bloodyvirgo | Once More Unto The Breach

Once More Unto The Breach

When Kanaya's door appears in Milliways once again, she's quick to get through it, lest the Bar decides to do any more puzzle shenanigans and makes the troll carve another pumpkin.

The interior of the asteroid is just as she left it, including the puddle sick off to one side that she can't bring herself to look at. After a moment of hurried thought, it occurs to her that the best course of action would be to return to ~~her den~~ the computer hub, and see who you can get in contact with. Karkat should know you've dealt with Eridan at the very least.

All to soon, Kanaya's returned to where this all started, freezing at the sight of a familiar form crouched next to Feferi's still body. Cautiously, she steps forward.

"Sollux?"

"Kanaya?" Sollux turns his head from side to side, trying to pin her down. It’s a lot harder than TZ makes it look, being blind. "KK said you were dead." He sounds pretty chill about it. A lot of people have turned out to be less dead than advertised today.

She lets out a relieved breath, glad to see another of your group in one piece. "I Got Better," she says dryly. "Apparently I'm A Rainbow Drinker Now, Though I Am Not Sure *How* It Happened."

"...right I remember y0u talking about that when we were asleep." His hands move down to pat his girlfriend’s dead fishy fingers. "y0u remember t00 right? we were all t0gether and every0ne was alive and n0b0dy was d00med anym0re." It’s pretty awful how hope and mistrust can animate the charred sockets Eridan left in his face. "I... I l0st kk and my headset 0ut there and i’m starting getting pretty freaked 0ut, s0 if y0u d0n’t remember, can we maybe just pretend f0r a little while?"

"I Do Remember," she says softly as while picking her way over to him. When she arrives, she settles beside him on the floor carefully. "It Was Nice, Not Having To Worry About Eridan Or Jack, Or Anything Else."

He lets out a long, tightly-head breath, and relaxes against her. "Fef was there," he says, tentatively. "when i f0und her like this i was w0rried, but..." His fingers move over her wrist, up her arm, brush past her gills and cradle her face. "She's 0kay really."

Kanaya allows him to lean against her, lifting her own arm to wrap around his shoulders. It's disconcerting, seeing the normally bubbly heiress so still. "She Did Not Deserve What Eridan Did To Her. It's Not Fair. Not Fair That We Get To Be Okay, And Not Her."

He stiffens, his fingers closing over her swim goggles. "she is 0kay," he says firmly, earnestly. "she's just n0t... here. this is just... meat." It's easy to think that way, after a lifetime of hacking. Easy to hang on to. "s0me0ne has been messaging 0n that c0mputer f0r a while n0w," he says. "i tried to see wh0 it was but i c0uldn't... i can't..." Hysteria skates on the edge of his voice, trying to acknowledge that he can't see a computer screen. For Sollux, who has lived his life in computers more than any other troll, that is the one thing too awful to face.

"I Will Look In A Moment," she tells him, laying a hand over his. "This Is More Important Right Now." Gnawing her lip for a moment in thought, she guides his fingers in removing Feferi's goggles, carefully pulling them over his head to cover his eyes. "There," she says softly. "Now You Will Always Have A Bit Of Her With You."

His face twitches and scrambles, moving through the weird deeply personal emotions people less antisocial would be humiliated to let see the light of day. "thanks ky," he mutters. The goggles make him look less awful, less.... falling-apart, then his weird blasted eyes.

In the back of her mind, she can almost see someone that ~~she~~ her ancestor considered a second son. Impulsively, she hugs him next, wrapping both arms around him gently. "You Are Quite Welcome, Sollux."

He folds into the hug, his pulse pounding in his neck close to her ear. She is a comforting anchor in the wide, cold room; the first sense of orientation he's had since he lost Karkat out in the dark. The teleport pads don't do a blind guy any favors. She manages to ignore the thrumming pulse for a few minutes, offering as much comfort as she can for her friend before she has to try and disengage the hug awkwardly. No. She doesn't want to hurt another friend, and she's stupid for not feeding before leaving Milliways.

"...it's 0kay," he says, a flash of the old unsettlingly knowledgeable Sollux coming through. "i kn0w y0u need fuel and im n0t much g00d t0 any0ne like this. they explained everything in the bubbles."

"I...Wasn't In Control Of Myself When I First Woke Up. I Don't Wish To Hurt You, Sollux."

He grins wryly, his lips moving around the knocked-out teeth that don't make him lisp anymore. He shrugs. "it's just meat, ky. we need a juiced-up rainbow drinker m0re than we need a blind telekinetic right n0w. just try t0 be careful."

She lets out a breath and nods sharply. "I Will." Then, still holding Sollux, she drops her head to bite him gently. It's different, feeding when she's not starving. No urge to drain her donor dry.

He lets out a pained hiss through the four-fold gap in his teeth, then steadies; by the time he has fully braced himself it's all over.

Once she's had her fill, just enough to top herself off, she pulls back some. "Are You Alright, Sollux?"

"yeah," he gasps. "i'm fine. are you?"

"Better," she responds, reaching into her sylladex for a adhesive healing strip, carefully applying it to the side of Sollux's neck. "Take A Moment To Rest. I Will See To That Message Window In The Meantime."

Sollux nods, and Kanaya rises smoothly, taking a moment to smooth her skirt habitually before making your way over to the computer. Familiar grey text fills the screen, and she takes some time to talk to the Karkat in your past, doing your best to calm him through text and reassure him of her and Sollux's well being while playing down your emotional breakdown from earlier.

It takes a little while to get through things, but with a game plan hashed out, she eventually steps back from the computer, taking a moment to swap out the bloody clothes she's wearing for something a bit more classier before rejoining Sollux.

"well?" he prompts, hearing footsteps, and the rustle of Kanaya's dress,

"We're Going To Regroup With Karkat, Terezi, and Vriska Up On The Roof," she informs him. "Then We'll Figure Out What To Do About Gamzee.

Sollux regards her sightlessly for a moment before nodding, heaving himself to his feet. "what are we waiting f0r, then?"

Kanaya smiles in response, taking his arm gently in her own, and together, they head for the roof.

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Meanwhile, up on the roof, Vriska is dead.

Terezi's face is drawn and blank. She turns away from the corpse; her nose twitches. The whole roof stinks of unsatisfying blueberry death, and the shape she smells coming closer is almost invisible, scent blurring with the grey steel roof and black night of space. If it weren't for the tiny spice of orange and yellow...

Trolls like black, but there's only one who tries so hard to not exist. "ka--" She gets ahold of herself, and tries to inject some of her usual semi-deranged cackle into her voice. "K4RK4T?"

"...OH FUCK." Yeah, that's definitely Karkat. She can't smell his face at this distance, with all the blood, and he sounds upset, but her doubts about how he'll react to her killing Vriska vanish when he rushes forward and hugs her.

"SH3 WOULDN'T..."

"I KNOW," Karkat says. "IT'S OKAY. I MEAN... IT'S NOT. BUT IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT. AND WE HAVE TO GET READY, GAMZEE WILL BE HERE ANY--SHITSHITSHIT-- Karkat stiffens at the sound of another roof hatch opening, and she sniffs at the new arrival.

But why would anyone be afraid of Gamzee?

The noise, thankfully, isn't Gamzee's arrival.

It's Kanaya, having arrived as promised and with Sollux on her arm, backtracked up to the roof as quick as she can while guiding her blind friend.

"They're Here," she soothes, feeling Sollux relax beside her at the words. "No Sign Of Gamzee."

Karkat lets go of her and whirls around; she can feel him relax even before she hears Kanaya's level tones. But Kanaya smells... bright, and Terezi stiffens a little herself at faint memories; her hand steals up to rub her neck, the band-aid hidden under the high collar of her ridiculous costume.

"C4N SOM3BODY T3LL M3 WHY W3R3 SO WORRI3D ABOUT G4MZ33?"

"HE'S LOST HIS FUCKING MIND, THAT'S WHY," Karkat growls; he glares past Kanaya. Is something moving out there? Her fucking glow is wrecking his night vision, and she's facing the wrong way to see anything from that direction. And the other two are blind...

He sees something...

And then the sound floats out over the lonely dark ceiling of the meteor, lit only by the distant shining sphere of the universe they created and the faintly glowing wreckage of their Lands.

The sound of distant honking, coming closer.

Kanaya and Sollux tense in tandem as honks echo over the rooftop and Kanaya hurries them forward a few more steps, palming her lipstick smoothly before subtly placing herself between Gamzee and Sollux.

If Gamzee was going to start something, he'd have to go through her, first.

They form a smooth line, ready for him as he staggers closer, but Terezi keeps trying to make sense out of it.

"W41T, G4MZ33? 1 M34N.... G4MZ33?? BUT H3'S... G4MZ33!!!"

They can hear him now, muttering constantly to himself; his eyes flash red as he looks up at them. He's dragging something behind him. He's bleeding from three parallel slashes across his face; the marks of Nepeta's claws. His feet are bare and clumsy; he's staggering.

"YES, REALLY!" Karkat snarls. "HE'S BEEN KILLING PEOPLE AND LEAVING BULLSHIT NOTES AND FUCKING WITH ALL OF US, HE'S COMPLETELY FUCKING LOST IT!"

"fuckin... MOTHERFUCKER motherfucking SHITBLOOD fucking TRAITOR motherfucking MIRACULOUS fucking KILL EM kill"

"BUT--TH3N--SH3--" Vriska was telling the truth when she said she had only killed Tavros. And the notes... taunting her, telling her to wear the costume, acting like it was all a joke... trapping her in the pit, so she couldn't get her until Vriska was about to go. It was all. For a moment, Terezi's hands tighten around her white dragon plushy, trying to find the certainty and fury of JUST1C3 that propelled her up here, but it drops from her fingers as she gapes at the rank, insane smell of Gamzee.

He did this. He's... oh no...

Gamzee lifts what he's been dragging; it's beautiful. It's terrible. It's... ridiculous.

It's the Warhammer of Zillyhoo, candy-colored and impossibly heavy, the gleaming grinning knob on one end and the flat crushing surface of the business end. They all remember what Gamzee did with it the Black King, a monster thirty stories high.

For a moment the overwhelming certainty of death rolls over them, and Karkat weeps at beholding the glory of Zillyhoo. At the last moment, even with the memory of Nepeta's kiss fresh in his mind, his nerve fails him, and he equips a sickle.

Sparing a quick glance towards Karkat, Kanaya follows his lead and readies herself, hefting her chainsaw easily in her hands and watches Gamzee closely.

She's already killed one murderer and if she has to, she'll bear another.

Karkat puts a hand on her arm, and gently pushes the chainsaw into a less combative position. "h... HEY GAMZEE," Karkat says, tentatively. He really has no idea what he's doing. "WHAT DO YOU SAY WE TALK ABOUT THIS NEW KILLING EVERYONE PLAN OF YOURS? SEE IF WE CAN... GET YOU TO GET YOUR RECONSIDER ON."

He doesn't seem to hear. "ain't this a bitch," Gamzee whispers, then shouts: "AIN'T IT A STONE COLD MOTHERFUCKIN BITCH!!!"

"last four motherfuckin trolls under my beautiful motherfuckin reign of miracles IF YOU CAN FUCKIN CALL THEM THAT!!! two blind bitches ripe for the culling. a MOTHERFUCKING ABOMINATION with her guts all ripped out, AND MY FAVORITE JOKE! you're a fuckin joke, old best friend of mine, YOUR FUCKING BLOOD IS A FUCKING JOKE!!"

"hey lil Cal." Gamzee tosses off a wave to the creepy puppet in the green suit that Terezi brought up with her. She can't even remember why she did it. She brings her swordcane back out, still blue with Vriska's blood. Only Sollux isn't ready to fight; he hasn't been blind anywhere near as long as Terezi, and he doesn't even seem to know where Gamzee is.

Gamzee laughs wildly as they all stare, as the moment draws out. "nobody's laughing. WHY IS NOBODY FUCKING LAUGHING? it's just old gamzee. EVERYBODY LOVES TO LAUGH AT GAMZEE! and it's SO FUCKING FUNNY! everybody was soooo worried about that MOTHERFUCKER OUT THERE!!!" He points a finger at a distant green spark that might be Jack, and goes on. "so fuckin worried they didn't have time for their BEST MOTHERFUCKING FRIEND! but he ain't gonna kill you, bitchtits. NONE OF YOU. he won't never GET THE MOTHERFUCKING CHANCE!"

"AND WHEN WE'RE ALL DEAD, GAMZEE? WHAT HAPPENS THEN?"

Gamzee stares off into the darkness, for a long time, and for a minute Karkat thinks he won't answer. It feels like the perfect time to attack, slipping away from them, but he--

He has to try. Terezi starts forward with her canesword, fangs bared, but Karkat reaches out with one hand and holds her back without even looking. "SHHHH."

Gamzee's eyes drop to the puppet, its empty grin and empty eyes, and Karkat feels a wave of fear and revulsion and... something horrifying like love, rolling out of him. Maybe all of them do; certainly Sollux begins to flip his shit, gibbering at the puppet. Does he think it's Gamzee? Or?

Karkat decides to ignore that.

"then i guess me and my NEW MOTHERFUCKING BEST FRIEND will sit down and just KICK THE WICKED SHIT! tip the elixir... paint the pictures... just KICK IT HARD AND MOTHERFUCKING WAIT!!"

"TO DIE?" This shit's lasting forever; it seems to have lasted all of recorded history. Memory is heavy and close enough to touch; all the vile stupid history of Alternia, all the blood and rage, pushing them to a moment they can't take back.

"for the vast honk," Gamzee whispers. "AND THE GREAT UNDOING! for me and every fucking body else."

Karkat takes a first, tentative step forward. "IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY. BEST FRIEND." Gamzee's wild eyes, red as Karkat's own blood, flicker over him, and for a moment Karkat thinks he sees something there, some kind of pale longing, but then they drop to the sickle.

"OH YEAH? oh yeah? OH YEAH?!? okay then!" And Gamzee laughs. "COME AT ME, BRO!"

And he leaps.

Kanaya's left to watch helplessy after Karkat stays her hand, clamping down hard on the fear that threatens to bubble up and incapacitate her as Gamzee rages. Out of the corner of her eye, she watches Karkat stop Terezi as well and when he starts trying soothe the murderous troll, something clicks in her mind's eye, and suddenly she understands what's going on.

Her weapon lowers further as the pair continue to talk, but when Gamzee lunges, all she can do is make a small, distressed noise.

They're listening to him, Karkat realizes, even as his own muscles bunch and leap, almost without input from him. They actually let him handle it.

He's the leader. It's him.

Now to actually, you know...

Do it.

He unequips his sickle; he and Gamzee land facing each other, and he opens his arms, empty-handed, as Gamzee raises the hammer. The other troll grimaces, his fangs bared, but the hammer doesn't fall, and then his expression begins to writhe and twitch. Slowly, confidently, Karkat steps inside the sweep of Gamzee's arms and hugs him.

There's a clang as the hammer falls to the ground behind them, and Gamzee lets out a furious, deafening roar. "shhhhh," Karkat murmurs, and pats him gently. And slowly, inexorably, Gamzee begins to fall apart. He doesn't say anything articulate, just keening howls and yelps of some agony deeper than words. Something, Karkat knows, in his blood.

He knows all about blood.

Gamzee's blood is a blue so dark it's almost purple, and as Karkat pats and rocks him it gets everywhere, spattering their hands and face and clothes from the wounds of his face. His bone-white clown makeup gets all over too.

"shhhhshhhshhhhhhh, Karkat whispers, winding him in, the frantic and miserable honks growing slower and smaller, his pop-eyed red-eyed expression relaxing into one more sorrowful than miserable. It's a slow, weird process, but for Karkat it seems intuitive and obvious, and it obviously has an irresistable effect on the highblood. After one last bellow, Gamzee collapses entirely, almost asleep on his feet, and he and Karkat smile timorously as they embrace.

♦

It's over. Some kind of terrible fist clenched in Karkat's chest these last ~~months~~ hours lets go. It's over.

From the spectator's wing, Kanaya lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, relaxing as she stows away her lipstick once again.

Once Gamzee is calmed, and the hug lingers, she turns away to give them a moment, a soft smile on her face. Once she's turned, however, she's able to see what her back's been to since Gamzee arrived on the roof.

Chest tight, she cautiously approaches the crumpled figure in orange and cerulean blue.

Eventually, the hug breaks; a sheepish Gamzee wriggles away and goes to pick up his puppet, staring at it and frowning, as if trying to listen. His frown deepens, and then he sits down and hugs the puppet to his chest.

Well, that's extremely unsettling. Karkat will deal with that... in a minute.

Terezi and Sollux have withdrawn to a discreet distance, where Terezi is trying to teach him how to see with his nose. In the free slice of time, Karkat slips up beside Kanaya; besides the body crumpled next to her spilled husktop computer. He puts a cautious hand on the jadeblood's shoulder.

"ARE YOU..." He ponders the uselessness of the word okay, and the unfelicitiousness of going to flip out and kill Terezi now? and settles for, "IN CONTROL?"

"I KNOW IT SUCKS." And there is a lot of blood.

"Yes," she says simply to start as she relaxes at Karkat's hand on her shoulder. "I'm Upset That There's So Few Of Us Left And Vriska's Death Has Just Decreased Our Numbers, But I'm Not Angry, Just...Sad."

"...YEAH," he sighs. And it's true. But it's more than that. He could say that about Feferi, for instance, and it would be true, but it doesn't hurt him the way it hurt Sollux to know she's gone. It doesn't hurt him to know Vriska is gone the way it would hurt to lose Gamzee; the way it's hurting Kanaya. Vriska to him is another troll gone, and one they could have used against Jack to Kanaya...

He's not sure what Vriska is to Kanaya these days, but they have known each other a long time. A long, bloody time.

"LOOK, GLOWWORM, WE HAVE ALL HAD A LOT OF FUN MASSAGING OUR SHAMEGLOBES AND PUTTING OUT THE RESULTING WANK FIRES, BUT I GUESS IT IS TIME WE SETTLED DOWN TO BUSINESS TROLLING THESE GODDAMN HUMANS. WE HAVE SPENT THE LAST ELEVEN HOURS WITH OUR HEADS JAMMED FIRMLY UP OUR SEEDFLAPS AND NOW WE'VE GOT ONE MORE TO MAKE SOME KIND OF FUCKING PLANS TO LIVE THROUGH THIS."

"I GUESS WHAT I AM SAYING IS I NEED YOU TO HAVING YOUR SHIT FIRMLY LOCATED AND LOCKED DOWN, WITH NO CHANCE OF FLIPPING OR EVEN WEIGHING DOWN YOUR MIND. WE DON'T HAVE TIME HERE AND NOW FOR ANY KIND OF MELTDOWNS OR FEELING JAMS, BUT..."

He glances around hurriedly. Still clear. He slips two halves of a captchalog card into her hand. "DOOR TO MILLIWAYS, he says in a low voice. "I'LL--"

His eyes drop to the husktop; someone is messaging Vriska. The Rose human?

He shifts a foot in front of it. "I'LL CATCH UP WITH YOU IN A SECOND, IF THAT IS EVEN A THING THAT CAN HAVE ANY MEANING IN THE TEMPORAL CIRCLEJERK WE'RE TANGLED UP IN."

Kanaya gives a fond smile and accepts the door from him. She's not quite sure about how she feels about Vriska being dead, but she's happy for the chance to calm down after what's happened and make sure she's fully fed and in control before they do whatever comes next.

"Thank You," she says softly to him, then pitches her voice a little louder for anyone listening to hear. "I'm Going To Head Inside For Just A Little Bit, Karkat. I'll Return Momentarily."

"HOLY FUCK, MARYAM, YOU COULD PICK A BETTER TIME TO FIND A GAPER. HURRY IT THE HELL UP," he grouses, pretty much on autopilot.

When she's down a hatch, he drops immediately to grab Vriska's husktop. It's not the Rose human; it's, for some reason he is too impatient to fully comprehend scrolling back through the conversations, the John human pestering from her account. He rifles uncomfortably through their archive of conversations, trying to figure out what the fuck is going on it.

Oh God.

This is so insanely awkward and sad. He switches into his own account to try and explain to John, and is instantly barraged by about a million unfinished conversations with Jade. Well, she can hold her goddamn horses; they are all paused in time indefinitely anyway.

What the fuck is he going to say to John? Vriska is dead, and they have a lot of work in front of them, and apparently something flushed was going on... He rubs his hands over his eyes, unbelievably exhausted and for a moment he feels himself floating... somewhere else.

(In the darkness of the Furthest Ring, the troll's slain dreamselves are waiting
in the bubbles glubbed by unimaginable gods
waiting to be reunited
Karkat has been avoiding the experience
Now, in a moment of grey-out, he finds himself there.
Just for a moment.
Long enough to dream a
door of his own)

When his eyes snap back open, only few moments have passed here, but it is official; he is now Future Karkat. Also, Gamzee is poking him, steadily and apparently absorbed. It looks like he has been fingerpainting on Karkat's shirt in blood, too. His own, thank God.

Also, it's fucking freezing out here. Whose idea was it for space to be so goddamn cold? He chases Gamzee off with a furious explosion, and the other troll scurries off giggling. Feels like old times, except for the unsettling gleam of real persecutory glee in his suddenly intelligent eyes. This is going to get old fast.

Kanaya isn't gone for too long, thus us the glory of Milliways.

She looks just as calm and composed as she did when she left moments ago, and she's glowing healthily as she appears at Karkat's side again.

By the time she comes back, Karkat is deep in counsel in several different windows on Vriska's computer; a plan is beginning to come together. He gives her the side-eye.

"OKAY, I AM BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND THE APPEAL OF JADE'S PASSWORD SYSTEM. I WAS JUST THERE TOO, ARE YOU--"

Kanaya just rolls her eyes at him silently and doofs him in the face with a bundle of thick, warm material.

Karkat squawks and sputters into the turtleneck. It's a lot better than his long-sleeved t-shirt, and a lot less blood-stained. For now, anyway.

"OKAY," Karkat says, raising his voice; Terezi and Sollux are moving back towards the group, and Gamzee looks up for his weird puppet games. "LISTEN UP, GUYS. WE'VE GOT LESS THAN AN HOUR LEFT TO FIGURE OUT WHAT COMES NEXT. THE HUMANS ARE DOING THEIR PART BUT IT IS UP TO US TO MAKE SURE THE INFORMATION GETS MOVED AROUND THE TIMELINE APPROPRIATELY AND HELP THEM WITH THE GAME SHIT WE'VE ALREADY MASTERED. THERE IS A LOT TO DO AND WE CAN ONLY SPREAD OUR HELP SO FAR IN THE TIME WE'VE GOT, SO THERE IS NO MORE FUCKING AROUND, ALL RIGHT? NO MORE ROLEPLAYING, NO MORE ARTS AND CRAFTS, NO MORE STEALING EACH OTHER'S SHIT AND HIDING IT IN RANDOM PLACES, NO MORE SULKY MOPING IN THE CORNERS, NO MORE LONG ENTERTAINING RANTS FULL OF IMPLAUSIBLE BIOLOGICAL NONSENSE AND ABSOLUTELY NO MORE INSOLUBLE ROMANTIC ENTANGLEMENTS, WITH OR WITHOUT PINK-SKINNED MONKEYS. WE ARE GOING TO GET THE FUCK DOWN TO BUSINESS, IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?"

The five survivors exchange uneasy glances; then Gamzee yawns and stretches, and uses Karkat's best sickle as a backscratcher. Sollux mutters to himself and flops out on the ground. Terezi grins at him.

"YOU 4LL H34RD H1S HONOR4BL3 TYR4NNY! H3 W1LL H4V3 ORD3R 1N TH1S FUCK1NG COURTBLOCK! H3H3H3H3H3H3H3."

"I HATE EVERY GODDAMN ONE OF YOU, AND THERE IS NO FINER GROUP OF DOUCHEBAGS I WOULD RATHER NOT DIE BESIDE. SO HERE'S THE FUCKING PLAN..."

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Once More Unto The Breach

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