Chapter 1: Karkat

It had been nearly four years since Sgrub. Our session of the Game. That was what everyone called it. Like some fucking science fiction movie. Shove 12 people who had never met each other into life-or-death situations and that was all it was. A game.

It was Sollux who found everyone. Though I had done my best to put Sgrub and its memories behind me, some people just can't let go. I have to admit, the Game got it right portraying Sollux as a computer genius. Twelve people in twelve different parts of the world, separated by thousands of miles. With nothing but our accents and a few hints from Game officials, he had somehow managed to track down not only where we lived, but our email addresses and phone numbers as well. According to him, he had dedicated the last four years to finding us. I had originally assumed that telling me that was just a tactic to convince me to come, but from the members of the group I had been forced to communicate with, it was true. He had slowly found us over the years, with Gamzee and me pulling in last. I guess we were the ones who least wanted to be found.

I hadn't talked about Sgrub. To anyone. The reason Sollux had found some of the others so fast was because they had talked about it on their Tumblrs, or Facebooks, or any kind of social network. Gamzee and I hadn't done that, and I still wasn't exactly sure how he had found us. I didn't blame Gamzee for not wanting to come. His experience with the Game was worse than anyone's. That was the real reason I was coming to this ridiculous meeting. We were what the Game's system had called "moirails", two people closer than friends, closer than best friends. We were perfect balances of each other, according to Sgrub anyway. Gamzee had had a lot of problems in the Game, and I wanted to make sure those hadn't bled into real life. I know that sounds extremely cheesy, but it's the truth.

Part of getting Gamzee to come meant that we had to meet in Cardiff, close enough to his home in Newport so that he couldn't really refuse without sounding like an ass. This also meant that I had to take a twelve-hour flight in economy-class seating (I wasn't much richer than my Sgrub character). By the end of it, my back and neck were aching, and my already foul mood had sunk even more. I checked my watch. 11:38. I had to get to our meeting place by Cardiff Castle in less than 25 minutes. I had a bad feeling that I was going to be the last one there. As if this meeting wasn't embarrassing enough.

One haphazard taxi drive later, I arrived at the meeting place. Surprisingly, there were only four people there. Though they had no horns or gray skin, it was easy to identify them. Sollux was the first to approach me.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure the Game officials had done a great job of capturing Sollux's character in the game. However, I severely doubted that he had worn blue and red glasses before the session. I was even surer that he had never owned a golden-yellow sweater embroidered with his player symbol, the Gemini, before Sgrub. Here was someone who had done the exact opposite of me. While I had pushed away thoughts of the Game at all costs, Sollux had put great care in keeping the memory alive, to the point where it was almost an obsession. On his wrist was his player bracelet, a band of metal embossed with his symbol. This bracelet, coupled with a second one we hadn't been allowed to keep, was what allowed the Game to get such an accurate reading of our hand movements. Sollux's only requirement for the meeting was that we all bring our own.

"Hey, KK, tho you made it. EQ didn't think you would come." Sollux glanced back at Equius. Though Sollux was Danish, any accent he had was hidden behind his horrible lisp, which was just as bad as when he was in Sgrub. As for Equius, he looked pretty much the same as he had in the Game. Bulging abs, a loose-fitting muscle tee, and long, dirty blond hair. He even had on a pair of cracked sunglasses, for old time's sake. Didn't these people see it? We had failed! The game had ended long ago, and we fucking lost. Now we had to get on with the bigger game of life, however dull and meaningless that was.

The only other members of our group who were here were Vriska and Aradia, who must have gotten an early flight from Japan because she had none of the luggage we were carrying. Maybe she just didn't bring any. Her hair was shorter than it had been in Sgrub, but still pretty long and jet black. She was the only one here with no mementos or references to the Game. According to Sollux's messages, Vriska was Russian, and she sure looked the part. There was fierce look in her eyes, and a streak of cobalt blue, her player color, dashed through her blond hair. She was wearing an eye patch, but didn't know if that was in memory of the game or whether she actually needed it. I wasn't sure how I felt about Vriska; she had been an absolute bitch in Sgrub, but you could technically blame that all on staying in character. Still, she had ruthlessly murdered members of our team, and her Game-provided backstory had been equally vicious. We all knew our backstories were mostly based on the test results we needed to get into the Game.

The tests were both athletic and academic, with a few weird situations thrown in between; your examiner suddenly having a stroke, a question in the middle of the English section about racial ethics. As the Game was mainly a giant experiment, only the best were allowed to play. If Vriska had a murderous backstory, she had probably gotten murderous results.

"W-well if it isn't the filthy mustardblood," said a voice from behind me. I turned. It was Eridan. He, like Sollux, had fully embraced Sgrub, and was wearing the same purple cape, scarf, and pajamas he had worn most of the Game. Black glasses framed intelligent, blue eyes, and his light brown hair had a shock of light blond running through it. "You're not a theedweller anymore, you British twit!" Sollux practically hissed.

"Oh! Maybe this time it'll be a fair fight, then."

Just when Sollux looked like he was about to break Eridan's neck, Fereri arrived. She had probably heard them arguing a mile away. "Hey, I'm sure we can work this out," she said, her long red curls bouncing with every word.

"Not with thith impothible douchfin here," spat Sollux.

"Douchfin? I w-would do anything to be a 'douchfin'," said Eridan. His voice turned low and angry. "I'v-ve had nothing since Sgrub ended. Nothing! I can part be the one of the richest families in London, but no one w-wants to be friends w-with the 'freak', the boy w-with all the money but no mother. The boy w-who stutters all his Ws and Vs. The boy with a weird obsession with wizards and magic and science. The only reason I'm here is because I thought you w-would hav-ve some way to get us back! But all this is is a soppy reunion!" Eridan swept back his cape. "W-we w-were like gods there!" he suddenly yelled, "Here," he said, practically whispering, "W-we are no one." Personally, I thought that was a little over the top, but Sollux didn't seem to care.

"You think you had problemth?" Sollux said. He was getting angrier by the minute, his face turning red. "How about we just calm down now, guys…?" said Feferi in a desperate attempt to mediate. "Do you even know how I wath able to find you guyth tho fast?" Sollux asked, "No one elth could have done it. No one elth could have stayed up for nights on end, thorting through data! You think you don't have any friendth? I'm fucking bi-polar. You jutht thit there in your rich houthe in London and think you are tho unfortunate."

I'm not really sure what happened next, but next thing I knew Eridan had an honest-to-god wand in his hand and was holding it threateningly under Sollux's chin, like a dagger. That was when I snapped.

You had to admit, I had been managing the situation pretty well before then, hell, I hadn't even spoke. But the sight of Eridan (in a cape no less) trying to kill Sollux with a fake wand was enough to push me over the edge. "That's enough, you idiots! I didn't come here to watch you two get over your fucking kissmestitude!" That was a term the Game used to describe people who hated each other with a deep passion. I pushed Eridan off of Sollux, then continued, "In fact, I shouldn't have come at all. I have no desire to see you two fight in the middle of fucking Cardiff! Why are we even here? None of you seem to understand this, so let me put it in very simple terms: WE LOST. We lost the Sgrub, we lost the Game, and we lost our chance. IT'S OVER. It's about time you got over it." I look purposefully at Eridan and Sollux.

I suddenly realized that almost everyone else had arrived. We were still missing Tavros and Gamzee, but other than them, everyone was here. Seeing them all, especially Terezi, all decked out in her RP outfit, just made me angrier. "Fuck this shit, I'm leaving," I grabbed my luggage. What a pointless waste of time, and money. I was about to walk away when Sollux grabbed my arm. "Thop. I actually do have a reathon for bringing everyone here, tho if you can wait until GZ and AT get here, we can thart." I looked back, surprised. I would never have expected a reaction like that from Sollux's game self, but here, this could be completely normal. I was suddenly hit by a strange feeling; that moment where you realize you are in a room full of unfamiliar people. Sollux is a stranger to me. They all are. Do I know any of these people, really?