"Just a second," he hissed into the headset, the s slipping through his lips with slight difficulty. He paused the game and threw down the controller, then stood quickly and straightened his shirt, just before the pounding at his door came again. He narrowed his eyes and shouted an agitated "I'm coming!" before picking through the mess of his house, kicking over a pop can, and finally reaching the door. He yanked it open, and went to bellow an annoyed "what?!" before he saw what was standing at his threshold.

"Sollux, you gotta help us," his best and longest friend, Karkat, said, holding his unconscious brother's arm across his shoulder, his two sisters frantic behind him.

"Jesus," Sollux only had time to say before the Vantases and Maryams poured into his home. Kankri was brought to the sofa, where he was laid out gently. Karkat explained that the shock made him pass out.

"Shock from what?" Sollux demanded. "What the fuck is going on, man?"

"They invaded my house," Karkat said, locking Sollux's door, while the girls locked the windows and closed the blinds.

"The Subs?" Sollux said as more of a knowing statement than a question. "Fuck, man…" he ran his fingers through his hair. "Where's-" he began to ask, but a glance shot to him from Kanaya, told him all he needed to know. "Fucking hell… Do you have a plan?"

"A plan?" Karkat looked to him, a humourless smile stretched on his lips. "My plan was to get here. I don't have a fucking plan, Sollux. All I know, is that I need to find Mindfang."

"…Mindfang?" Sollux stared at him as Karkat moved about the room, as though checking for bugs and ensuring its security. "As in the pirate queen, Mindfang? Dude, history isn't even kinda sure that she exists. How the fuck are we going to find someone who allegedly travels through all of space when we aren't even sure she's a real thing, and even if she was, how the fuck do you think we would traverse all of space, huh?"

Karkat's eyes were fixed on Sollux's for a long moment. Sollux paled.

"What," he spat. "No. Fuck that. No way!"

"C'mon, man!" Karkat insisted.

"Karkat, that was a high school tech assignment. It was a fucking robot, not a space ship!"

"But it flew into space, and thrived completely on its own!"

"Even if I did have the knowledge to build a goddamn space ship, where the fuck do you expect me to get the materials? The body? I didn't make it all on my own, you know. I just did the tech."

"Then why not contact your partner?" Kanaya asked, her arms crossed as she gracefully approached them.

"That weird farmer kid from outside of town?" Sollux scowled, shaking his head. "I don't even know if he still lives there. I haven't heard from that kid in years."

"I offer my apologies in advance for saying this, but Aradia knows him," Kanaya offered, solemnly. Sollux quieted.

"And I hate to put it this way Sollux, but the safety and continued existence of my family is a little more important than your unrequited love affair," Porrim said, Kankri's head resting in her lap.

"No, you're right," Sollux nodded. "I'd do the same for my family."

Sollux was a mustard-blood, tall, lanky, and lived alone with his older brother, Mituna, who was… a bit difficult to live with. After an accident which involved the saving of Mituna's friends against a gang of highblood's, part of Mituna's sanity left him, and he became much like a child, of whom Sollux had to take care, on his own. Sollux's mother died long ago, and his father was currently embedded inside the ship which The Condesce rode throughout space, as The Helmsman. Karkat had known him his whole youth, and their friendship lasted throughout the years. They were like brothers.

Sollux reached into his deep pockets, and produced his phone, which he used to send a message to Aradia, an ex-lover of his, about the current status of his former tech partner, Equius. It wasn't long before he received a message.

"im with him right n0w" she replied. "whats up?"

Sollux replied. "ii need hiim two help me wiith buiildiing 2omethiing. 2omethiing biig."

It was a while before he received a response. Karkat and Kanaya had begun to grow worried. Kankri eventually woke up, and after throwing up for twenty minutes in Sollux's bathroom, he and Porrim sat together on the sofa, silently. Sollux had sent a text to Mituna's girlfriend Latula, asking if she wouldn't mind having him stay the night, to which she was more than happy to oblige. They soon found themselves sitting in the living room, laying on the furniture, Sollux practically upside down in his chair, staring at the silent, motionless mobile phone laying on the coffee table.

The five of them jumped when it began vibrating loudly, an angry moaning coming from the table as the device shook. Sollux lashed for it, and checked the message.

"hes in"

Twenty minutes passed, and an old pick-up truck pulled up into the Captor household's driveway. Equius Zahhak, an indigo-blood, was exactly how Sollux had remembered him. Shoulder-length, black hair, chipped teeth, broken horn, tall, and extremely built. He moved his limbs, and his muscles flexed and rippled beneath his skin. At the other side of the car, climbed out gentle Aradia, all in burgundy, her long, black hair bouncing behind her, her lips painted deep red. It took Sollux's breath away simply to see her. She flung, like a magnet, to Equius's side, her thin arms wrapping around his drainpipe-sized arm. Equius nodded politely.

"Sollux," he said, his voice deep though hoarse. "It has been too long."

"Yeah, yeah, the sooner we get this started, the sooner we can finish it," he turned away and left the door open for the couple behind him.

"He's a highblood," Porrim verbally acknowledged (to which Kankri replied "now, Porrim, there is no reason for one to be prejudiced or discriminate against highbloods insofar as they may not possess the same values and or hold the same beliefs as their peers, and-", who was silenced by Porrim's hand). As an indigo-blood, Equius was of the second-highest blood caste of land-dwelling trolls. If he was to turn himself and the operation in at any time, not only would he be pardoned, but most likely rewarded, simply because of his value and status in society.

"I'm a burgundy-blood," Aradia informed her. "And he loves me still. I trust him wholly."

"And of course because you trust him, everyone else should, right?" Sollux snapped, crossing his arms and pacing his kitchen slightly.

"Sollux, don't start," Karkat stopped him. "Listen," he turned to the highblood. "I don't know whether or not I can trust you, but all I need is for you to get me into space."

"That isn't difficult," Equius informed him. "But I am not without limits. I do not have an excess of materials, and I cannot create something that will be able to last long in space, as I only deal with TSTVs," he scratched his strong chin, his eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, which looked as though they were barely staying together.

"Listen, whatever you need, just, get me to space," Karkat insisted. "At least to the nearest station."

Equius looked to him, before giving a short nod. "Very well. I can do that."

"Thank you, Equius," Karkat sighed with relief, Kanaya and the rest also offering their relieved thanks to both Equius and Sollux.

The two worked relentlessly for the days following. They had begun the next morning. Equius arrived with his pick-up truck's bed covered in tarp, clearly filled with materials beneath the tarp. He had no problem bringing the materials in and out of the city's boarders, considering his highblood status. Sollux, meanwhile, had spent the entire night gathering materials and researching various articles and guidelines to assist him in "putting this goddamn tin can in space," as he would say. Kankri and Porrim had taken to watching out for Subs or cops cruising by the home, who might spot something unusual, and stop in. Kanaya assisted Sollux in the best way she could, while Karkat gave Equius a hand. Equius engaged in many a conversation with the smaller troll, including a rather dark secret of his: his father was Executor Darkleer, the follower of The Grand Highblood, who was banished when he couldn't carry out the demands of GHB. After he said this, Karkat felt compelled to tell him of his intentions to find Mindfang, without going into many details. After he was finished, Equius smiled, bearing his chipped teeth.

"There," he had said. "Now you know a secret of mine, and I know one of yours. We are even, lowblood."

Aradia remained at home, for the tension that could brew wouldn't be healthy, and this was far more important than broken hearts.

Building the ship ended the week, and finishing and installing the technology lasted through the weekend. Equius and Sollux had both taken work off (though it was far easier for Equius, considering he owned his own mechanic shop). There were a few final touches which needed to be done into the second week, and it was ready to leave the surface of the planet by Thursday, after various tests which deemed whether or not the craft was safe for air travel. Equius seemed confident in his design, and Sollux was never confident in much, but he was sure it would get them to the nearest space station.

It was… oddly shaped. Equius had to resort to using the spare supplies he had lying about, and anything Karkat managed to scavenge in back alleyways and lawns full of junk, at night. It was constructed of various different metals, which were the only ones that could actually sustain space travel at the speeds and temperatures that occurred, while keeping those inside well insulated and comfortable. It was dirigible-shaped, about the size of a small bungalow. The entire back half of it, was meant for air conditioning and waste management, while the front of it was mostly cockpit, about the size of a living room, enough to comfortably fit those who needed to be within. There was a sleeping quarters underneath, and a food-preparation area that was barely enough to fit one person at a time, though they would have to manage. It wasn't particularly homey, though, then again, it didn't have to be. It simply had to get them into space – landing them at the space station was a bonus.

It ran on a highly flammable jet fuel concoction, which Equius had pioneered himself, but because of this, there was an incredibly limited supply. He ensured them that it was concentrated, so a little would go a long way, and the amount he was giving to this project would easily fly them to the space station, and home, if the ship could actually sustain the trip.

Several buckets of the stuff sat beside the ship, ready to fill the fuel tank, the moment it was necessary. It had a very powerful, sort of pungent, and flammable odour when poured, and thus was best to keep contained until the exact moment its use was necessary.

Sollux, meanwhile, had engineered an auto-pilot system that knew where its destination was, how to get there, and how to sustain the life inside itself. He ensured them that it would be a comfortable flight, and if the autopilot system fails, there is a back-up system which will take them directly to the space station, using double the fuel, but taking about two thirds of the time.

It all seemed easy enough. The tech was flawless and foolproof, the ship was sturdy and would do its job, and on the Thursday evening, the six of them sat in Sollux's living room, drinking and relaxing for the first time in nearly two weeks. None of them spoke much (including Kankri), but it all said volumes to each other. Never once had Equius asked about why they needed to do this, and other than Karkat's brief explanation of their quest for Mindfang, no one mentioned it. It wasn't relevant. The point was, the job was done, and they would be going into space the following morning. The six exhausted souls drifted off into unconsciousness together, sharing the same dream of space flight and freedom.

That night, there came a loud sound from the shed, behind which the ship was covered and camouflaged. Equius and Sollux both erupted into consciousness at the sound, and Karkat was quickly after. He awoke Kanaya, who woke her sister and brother, and the six of them carefully picked their way to the back door, where they peered out the window. Shadows moved about the shed, and each of them had the similar fear of these figures searching too hard. Equius made a horse-like snort behind them, towering over the lot.

"Let me go out there," he hissed.

"Dude, no," Karkat replied. "They could be Subs."

"I can take them," Equius seethed.

"Maybe you could," Karkat replied. "But you couldn't take their tasers."

They watched in silence as the figures coalesced around the door of the shed.

"What are they doing?" Sollux murmured, before it all came crystal clear.

They suddenly fled the shed, clearing a large area around it. No one said a thing because no one had the time to utter a single syllable, before a very pungent smell violently entered their senses, hardly giving them time to react; it was followed by a loud explosion from in front of the door of the shed, wounding the small building, leaving a gaping hole into the inside.

"The fuel," Equius gasped, before yanking the door open, knocking everyone aside, and practically galloping outside.

The scent of the fuel flooded the house, as the rest rushed after Equius. The explosion had left behind burning embers and chunks of fiery tinder which were falling off the shed in large pieces. Karkat and Sollux only had time to see the liquid oozing out of the hole in the shed, suggesting a punctured bucket of fuel, before a burning hunk of wood fell from the shed, and onto the fuel, igniting it instantly, which caused it to lead into the shed.

"Get down!" Karkat shouted, before everyone hit the floor and covered their heads, and another explosion erupted, from within the shed this time.

Equius slowly lifted his head from his spot on the ground, and stared, in awe, at the burning shed. Behind it, through the smoke and flames, the ship was still standing, untouched except for the slightly-melted tarp. He sighed with relief.

"Equius," Sollux rushed to him. "What do we do? That's all the fuel."

Equius paused for a second, racking his mind for a solution, before it dawned on him. "My shop," he said. "There's a small supply in there. I've been giving it out to some customers as samples."

"Where?" Karkat exclaimed, already jogging away from them.

Equius shouted an address, which Karkat understood, before ripping through the air, ignoring the confused protests and shouts demanding for him to stop.

It was night in the city, and therefore rather quiet. He knew it would be only a matter of time before the Subs find the source of the explosions, and if they are still on the ground when that happens, they're all doomed. Karkat took all the back roads and alleyways he knew to get to the Zahhak mechanics shop.

He ran between two large apartment buildings, darkness heavy within, his eyes straining to see through the black. He could make out the vague silhouettes of garbage bags and trash cans, but nothing out of the ordinary. He slowed slightly to make it through the darkness, but once he believed he was far enough through that the exit was in sight, he picked up speed, before suddenly coming to an abrupt stop when he collided with a figure.

It felt like another troll. Thin, not very tall, but wearing soft, silk clothing and lots of jewelry. He didn't have much time to think about it before he was on the ground, his hands in front of his face, his knees scraped against the pavement. He snapped up and quickly spun around, the light from the street light at the end of the alleyway now illuminating what he couldn't previously see.

A tyrian-blooded troll stood before him, her long, black, wet hair stuck to her dark gray skin, her large yellow eyes almost glowing in the darkness. She was beautiful. Karkat froze for only a moment at the sight of her, before realising that he was a fugitive and he was standing in front of a highest-blooded troll. His expression quickly changed from curious, to horrified, as he backed away from her.

"Wait!" she stopped him, extending a webbed hand in his direction. "Don't go."

"Are you lost?" Karkat asked, before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, I don't have time for this."

"Please!" she took a step towards him, and the light shone upon her face. His blood ran cold.

"Oh god," he breathed. "You're Princess Feferi Peixes… You're The Condesce's daughter."

"I'm not lost, I ran away," she said. "Please, help me."

"I'm sorry," Karkat said. "I can't."

He then bolted away from her, continuing in the direction of the shop. Despite his being a highblood, Equius couldn't afford the luxurious mechanic shop of his dreams quite yet, though, according to their conversations while building the ship, he was sure it wouldn't be long until he got to that point. In the meantime, the shop was small, squat, and indigo, like his blood. The Void Mechanics Shop, or simply "The Void". The inside was painted black but for some reason, despite the darkness within the shop, every Zahhak wore eye-gear, including their father.

It was easy for the small, nimble Karkat to weave his way into the building, through an open window. He found the fuel in a series of buckets, and with every ounce of willpower in his being, he lifted the thing, which was possibly heavier than he was, out the door, which he unlocked from the inside. An old shopping cart lay, on its side, on the curb beneath a street light, and Karkat grabbed it, cursing its wobbly wheel.

He didn't pass the tyrian-blood on the way home, and, frankly, he'd rather forget the whole thing happened.

Things were already loaded into the ship, along with Kankri and Porrim. Kanaya refused to board until Karkat got back, despite Sollux's persistence. Once Karkat arrived with the stuff, Equius approached it, and lifted it out with one arm, tossing it onto his shoulder as though it was a pillow (Karkat couldn't help but pause to watch in awe). He stabbed the lid twice with a screwdriver Aradia (who had decided to come to see Equius's creation take flight) had handed him, and proceeded to pour.

In the distance, a honking could be heard. Karkat, Sollux, and Equius looked at each other, their hearts stopping simultaneously.

"Subs."

Within seconds, there was a flood of the hooded, masked figures, pouring down the street. Equius stabbed the lid several more times, for both air to escape, and fuel, but panic was clearly setting in. Aradia lifted Kanaya into the ship, and Karkat was about enter as well, when his gaze passed over Sollux. His expression made him stop. His eyes were wide behind his blue and red glasses, and his gaze looked off into nothingness.

"They're gonna find me," Sollux said. "They're gonna find me here. This is my house. They're going to arrest me. They're going to torture me for information."

"Sollux, relax," Karkat said, his hands on his shoulders, attempting to soothe him. "It's not going to be that bad."

"Kk, they're going to kill me," Sollux's eyes flickered to Karkat's face. "Or worse."

Karkat couldn't deny the truth in what Sollux was saying. They would make him experience circumstances where one would beg for death, before even thinking of begging for it to stop. And after everything, after all he had done even in these past weeks, he couldn't leave him to that. If he went with Aradia, he would put her in danger too, and he would never allow that to happen. There was only one other option.

"Come with me," he said.

"What?" Sollux shook his head. "Impossible. The ship isn't meant to fit more than you guys."

"It can easily fit you," Karkat held Sollux in front of himself, staring directly past those stupid shades, into his red and blue eyes, the centres a pale red/blue, and darkening, in staggering waves, to darker shades as it expanded about his eyes. A removal of the sunglasses and a forcing of his will, could release his powerful telekinetic abilities inherited from his father. "If worse comes to worse, your lightening-mind shit could nudge our tin-blimp asses through space."

Sollux chuckled lightly before swallowing hard. He didn't want to face such a torment either. No sane troll would. He sighed heavily for a moment, before nodding. "Alright."

Just then, another whiff of the fuel could be smelt. Karkat simply associated it to it being poured into the fuel tank, before that theory being quashed by Equius's violent pitching of the empty bucket that once contained fuel, Aradia's attempt at easing him, and a loud uttering of something he didn't catch, as it was cut off by a screaming alarm.

"What the fuck is that?!" Karkat exclaimed. It was coming from the city, but loud enough to hear from the sub-district where Sollux lived.

"His alarm," Aradia said, her hands over her mouth.

Equius was pacing and running his fingers through his long, black hair. "Some delinquent lowbloods broke into my shop and dumped out my fuel; this isn't the first time this has happened."

"I do not believe that is all there is to it, Equius," Kanaya said from the ship, just as black smoke began bellowing in the horizon, from somewhere in the city – followed by yet another explosion as it caught onto the barrels of gasoline and other standard fuels in his shop.

No one said much. In a single night, everyone who had participated in the saving of this family had, too, lost practically everything they lived for. It was like a disease, infecting everyone they came into contact with, consuming the lives of each individual who dares participate in this suicide mission. Karkat couldn't believe he roped these people into this mess.

"You come too," Karkat said to Equius, just as the front door of Sollux's house was broken into, and the sound of shouting and flipping furniture was heard.

"It will not hold us!" Equius replied, through the sound of breaking glass and further destruction happening within the Captor home.

"You don't really have another choice," Karkat insisted, as Sollux was pulled into the ship.

Equius turned to Aradia, who promised him she would easily slip away and get home. He took her small hand, and pulled her towards him, her slender body pressed against his large form. He bent his head and softly kissed her lips, his hand resting on her lower back, another in her hair. Her arms were tightly around his shoulders, and she kissed him fully in return. He parted from her reluctantly, his hand lingering on her face and waist.

"Come back to me," she requested.

"Of course," Equius promised, before grabbing her hand and not letting go until their arms were outstretched. He then climbed into the ship.

Inside, Sollux shoved over Kankri, who was muttering about the inconvenience of the controls not being colour coordinated, and began flipping various switches which started the engine and ignited the fuel. It was loud as it inhaled to life, charging its organs for flight. Once it was sufficiently awoken, Sollux slowly gripped the steering handle in one hand, and the gearshift in the other, before yanking the latter back, and sending the machine slowly rising into the air. Sollux was breathing heavily in silent rejoice, before an almost whinnying-like sound came from behind him. Sollux began laughing with the rest, but his laughter quickly dissolved when he looked out the windshield and watched as the Subs began pouring into the back yard, armed with long-range weaponry.

"We need to get in the air faster!" Equius exclaimed, shoving past people in the cramped space to the seat beside Sollux's, and flicked a few switches, which suddenly made the thing lurch into the air, before pausing completely, as though suspended in time.

Then with a cough and a bellow of smoke, the ship launched itself into the air. The entire crew, if they were not sitting, were floored, the g-force still a bit much in an area where gravity was still an issue. Balls of fire rushed past the ship as they ascended, being fired from the Subs' weapons. They held on tight and kept their eyes out the windshield as they rushed passed clouds, before the sky began darkening. The higher up they headed, the easier it became to rise from the floor. It took only a minute before they were out of the earth's atmosphere. They could stand and walk aboard the ship easily, the only obstacle being the cramped setting. Nevertheless, they were safe from the Subs, and embarking, on auto-pilot, towards the nearest space station. Sollux and Equius couldn't help but look at each other and smile in utter relief. They didn't expect to witness their masterpiece taking flight this personally, and neither of them would change it for the world.

Outside, the surface of the earth was visible through the windshield, but from afar. Their gazes stretched over landscapes, cities, countries even. Upwards, the sky was filled with pin pricks of twinkling light amongst the darkest darkness one could ever imagine, a void of nothingness, not even colour. They embarked freely into this, heading at accelerating speed, hurtling towards the Lunar Space Station. Once they arrived, that was their plan complete. Where to go from there was completely ambiguous to them, at this point.

Despite all this, there was a sense of collective relief. As though each of them synchronously sighed. They were far away from the world in a makeshift TSTV, or Temporary Space Travel Vehicle. Karkat and Kanaya stayed close, experiencing their own sense of relief, and Kankri and Porrim held closely together, as they always were. They were in space.

One step closer to finding her. The pirate queen. Mindfang.

"Well? Did anyone help you?" the violet-blood said down his nose, a permanent sneer on his face, already knowing the answer to his question.

"No," the tyrian-blood replied, quickly walking away from him, her slender arms crossed.

"You're off your game, Fef," the violet-blood grinned, walking after her, his ringed fingers in his pockets, his long cape flowing behind him. "At this rate, you'll never get him fed."

"Shut up," Feferi replied, annoyed. "I bet you couldn't do any better."

"I could… And I have. Every time you whine to mommy that you don't want to do it today," he said, speaking the last words in a mocking manner.

"Well maybe I'm getting sick of this being my job," she said, facing the violet-blood. "If you want it so glubbing bad, Eridan, you have it."

"With pleasure!" he replied down his nose. "That way I can win the favour of your mother."

"Yes, because your father being the leader of the seas grants you no privileges at all," Feferi said, sarcastically.

"Ugh, speaking of the seas, can we please get out of this dump?" Eridan moaned in complaint. "This place is disgusting. I don't know how you can stand to be here at all."

"I do have a job to do," she groaned. "A job I freaking hate to be conknest."

Eridan laughed. "A sea pun. Swell."

Feferi smiled to him quickly before taking his hand, which was shimmering with gold and jewels, and boarding their sleek, black, brand new Long Term Space Travel Vehicle (LTSTV-XS series), exiting the dank, cryptic slums. "Let's go home."