.
All of these people are so familiar to him now that he wouldn’t hesitate for a second to put his life in their hands. He knows the others are the same way. They all had to be, to survive this long. They’re his allies.
(Sometimes, he thinks about how easily he relies on the others in their little group of survivors, and he thinks, maybe this is what trust is supposed to be like. )
“It seems like your memory’s fine, Karl,” says Technoblade. “You remember all the important stuff. That’s good enough for now.”
The time traveler nods wordlessly.
It goes unspoken that there might not be a time after ‘now’ - not for Karl.