H~

Vriska slid into the front leather seat of the police car, turning around to greet the boy behind her, "Hey, Karkat, how's being an asshole holding up for you?"

"Same. How's being a huge bitch?" He responded as if it was normal to casually toss around venomous insults between each other, which it was.

"Pretty good." Vriska turned back around to face the front.

Karkat was a normally built boy, except for the fact that he was shorter than pretty much all of his friends. This did a good job at putting him in a bad mood all the time. His hair was short, brown, and was always messy for a reason that no one could figure out.

Vriska guessed that Karkat was a good friend, if just a little bit obnoxious with him being angry all the time.

Sollux got into the front seat of the car, leaving Terezi with the back.

"Hey Terezi." Karkat always acted just a little bit more civil towards her.

"Yeah, what's up?" She was still pale and shaky from the recent scare. Normally she would be all over him with playful comments and pretty much being herself.

Vriska had known about Terezi's crush on Karkat for a while and even encouraged it at times. That's why she was sitting up front with the computer dork instead of the back. Never let it be said that Vriska Serket was a selfish friend.

"Where are we going Sollux?" Terezi piped up from the back.

"Good fucking question, I've been wondering that all night. This asshole has just picked me up without any kind of goal in mind." Karkat complained.

Sollux started up the car before answering, "I do have a goal in mind KK, there'th thith new place in town called The Vortex I wanted to stop by. Besideth, what the hell would you be doing if you weren't here?"

"Something better than spending my time with a shit head like you," Although his words were harsh, he was joking.

Vriska thought better of going to a place called 'The Vortex' without knowing anything about it, "What's The Vortex, Sollux?" She had never been to this place before, much less even knew it was being built.

Sollux drove into the road answering, "It's thith club; I think. It's got thomething to do with a new video game release, it's still very underground."

Karkat snorted but didn't say anything more, leave it to Sollux to choose possibly the nerdiest activity to do on a Friday night.

Vriska understood though, having played some games like that with Sollux before. They were quite fun, but she preferred to stick to FLARPing. She zoned out, half listening to the conversations of the others in the car and half caught in her own thoughts.

The interior of the car was very nice, no trash, comfortable seats...so comfortable she could almost...fall...asleep...

"We're here!" Sollux pulled into a parking spot and Vriska snapped out of her micro nap.

Had she been napping for that long or was it closer than she thought? Either way she stumbled out of the car and opened the door kindly for Terezi.

"Thanks Vrisk-wow!" Terezi blindly stared behind her, sniffing vigorously.

'Wow' indeed, the building behind Vriska was large and turquoise. It looked rather professional and clean, almost as if out of a magazine. Really it looked more like a polished factory than what a club would look like. It had these weird bars sticking out, three on each side, no doubt connected to something on the inside.

"Are you sure this is the right place, Sollux?" Karkat asked, climbling out of the backseat.

"Yeth, one hundred percent thure. Now let's go." Sollux started walking away from the group and Vriska decided to walk with him. Whether the others went or stayed it wouldn't matter, this place was starting to interest her.

"C'mon, Karkles!" Terezi grabbed Karkat by his arm and pulled him ahead of the two-person group. Karkat's complaints were like music to her ears.

It was nice to see that Terezi had recovered.

H~

The inside of the club, or lab, was just as clean as the outside. Infact, the group felt like they were the only ones there; it was so surreal.

White walls surrounded them when they walked in, machines of a various origin were scattered in the entrance; Making Vriska feel like she was in a Megaman video game.

Two young adults with white lab coats approached them, "Welcome to The Vortex, have you made an appointment?" They both said in perfect sync, causing Vriska to be a bit uneasy. They also looked exactly the same, and had this vacant stare to them.

Damn this place was creepy.

"Wait, we need an appointment? What the fuck, Sollux!?" Karkat shouted and the men flinched.

"We're sorry sir, but She won't let you go into the game withou-"

"Nonsense. They can pass." The twins we're cut off by a woman with long black hair entering the room. She was dressed in a tight one-piece body suit with the Pisces sign across it. Vriska saw Sollux blushing and checking her out behind his glasses and could barely contain her laughter.

"But, M'am, you said-"

"I said: Let. Them. Go on." The threatening glare she sent them wasn't hampered by the pink pair of goggles adorning her face, "It's a perfect opportunity for the girl that was left behind to go in."

"Yes Miss Condescension..." The somewhat dejected twins gestured for the group to follow them into another room.

Vriska did see Sollux looking back at 'Miss Condescension', or whatever the hell they called her. She was already planning on the teases she could make.

The two men led them down a long hallway with tons of...questionable photos of women and men alike hanging on the wall; Obviously meant to come by as an art statement. Sollux and Karkat looked away embarrassed, Vriska didn't really give a shit.

All she cared about was what happens next.

"In here, wait until The Condescension gets in here to serve you." They opened a door to a room, sent them in, and left.

"Whoa," Sollux exhaled, pushing up his silly 3-D glasses, "That's amazing..."

The room they put the young group in was massive, probably the biggest in the building. On the right wall was a huge thirteen seat couch, one seat was occupied by a blonde headed girl who was busy reading; She looked to be about Vriska's age. On the left was...nothing really, unless you wanted to count a couple computers Vriska didn't really care about.

But the biggest, and probably main thing, in the room was a giant futuristic machine with at least a million wires coming out of it. It was shaped like a circle with the inside cut out. Like everything else in the building it was polished and white, except for some glowing green indents that traveled around it. When Vriska asked Sollux about it he said they were probably connected to energy cells to keep it running in emergencies.

Well know she knew what those things sticking out the building were.

Also, to Vriska's dismay, the room felt like it was under forty degrees. She couldn't stop shivering.

Terezi forcefully grabbed Vriska's hand and brought her over to the reading girl.

"Hi! My name's Terezi Pyrope and this is Vriska Serket!" She could've introduced herself, but Terezi, afraid of Vriska's bitchiness showing, preferred to make first impressions for her.

The blonde girl looked up from her book, now that Vriska was closer she could see that whoever this girl was; she was very pretty. The girl adjusted her purple headband, "My name's Rose Lalonde, nice to meet you." She held out a hand for them to shake.

"Yeah, you too, bookworm," She gave Vriska a weird look when she shook her hand, "I'll come up with a better nickname later, I swear."

"I would certainly hope so." Rose was going to go back to reading, but Terezi didn't let her rest. She grabbed Rose by the shoulders and shoved her towards the two remaining members of the group.

Vriska chuckled at the girls shock and lack of understanding, she obviously had never come into contact with the likes of Terezi Pyrope before; so it was forgiven.

Peaking over at the forgotten book that was lying on the chair, Vriska read the title: The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft.

Well that already said a lot about the girl she guessed and would explain the shirt with the purple squid on it. Strolling over to Terezi, who was currently introducing Rose to Karkat, Vriska tapped Sollux on the shoulder.

"If this isn't a club. What the fuck is it then? Why are we here?" Vriska asked.

"That's the thame question I'm asking whoever cometh in here next." Sollux crossed his arms and stared intently at the door, although he was probably just fantasizing about The Condescension.

"So, Rose, right? Why the hell are you all alone here?" Karkat asked girl who was trying to escape from Terezi's grip on her arm.

"I came here too late and my group couldn't wait any longer," She looked down, and then back at Terezi's hand still on her arm, "So I was going to stay here a while longer, like The Condescension suggested, in case my team came out for me, or some other team took me in."

"So you can't just go in by your fucking self?"

"No, they have rules it seems. Except they're all listed on the other side of whatever we're going into. She's acting like it's dangerous, but it's hard to take her seriously in that outfit." She finally pulled free from Terezi's grasp and stumbled forward a bit, "I've been trying to get information out of the lab boys, but they wouldn't budge."

"That'th dumb, it's juth a video game, right?" Sollux was snapped out of his thoughts by the mention of danger.

"Apparently it's a real life simulator for fantasy scenarios. That's what attracted John in the first place." Rose regained her balance and straightened out her shirt, "Do you really mind if I join your group, at least until I find mine?"

Terezi nodded, "Of course we wouldn't mind Rose, we're already friends are we not?"

Vriska tapped Rose on the shoulder and whispered, "You better pray she doesn't start licking you."

Rose was about to answer back with some witty retort but The Condescension entered through the door making Sollux jump a little.

"Alright children, are you ready?" The twins from before surrounded the huge portal like machine adjusting knobs and other things on panels so the portal started whirring, "The whole point of this game is to expect the unexpected, so there's not a lot of rules. I feel like I should mention that there's this huge army of evil agents from the rivaling castles that's going to try to kill you at any given moment. Also there's man eating lions." She finished in a hurry.

"Any questions?" The portal turned on, a film of colours bubbling on the inside, showing through to what looked like another world, "Oops, too late. Now in you go." She gestured for the lab boys to grab them.

The twins ushered the five-person group towards the portal, with Vriska and Karkat shouting insults all the way.

"Don't eat the plants, don't feed the sea dwellers, and don't get yourselves killed! Have a good time fighting for our side!" She waved them away as they were all faced with the portal.

"But wait-" Vriska tried to protest once more, but was enveloped by the portal's glow coming around her; bringing her into a new world.

H~

Your name is now Vriska Serket, and you really don't know the magnitude of the shit you've gotten yourself into.