His name was Eridan Ampora. He was one of the twelve trolls to create our universe. Like the others, he had played through the game, won the prize, only to have it swiftly taken from him by the monstrosity Jack Noir. Like the others, he had fallen back to a secret base on a meteor far from Skaia, and began hassling the four kids that had created said monstrosity. Like the others, he was scared, and sad, and found himself devoid of all hope.

But now he'd snapped. He'd just killed the Princess he'd loved, the friend he'd been grateful for, and the enemy he despised beyond all measure. Ironic, was it not? The Prince of Hope destroying the last bit of Hope for the succession of the troll race? And now he stood on the roof of the base, his bloodlust now itching for a taste at the Cerulean swill of the Thief of Light, and the high Purple blood of the Bard of Rage.

The roof was fairly barren, adequate grounds for the showdown. The grey concrete drew contrasts with the starry space above, filled with countless other asteroids all tumbling around. To his left stood the Thief: Vriska Serket, a former Caliginous romantic conquest of his. She stood there, recoiling away from the other two murderers, in her full orange and yellow God Tier outfit. Her face, which popped out of the hood, showed genuine terror in the presence of her two adversaries, and she readied her dice in her right hand. To Eridan's right stood the Bard: Gamzee Makara. Eridan was confused by the clowns' presence, as he had previously been such a passive member of their team, but never-the-less, Eridan prepared to slay him. It was curious though, as the Purple blood had a large scratch across his face, and wore both Equius' glasses and Nepeta's hat. Eridan didn't need to be a wizard to understand what happened.

Eridan had discarded his own cape long ago, somewhere within the halls of the base, in a matter of frustration. All he wanted was what was best for her. But she insisted, and insisted, and Eridan had to do it. Finish off his former Moirail, and the mustard blooded swine that called himself her Matesprit. If anything, he regretted his actions against the Sylph, destroying her Matriorb and blasting her through the stomach. She was only trying to help their race, but in a fit of anger, Eridan destroyed that last bit of hope for the troll race.

He examined Vriska for a moment, watching her blue wings flap behind her. A scowl creeped up to his face, and he felt his heart stop. This was it. The moment of truth. He felt the heat come off of his wand, so much power in such a little object. In the brief moment, he thought about who he'd kill first. On one hand, he didn't know anything about Gamzee, aside from the time when he lost his mind and caused the most damage to the Black King. God knows what else he was capable of. On the other, he actually did know what Vriska was capable of, with her luck thieving powers. He knew she was actually a danger to him.

Wait. A noise, like the pattering of footsteps, came from his left. He turned his attention, and his jaw nearly dropped at what he saw.

Kanaya. She ran past him, Eridan's very own cape covering her wound and flapping behind her, her skin mysteriously glowing pure white. As soon as she charged up to Gamzee, her foot connected with his bulge, sending him flying off the side of the roof. She turned to the Thief as quickly as she could, and sprinted at her. Her fist smashed Vriska's cheek, sending her flying across the roof with her dice rolling with her.

And then she turned to him. Her anger grew even more, and she walked briskly over to him. Eridan could've blasted her away with his White Science, but he found himself unable to move a muscle. She stopped dead in front of him, and snatched Eridan's wand from his hand. Eridan watched as she snapped it in half with her bare hands, and pulled her lipstick from her captchalogue, turning it into a chainsaw. Eridan raised his hands in a futile attempt to defend himself, and screamed out, closing his eyes.

But then, the revving of the chainsaw ceased, and he heard a sigh come from in front of him. He opened one eye cautiously, but saw that she had sheathed her weapon. He lowered his arms and opened his other eye. Kanaya looked him directly in the eyes, and grabbed his head with her hands, pulling it directly down into her knee. Eridan's head bounced off it like a ball, and he fell backwards, specks of violet coming from his mouth. He landed on the ground, holding his head with his hands, and let out a loud groan. Kanaya stood over him, and she finally spoke.

"You're Lucky Eridan, I Should Kill You For What You Did, But I Won't Stoop To Your Level."

Eridan gulped, and wiped the blood from his mouth. He sat up as Kanaya walked away from them, and called out to her.

"wwhere are you goin'?"

"To Find The Rest Of Our Friends. Don't Try Anything Else. Stay Here With Vriska. We'll Deal With You Two When We're All Together."

And as quick as she'd come, she left the roof, leaving Eridan and Vriska alone together, albeit away from each other. Eridan gave a glance over at Vriska, who watched Kanaya walk away, a small smile on her face and a longing look in her eyes. Eridan sighed, and unwrapped his scarf from around his neck, wiping his bloody face with it and chucking it to the ground. He slowly got up, his head continuing to ache, and staggered over to Vriska.

In the meantime, Vriska had snatched up her glasses and began examining the damage to them. Her attention turned to Eridan as he rocked up to her, and she gave him a sly smirk.

"Soooooooo, what did you end up doing to piss her off so much?" she asked.

Eridan frowned a frown of genuine embarrassment, and replied, "i wwent off the deep end, and kinda murdered fef, maybe murdered sol, destroyed the matriorb and wwounded kan. i planned on joining up wwith jack."

Vriska let out a chuckle, "Holy shit! That's a8solutely rich!"

Eridan folded his arms, and leaned forward, "wwell wwhat did you end up doing?"

Vriska raised her arms in a dramatic shrug, "I don't even know! May8e it's 8ecause I kissed Tavros and she had some red feelings for him? Who knows!"

"wwhat evver happened to him anyway?"

"Eh, don't worry your fins a8out it."

Eridan looked towards where Kanaya had gone, gazing at the stairs that led further down into the base, and said, "you know, i didn't think the girl had it in her to do something like that."

"I know! She just clocked me across the face like it was nothing! It was impressive." Vriska sighed, and under her breath, mumbled the next sentence, "and kind of hot."

Eridan turned to her again, an eyebrow raised, "wwhat wwas that?"

"What was what? Eridan, you must still 8e suffering from madness. I didn't say anything, you dope!"

Eridan pouted and turned away again. "i should probably go help find the others."

"Really? Even after what Kanaya said?"

"wwell i feel like i should. if there's any hope to find them, maybe the prince of the stuff could help."

"Really? The same Prince who destroys his aspect? Hey, may8e your secretly the Destroyer of Hope!"

Eridan rolled his eyes, and began making his way to the hatch leading to the stairs. "fuck off, serket. you havve fun with yourself on the roof."

Vriska smiled and gave him a condescending wave. "See you l8r, Ampora. Try not to murder any other of your red crushes!"

Eridan gave her one final flip of his middle finger as he descended the stairs, and slammed the hatch closed behind him.