A little from me.
Shout out to one of my favorite guest reviewers "calmAnarchist" 3
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LAST TIME
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"WHY COULDN'T H3 T3LL US TH1S H1MS3LF?"
"He had more important things to get to than explain everything for you. Hehe. Like, carrying out his plans full of time travel to get you all here. Plans he had to get to to get your Sollux friend back."
"444H GU3SS YOU'R3 R1GHT."
They're all quiet again...
"So. For three sweeps I will always be here and you'll always be welcome here. I'll always help you in any way I can."
"I'm..." Nepeta starts and fiddles with her hand, carefully looking up at Levina.
"I'm sorry about your lusus... He died as we came through and asked him to move."
"He did his job. He played his role and he did it all right. I'm proud of him and I know he needed a good eternal rest. I'm not sorry at all." Nepeta smiles a little and lets out a small reassured breath.
"So how... are we gonna go a8out this three year training spree we have to do?"
"Well Vriska I'm not the time traveler!" Levina smiles and stands up.
"I'm assuming it's your guys' jobs to figure out what will make you stronger."
TBC
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The night has passed and Gamzee had gone back to his own tent for a rest. A humiliating rest. As he pushes aside the flap of one side of the tent, he looks over at the skull on the wall of the young Highblood before him... Gamzee goes over and jumps up a little to grab it and takes him down and stares into his empty eye sockets... He takes the skull into the throne room with that stupid huge chair, and he refuses to sit in it. Not only can he just not get up there without using unnecessary energy... but he really doesn't deserve to sit there. So Gamzee sits on the ground facing the throne holding the little skull in his hands.
"Yo. AtOrI sAiD yOuR sIgN wAs IaPeTuS oR sOmEtHiNg. So I'm GoNnA cAlL yOu ThAt NoW, oKaY?... Yo mAn... I GoTtA TaLk tO YoU AbOuT SoMeThInG. i mEaN... DiD YoU HaVe tO Do tHe tEsT ToO? hOw'd yOu dO It? I AiN'T SmArT EnOuGh fOr tHaT I GuEsS. tHeY KiCkEd mY AsS ToDaY... I BeT YoU DiD It pReTtY FaSt. YoU AnD KuRlOz i gUeSs... WhY CaN'T I Do iT LiKe i bEt yOu gUyS DiD?... wAs i nOt pAyIn' AtTeNtIoN Or sOmE ShIt? PrObAbLy. HeH... Yo, WhY DoN'T YoU TeLl mE YoUr nAmE? i tOlD AtOrI YoU NeVeR SaId yOuR NaMe pRoBaBlY BeCaUsE KuRlOz dIdN'T CaRe aBoUt iT... BuT I Do. I WaNnA KnOw mOrE AbOuT YoU AnD HoW YoU DiD StUfF... CaN'T YoU SaY SoMeThInG To mE? aNyThInG At aLl mAn... I'M GeTtIn' PrEtTy dEsPeRaTe oVeR HeRe." The skull is silent as one should expect. Gamzee's head droops and he just thinks. He's got nothing left in his life. And he feels entitled to feel like he doesn't want this life either as the grand highblood... His friends, his only pillars of support are gone. Killed by that fucking sea witch-...
He can't kill that bitch if he's weak...
That's it.
Gamzee stands up and looks at the skull.
"ThAt's wHaT I'M GoNnA Do. ThAt's mY ReAsOn... YeAh. I GoTtA GeT StRoNgEr tHaN HeR... So i cAn tAkE ThOsE StUpId hOrNs aNd rIp tHeM OuT Of hEr sTuPiD FuCkInG HeAd aNd hAnG HeR By hEr hAiR... tErEzI WoUlDa lIkEd tHaT RiGhT? yEaH. tHiS Is iT. mY ReAsOn tO StAy hErE." He stares into the empty holes of that skull... and nods a little.
"ThAnKs mAn." Gamzee rushes back to the front of the tent and jumps up to hang the skull up, then runs out of the tent passed any juggalo's that are out. They watch him run off to the training tent and scoff. Although some of them get curious and follow after him.
Gam gets in that tent and rushes to the stage where all the equipment is still placed, jumping up and looking around...
"RiGhT. i cAn dO ThIs." The purple blooded boy rushes at one of the hoops that were no longer on fire and hops through it- but the bottom of that gets in the way of Gams foot and trips him, right on his face. Smooth.
He gets right back up and rushes to the other side, only to run back and jump through again. This time he makes it. Good, this is a good start.
"Oi. What the fuck are you doing?" Calls a troll.
"WhAt tHe fUcK DoEs iT LoOk lIkE I'M MoThErFuCkIn' DoInG? aRe yOu gOnNa hElP Me oR WhAt?"
"Help?" The troll lifts an eyebrow so high it could have disappeared into his hairline.
"YeAh. HeLp."
"Uh. No."
"ThEn pIsS OfF BrO. i aIn't gOt tImE FoR YoU If yOu'rE GoNnA DiStRaCt mE." Gamzee presses onward and continues doing some of the other tricks. Of course he's not very good at them just yet... Well, he can ride the unicycle for a while, but since that doesn't really help him progress, he gets off and tries to do-
"Hey."
"WhAt N—oH. yOu." The troll woman with the bird make up. What was her name again...Chebur!
"What are you doing in here alone?" Gamzee looks behind Chebur and sees the first few trolls on the ground, having been shoved out of the way by her.
"I'M... PrAcTiCiNg. I AiN'T GoNnA LoOk lIkE No dAmN FoOl iN FrOnT Of tHe oThErS AgAiN..." Chebur folds her arms a little and looks at Gamzee hard in the eyes...
"Is that so. So you're not giving up then?"
"FuCk No. I FoUnD A ReAsOn tO KeEp fIgHtInG..."
"Hm. I see.—"
"SEE!? I told you! I told you he wouldn't give up! He's the Grand Highblood!" Little Tieono rushes in the tent, stepping on one of the grounded trolls face's and rushes inside. The boys fire painted face is so wide with a smile Gamzee swears it's gonna snap like a rubber band. Tieono runs up to Gamzee and hugs him around the waist, only to be yanked back by Chebur.
"He IS our Highblood, so respect his space. If you had done that to the last one he would have crushed you under his heal.
"A-Ah you're right. i'm sorry sir!"
"N-...No DoN't WoRrY aBoUt It."
"Sooooo..." A different voice comes in, followed by many other footsteps. The whole gang walks in, the voice in front belonging to that crazy looking girl Reznia. It's almost snake like, but it's also husky and gritty.
"You're doin' this shit without us? You idiot. You can't fucking clear the test without us."
"I DoN'T GeT It... WhAt aRe yOu aLl cOmIn' In hErE FoR?" Gamzee looks around and back at everyone. The first thing he sees though is the boy his age, Marsho, running at him. The boy jumps up on stage and over Gamzee's head and onto the acrobatic swing.
"We didn't feel bad for you if that's what you're thinking. You didn't run away from this and instead you came back. I mean, you didn't really have much of a choice if you wanted to keep living, but I admire that you were going to do it alone if you had to. So we're here to help you."
"Yeah," Reznia hisses.
"So be grateful to us you little rat."
"Reznia calm down." Klosh clears his throat and pushes Persha a little closer.
"Go on Persha get in position."
"Yeah yeah." The angry little girl goes on the stage and gets on a different acrobatic swing. Everyone rushes the stage, but Klosh dashes for Gamzee. Gamzee remembers this and he bends backwards avoiding the tackle. He kicks his feet up and turns himself around on his hand to face the others on the stage who are all in different places.
"HoW ThE FuCk dId kUrLoZ Do tHiS? hE WaS WaY ToO DaMn bIg."
"He didn't do it. At least not like this." Kloshe speaks up.
"He was young like you once. And this training is used on everyone to make sure they are worthy of being a purple blooded troll, and a believer in the Great Messiah's. If they are worthy to serve the Highblood."
"W-WaIt a fUcKiN' sEcOnD, yOu mEaN WhAt i'm dOiN' rIgHt nOw iSn't tHe /HiGhBlOoD/ tRaInInG?"
"Don't be an idiot! If that were true we'd all be eligible to become the highblood! Think before you say stupid things!" It was weird to hear Reznia speak, considering her state of mind not too long ago.
"Indeed." Grooga looks down at Gamzee from a balancing spike.
"This is only to make sure you can be with us at all. If you can't at least pass this test then you are as good as dead. Even if you killed Kurloz, there are many more of us who are all very strong and not even you could kill us all if we chose to gang up on you." Gamzee looks around at them all and notices this. Even the younger ones have a fire in their eyes. A purple blooded pride. Which he also notices the older everyone is, the more their eye color shows. Of course he knows as you get older your iris fills with color, but it was a little strange since all of his friends still had black eyes, including himself...
"HeH. yEaH I FiGuReD. sO... Ya'lL ArE GoNnA HeLp mE HuH?... tHaNkS."
"Yeah yeah. There's a point to all of this you know. It isn't just to train your skills that you should already fucking know, but it's supposed to make sure you know what the shit is up with all of us and yourself. Understand?"
"Persha he'll figure it out."
"HoW DiD YoUnG KiDs lIkE YoU AlReAdY PaSs tHiS TeSt tHiNg? YoU MuStA, sInCe yOu'rE ThE OnEs hElPiN' oUt."
"They're prodigies Gamzee. All of us here knows what makes this exercise important."
"A lot of these trolls are lucky they're still allowed to live you piece of shit." Reznia again.
"Most of them forgot what this fucking training was for! If you forget, then I'll kill you myself!"
Gamzee looks at her. He wonders what Reznia's story is... But he mostly wonders what he's supposed to be learning from this.
"Stop wasting time." Marsho swings over to him and goes to kick him. Gamzee grabs his feet, but Marsho of course is strong enough to hold on and he just flings Gamzee into the air. He flails around, but remembers last time he did this it didn't go well. Don't panic. Just calm the fuck down.
"I got you!" Persha swings over, her legs curled and holding onto the bar while she grabs Gamzee's hands with her own. It confuses Gamzee a little but it suddenly clicks in his mind that this is how to do it. Good it's slowly coming together. Persha drops him and Gamzee lands on his feet- on top of Grooa's feet who is standing on his hands! Grooga Kicks Gamzee up into the air when Marsho swings at him again. This time Gamzee manages to use his weight to flip and dodge getting hit, but he also grabs onto the boys legs again and swings himself up on the bar with Marsho, punching him in the stomach. Marsho lets out a breathy groan only to instantly uppercut him afterwards. The younger boy swings down and then back up on the other side to Knock Gamzee off, but Gamzee does the same thing and swings up, kicking Marsho off once he gets to his feet on the bar. The boy goes flying and Klosh jumps and spins, Grabbing Marsho's hand and swinging him up so he can at least land upright. Tieono rushes up, jumping off Chebur's back and grabs one leg and yanks Gamzee off the bar. He's so strong! Gamzee's eyes are huge and he looks up at the litte boy holding him up with a big smile.
"Sorry Sir!"
"DON'T APOLOGIZE TO HIM ONO!" Reznia jumps up there, flipping like a canon ball all the way up and thrusts her legs out, kicking Gamzee in the stomach very hard and sending him rocketing out of Tieono's hand.
"Awww that wasn't very nice Reznia."
"Shut up and GET HIM!"
"Hehe. Yes ma'am!" The two run over there. At this point the main focus of all of this is in the top right corner of the stage, getting further up into the frame, the ropes for the curtains and sand bags and what not.
Reznia jumps in front of Gamzee while Tieono jumps behind Gamzee. He looks forward and backward at them, then down to the stage where Klosh points silently. Reznia stomps quickly over to him and goes to swing her claws at him. Chebur swings over on a bright yellow cloth for the aerial ribbon dancing and kicks Reznia in the face knocking her down over the railing, sending her back down to the stage. Tieono jumps at Gamzee and goes low, but kicks up at him, getting him in the throat. Gamzee chokes a little but he grabs the railing with one hand and Tieono with the other, swings backwards and throws the young boy down at the stage. Chebur swings back down to Gamzee and kicks him, knocking him off the ribbon. Gamzee doesn't quite understand all the way what exactly they're doing. Well clearly they're sparring on the equipment, but why are they all helping each other and then fighting them and repeating? Grooga Kicks Gamzee in the back of the head before he can even land on the wood of the stage and sends him into the sky almost touching the top of the tent! Persha was up there waiting and she jumps down to kick him, but Klosh jumps up there with his surprisingly strong legs and tackles her. The two are grabbed by Marsho on a ribbon and lets them land on their feet on the ground. In the mean time Tieono throws a rope to Gamzee to grab, which he does quickly. Where the hell are all these extra things coming from? Maybe it was supposed to be seamless? Dammit what is he supposed to be learning? But he'd do this all day if he had to to learn what it is that he has to understand about this training. Reznia said that most of the trolls of their caste forgot what they learned... Gamzee notices these trolls are different from the other ones. The trolls outside almost seem mindless and... well they're very much like Kurloz was. But the trolls he's working with... they seem to have a different way of thinking. They all seem very focused and precise, knowing exactly what they're doing. They all seem to trust each other too...—Wait. That was it. Trust! Holy crap. He supposes it was a good thing to learn.
He already trusted his other friends... But to show up and not know these people at all... Trust was hard with all of these new people he has to learn about. He has to trust him. That's what the other trolls forgot. They forgot how to trust one another and they became crazy like the highblood who trusted no one.
Well he's got it now... He trusts most of these people. Tieono mostly. Children even in troll society haven't yet learned the real way adults act towards each other. No wonder he passed. Trust comes easy to kids. He wonders how Persha passed at all since she seems very distant. Reznia was a whole other bag of crazy beans, but the others don't seem to be scared of her at all. They trust her and she trusts them back. It's formed a bond between everyone even though she's super scary looking and sounding. But even so Gamzee would believe in her just like the others did. He chuckles as he flies around with the rope. Couldn't they have just done a trust fall.
Wait. Trusting is one thing but why do they attack him afterwards?
"Are you figuring it out pet punk?!" Reznia uses the swing to flip over to him. Gamzee looks up at her, knocking him out of his thoughts. He hears another troll jumping up towards him, and he closes his eyes. Reznia tackles Grooga to the ground before he gets ahold of Gamzee.
He opens his eyes and looks down.
He has to learn when and when NOT to trust someone. They could be your friends or your lusus. But there is always the possibility that you will be betrayed and you have to learn who and when you can have faith in someone.
Gamzee jumps down and decides he needs to join in for real now that he knows what the dealio is. He rushes for Kloshe after making short eye contact with Reznia. She looks at him and then at Kloshe and makes her way around.
Kloshe sees Gamzee going for him and can't help but smile inwardly, proud that Gamzee seems to have figured it out. He readies himself for the attack, and is surprised when Gamzee simply dives down on his knees and goes under Kloshe between his legs, and between Reznia's legs when she frog jumps over the old man's back and grabs him, throwing him across the stage.
Chebur rushes in and catches Kloshe, while Persha jumps beside Gamzee. She looks up at him and Gamzee just nods a little.
Ah he's starting to understand. He wasn't making eye contact with anyone. Gamzee can almost clearly see the intentions in the eyes of others now that he's paying attention. Reznia stands next to Gamzee while Tieono and Marsho land behind. Grooga stands with Chebur and Klosh.
"Old fucks versus young fucks!" Reznia smirks with her fucked up protruding teeth, her eyes widening crazily.
"More like intelligence versus idiots."
"HeY!" Gamzee chuckles a little and the young ones get ready for an attack, while the older trolls stand there ready as if they were born for it.
"Well." Everyone looks over to the entrance of the tent and see Atori standing there with his arms folded. Along with the other purple bloods all watching. They somehow all filed back inside the tent without the group noticing.
"A-AtOrI!"
"Did you learn what this was for?"
"It sUrE WaSn't gRaNd hIgHbLoOd tRaInInG GoD DaMmIt. BuT I LeArNeD ThE LeSsOn."
Atori is silent and he looks at everyone on stage who nod at him and smile when their eyes meet.
"I see. I'm glad. Don't think this is the end though you little shit."
"HeH. aS If. I'M ReAdY FoR EvErY TrAiNiNg yOu gOt fOr mE."
"We'll see. Good job everyone."
"AtOrI. i tHiNk wE ShOuLd dO ThIs tEsT FoR ThE TrOlLs wHo fOrGoT." Atori raises an eyebrow in confusion.
"Forgot? Who FORGOT?"
"A LoT Of yOu gUyS I ThInK FoRgOt. BeCaUsE ThAt mOtHeRfUcKeR KuRlOz wAs tHe hIgHbLoOd fOr sO FuCkIn lOnG I ThInK YoU GuYs nEeD A ReFrEsHeR."
"He's joking right?" A random troll says. Atori just shrugs and smirks.
"I'm pretty sure he isn't joking. I'm setting you up in pairs!
"WHAT?! Hey! We aint' wrigglers anymore!"
"Gamzee Makara said we should refresh your memory. And I think you should god damn listen to him." Atori turns and looks down his nose at the noisy troll who just grumbles at him. Gamzee smiles a little... An army... He's going to build an army. But how would he convince them to try and help him take down the Sea-bitch... If she did something to them they'd have a reason to fight back maybe... it's rare for an uprising against the Condescension... Everyone knows how that ends. But he's not like the other people. He's not going to lose...
He won't let the deaths of his friends have been in vain...
()
The group of colorful trolls make their way around the city after talking to Levina, and they're all in quite a state of shock and thought.
Gamzee could time travel. He'd gotten the wands from the Handmaid somehow and he was using them to help their journey along. Hmph. They suppose their lives wouldn't be complete without some stupid god damn time travel bullshit.
"She has Sollux... so we all have to get really strong okay guys?" Feferi looks up from her feet.
"YOU DON'T H4V3 TO T3LL US TW1C3."
"We'll be here for three sweeps so we have enough time to get as STRONG as we can." Equius flexes his arms a little and Nepeta jumps on his bicep and flexes her muscles too.
"We're gonna practice and train super hard! We don't let that stupid fish queen take Sollux away from us!"
Tavros' heart is still beating hard hearing about Gamzee... He thought they were dead... That's why when they were in the cave and Gamzee was acting the way he did... It hurts Tavros' heart to know that Gamzee has suffered through something like that. Why is it always Gamzee? Why does Gamzee always have to be separated from them all... This is destiny... and Tavros hates it.
He looks down at his legs... his metal legs. They would be his pillars of support. He got these legs from Equius so he could be helpful to his friends and to get Gamzee back without being a burden... And he would continue to use them to help his friends and to get Gamzee back... he wouldn't be a burden anymore. Not ever again...
Aradia looks at Tavros and sees the determination and focus growing in his eyes as they walk. She smiles a little bit and faces forward.
Karkat on the other hand is angry. Why does life have to be this shitty? Why can't they all just sit around and be normal fucking troll kids? WHY THE FUCK DOES THE CONDESCENSION ALWAYS FUCK EVERYTHING UP FOR EVERYONE IN THE WORLD?! God damn her.—
"Karkat. Don't Worry Okay? We'll Figure This All Out And We'll All Be Back Together." Kanaya puts a hand on Karkat's shoulder lightly and smiles a little with her natural black lips. Karkat just looks up at her... and then back down.
"I HOPE SO. I WISH I COULD BE AS OPTIMISTIC AS YOU GUYS."
"Well Just Remember We Have A Goal. We Have To Get Sollux. And Gamzee-"
"GAMZEE'S THE GRAND HIGHBLOOD IN HIS WORLD NOW... HE CAN'T JUST FUCKING UP AND LEAVE... HE'LL HAVE TO STAY WITH THE OTHER DUMB ASS CLOWN SHIT STAINS..." Kanaya takes her hand back and puts both hands behind her back.
"I Suppose That Could Be True... But We Still Have Three Sweeps. Things Could Change Karkat. So Please Try Not To Be Too Negative."
"WHY BE POSITIVE WHEN YOU COULD JUST HAVE IT ALL THROWN IN YOUR FACE? I'D RATHER THINK NEGATIVELY AND NOT BE SO SURPRISED WHEN I'M RIGHT THAN BE POSITIVE ALL THE TIME AND HAVING WHATEVER HAPPENS SLAP ME IN THE FACE..."
"If That's How You Want To Deal With It."
Vriska stays farther behind and watches the others talk and think. Watching them all was pretty interesting. Observing is something she likes to do. What she notices is mostly everyone is overly excited to get to work, and then sees Karkat being a grumpy negative asshole as usual. She had to admit to herself that the group without Sollux and his 2tupiid liipiing was pretty sad. Although being without Gamzee wasn't too bad... He always caused trouble for the whole group. Come to think of it he was the reason all of this was happening at all. Damn him... But she figures at least its making things interesting... Sigh. She also notices up front Eridan and Feferi seem to be debating on whether they should stay close or keep their distance from each other, and wonders what on earth is going on between them right now.
Up front Eridan walks ahead of Feferi a little. Feferi looks up at him now and again and can't help but think how much taller he got. He's become more mature than ever and it almost makes her feel like a child standing next to him.
"Eridan—"
"Fef I don't evven wwanna talk about it."
"You don't even know what I was gonna say!"
"Don't doubt me Feferi. I wwill help you all get Sollux back. He's my friend too you knoww."
"What?... Friends?"
"Wwell yeah. You're kiddin' me Fef. Wwe hate each other a lot. N-Not like that of course, but wwe'vve alwways been like this. And he took care of you. I owwe him ya knoww? He's one of us and old fights mean nothing wwhen wwe're in a situation like this." Feferi looks at the back of Eridan's head and she feels a pit in her stomach.
"I'm... really glad to hear you say that... Back then you probably would have—"
"I still wwoulda helped savve his stupid ass. If you remember right Fef, I tried savving us all by joinin' Jack Noir before he fuckin killed us all." Feferi looks up quickly at him and her eyes go wide.
"That was crazy talk—"
"I wwas still trying to keep us safe." The fucia blooded girl looks shocked... It was a crazy idea. But... he really was trying to keep them safe.
"I'm sorry..."
"I told you last night, don't apologize to me." Eridan finally looks back at Feferi a little.
"Look don't wworry about it okay? Wwe're gonna get this shit done and wwe aint gonna lose like wwe did last time... That shit queen is going down if it's the last thing I do."
"Speaking of which... now that that ghost troll planet is flooded, do dead trolls still go there? Or do you think they go to a different world when they die?"
"Hm... I'm not sure about that one. I hope they go to a different planet... Because dying sucks. But to die and then instantly be eliminated from existence as a wwhole right after you land is pretty shitty."
"I don't want to die Eridan..." Eridan quickly grabs her hand and holds it tightly as they walk.
"Don't fucking say that Feferi. I wwon't let that happen."
"I don't want YOU to die again either."
"If that's wwhat it takes to protect you then I'll fucking do it. Understand?" He looks back at Feferi again... Feferi looks a little shocked... and holds his hand back.
"Eridan I don't... understand."
"Then stop thinkin' about it. Let's just focus on getting better at what we do and do what destiny has set up for us."
"You suddenly believe in stuff like that."
"Ha. No. But I figured you did."
"Well I DON'T clam head. We changed destiny last time and we can do it again. I know we can. Because it's us." Her grip on Eridan's hand tightens and she walks in time with him.
From behind, Karkat sees them holding hands and squints in their direction. Are they going red?
()
After their long walk back to their hive they stand outside and think.
"Where are we going to go to train? I mean... What if we get caught?" Nepeta fiddles with her fingers and looks at Vriska and Equius.
"Well actually these 8lue and co8alt 8loods seem pretty toned down around here. They're just selling shit and sitting around."
"That is rather unusual. All of my fellow bloo bloods were quieter than usual."
"8uuuut that doesn't mean they won't cull the shit out of us if they see your guys' blood colors." Vriska folds her arms, suddenly remembering that they're both made of flesh instead of one being metallic. heh. It made her feel good.
"IT WON'T BE TOO HARD. JUST KEEP OUT OF TROUBLE WITH OTHER PEOPLE. IF WE GET CUT AROUND EACH OTHER IT'S OKAY BECAUSE WHO THE FUCK CARES. AND AROUND OTHERS JUST MAKE SURE TO HAVE ENOUGH CLOTHING ON OR BANDAGES WITH YOU TO COVER ANY CUTS OR BRUISES."
Karkat puts his hands on his hips and slumps a little. He thought all of this was obvious. But apparently not to his friends who were used to walking about with their colors in plain sight.
"What about our eyes?"
"AH YEAH I DIDN'T GET THAT FAR FOUR EYES. AS YOU CAN SEE MY EYES ARE STILL BLACK."
"Your eyes might be the first to turn, and if not yours then Aradia's. The second someone sees our eyes changing color they're gonna flip their shit..."
"WELL MAYBE THEY JUST WON'T CHANGE FOR THREE SWEEPS. IF THEY DO I'LL JUST HIDE MY FACE. BIG WOOP."
"It IS a 8ig woop!"
"i KNOW WE CAN TRUST GAMZEE." Everyone looks over at Tavros and his unwavering face. He looks so sure of himself and the others seem to relax just a little.
"wE'VE ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO TRUST HIM. wE'VE JUST NEVER SHOWN IT TO HIM. bUT I'M GONNA CHANGE THAT... i'LL NEVER EVER DOUBT GAMZEE NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS."
"Tavros..." Vriska sighs and folds her arms tightly.
"Whatever... We gotta find a place to start. Maybe there's a place where we can all REALLY fight and focus on training and shit."
"I'll go look for somewhere!" Feferi raises her hand a little and smiles.
"Are you sure Feferi? You're also a 8ig deal with your 8lood being the color it is."
"Well I'll just be super careful!"
Eridan doesn't like this idea but he can't hover over Feferi forever... so he says nothing. Nepeta throws her hand in the air too.
"I'll go look for places too!"
"sAME HERE. wE SHOULD ALL SPLIT UP." Tavros raises his hand and steps forward and gets a smile from Feferi and Nepeta.
"Well you idiots what the hell are we gonna do here?" Vriska throws her arms up, then places them back down on her hips. Terezi stabs her cane into the dirt a few times mindlessly.
"W3LL VR1SK4 W3 COULD JUST B3 P4T13NT 4ND W41T FOR TH3M TO COM3 B4CK." Her tone sounds like that should have been the most obvious answer. Vriska just glares at her a little...
"Any o8jections?"
"Nepeta... are you sure?" Equius turns to his meowrail and the shorter girl makes a thumbs up.
"I'm sure! I did used to live in a cave you know, I'm good at this sort of thing!"
"I suppose you're right."
"Feferi, You Wouldn't Mind Anyone Coming With You Would You?"
"I just think going alone would cause less suspicion."
"Eridan, You Aren't Going To Say Anything To Her?" Kanaya looks over and up at Eridan who simply avoids eye contact and just looks to the side.
"She's not a wwriggler anymore. Feferi can take care of herself. She's provven that enough times if you ask me." The jade blooded troll is a little taken aback by this, but at the same time she's astonished at Eridan for making this choice. It's very adult like of him.
"I think I'll stay here. I d0n't feel like having t0 deal with that rain just in case it comes back... Even with these rainc0at things." Aradia puts her hands on her hips and looks fed up at the simple mention of the acid rain.
"I guess it's settled then. 8e careful you guys."
"wE WILL!"
"Got it!" Nepeta rushes off quickly, followed by a wave from Feferi and metal running footsteps from Tavros. The rest of the group look at each other and then head inside.
()
Several hours pass for the three trolls searching for a good secluded place to train.
Feferi finds many many empty hives. There are picture of blue bloods with their lusus and their friends and their quadrants. Food is still in a lot of the cabinets although it's not salvageable at this point...
During her search she starts seeing pictures of other blood castes. All the way down to Aradia's maroon red. So this city was once home to nearly all blood castes?
She wonders what changed...
The abandoned hives don't provide anything that's useful to bring back to their hive and she looks for more empty spaces that are very far away from other trolls. She's walking around freely though. It's like everyone has run away from the outskirts of the bricked up city walls and moved to the center. So the entire perimeter appears to be a safe place.
Feferi happens upon a weird looking stage like thing. There are remnants of... Tent stakes.
She bends over and rips one out of the ground. It's been there for sweeps. The stage has been too. But... it isn't just the stage that surprises her. It's what's on the stage.
Another black hole like the one that was in Sollux's room in that first hive!... Feferi runs over to it and jumps up on the stage.
"Gamzee?... Do you have something to show me?" She sure HOPES it's Gamzee anyway.
The black hole swirls and starts to show a movie of what look like memories...
The forest from the deal troll planet!... She sees all of them fighting the Condesce, but she can't spot sollux... Wait...
She was seeing through Sollux's eyes! Every time he used his psionics, the screen would flash red and blue, temporarily losing sight. The scene flashes to Condesce shoving the mind honey down his throat. Everything flashes red and blue for a long time.
After a while of watching, Feferi sees the flashing lights die down and turn black. A moment passes and then everything flashes white, the now flooded world of dead trolls completely devistated...
Sollux's paniced breathing is heard as the screen shifts side to side where Sollux looked. The sound of chuckling. Sollux turns around quickly to see the Condesce floating behind him with a smirk.
"Poor little psionic boy. Lost like a wriggling barkcreature. You did something terrible you know."
"F-Fuck you! What...What diid you do two me?!" Sollux's eyes are wide and he floats away. He's tired from using his powers so much... but the bitch is right in front of him.
"It's )(ardly w)(at I did to you. It's w)(at you did to your own friends. A s)(ame reelly."
"What are you fuckiing talkiing about?!"
"You reelly DON'T remember. Awww. )(ow terribly sad. You murdered all your friends. Monster."
"ii... No! ii couldn't have!"
"You DID. Look at t)(is mess. You killed t)(em all you little s)(it."
"ii wouldn't! You're fuckiing lyiing! ii would never hurt... my friiend2!"
"A)( t)(at's true. Let me see. Your stupid mindless clown friend went and killed a few as well. He relapsed and did quite a lot of damage."
"Gamzee?... No way..." Sollux's thoughts consist of "no way" "ii fuckiing knew iit!" "Gamzee you motherfucker!"
"YES way. You and t)(at disgusting purple blood did my job for me! )(ow sweet of you boys."
"NO!"
"YES!"
"Y...you flooded the planet... WHY?!"
"T)(is planet was on my list to take over silly!"
"You 2iick fuck! How can you rule a planet that'2 fuckiing dead?!"
"That doesn't matter. You have to make up for w)(at you did, taking my little toys away from me like that wit)( your stupid powers." She holds her hand out and Sollux tries to blast her, but he has no energy left at all.
")(e)(e)(e! )(ow cute! Don't struggle little Psiioniic. Your life will serve a purpose." She grabs Sollux around the neck and puts memories in his head... Images of his friends dying and the ancestors being murdered... He did this... yes... Sollux is the one that did this.
"ii...ii kiilled them..."
"Yeeess you did. And now you )(ave not)(ing. So you'll come wit)( me to do your job, isn't t)(at rig)(t?"
"Ye2..."
"Good boy."
The Condesce looks up into the sky as it descends upon the two of them. The queen walks inside of her ship with Sollux in tow, and when the hatch closes behind them, the ship takes off.
The screen stops playing memories and turns black again.
Feferi's eyes are wide and she reaches into the portal quickly!
"No! Don't stop there! Show me more!" The portal rejects her hand and cuts it to smitherines. She screams and pulls her hand back quickly, pink blood pouring from her completely mangled hand. It drips onto the stage and she gasps. The pain hurts worse than her realization that she probably shouldn't have come alone, but she takes off her rain coat and tries to wipe away the blood with her good hand! Shit shit shit! She's in trouble if ANYONE comes to her. She'll have to kill them no matter who it is... And if the people in the city notice someone's missing they'll come looking and find the group and all hell will break loose!
No no no no no no no no no no! Feferi cleans it up as best as possible and then picks the raincoat back up and wraps it around her ruined hand... The wounds reach as far up as her elbow... This is bad.
She runs as quick as she can back to the hive...
()
The day is hot as expected from the desert. But Nepeta is used to this heat by now and she travels swiftly and smoothly. It's all gravy and she runs free!
"Weeee! Hahahaha!" it's been a long time since she's been able to unleash her wild side and just RUN. Not having to fight or sneak around or be cooped up. As much as she loves her friend, it's so so so nice to just get out and be alone!
After she uses her extra energy, she finds a small creek of water! Where the hell could it be coming from? This is a DESERT after all... She follows it up stream and wonders where all the trolls are... Being on the perimeter must have taken its toll on the people who lived here. When she gets pretty far, she spots a well next to the water.
"Well hey there!" Bounding over, she looks into the well and realizes it's totally dark. Expected. She leans down on the ground and picks up a little rock and drops it to listen for how far it is...Click! Wow. That's pretty darn deep!
"Hello!" hello hello hello llo llo o o o.
"Hm!- OWCH!" A pebble hits her right in the forehead and she fumbles with it in her hand. Nepeta looks at the rock and her eyes go wide while her eyebrows furrow together...
What the hell? How the hell...
Wait!
The last time that happened was at the first hive when Tavros threw a rock into that first portal and it just rocketed back into his face. Maybe there's a portal down there too?
"Hup!" Nepeta jumps into the well and grabs onto the rope, sliding down further in. It's still dark, but the faint purple glow of the portal swirling around calmly lights things up just a little.
"Hey there little buddy!" The purple swirls go faster and disappear, forming into a memory.
"What? Just like that other one... alright whatchya got fur me!"
A blast of wind blows in Nepeta's face and the pictures shows Sollux standing inside the ship looking at his feet. The Condesce walks over to him and lightly puts her skinny fingers under his chin and has him look up at her.
"Awww. You poor t)(ing. Betrayed and left be)(ind by all of your friends. Don't worry. I've got you." She embraces the mustard blood and Nepeta can feel rage boiling in her. She isn't sure what that bitch means by betrayed and left behind by all of his friends... He wasn't! She must have lied to him. That stupid fish cunt!
Sollux doesn't hug her back, but he doesn't resist her either. The tall woman lets go and leads him away elsewhere.
The portal turns black and then turns to a different scene. There are bones on the ground in front of some ugly purple and pink things that... once held the Psiioniic. The bones are his and the horns prove it. Sollux doesn't seem to notice or care though.
"Now t)(en dear. Step inside." She smirks at the smaller troll as he walks over to it and touches the vein-y rubbery restrains. The dangling pink goo grabs at Sollux and doesn't let him go, wrapping him up, arms above his head.
"Aaaa)(. It's been a long time since I've )(ad a good psionic to power the s)(ip. Alt)(oug)( you might not be as strong as the Psiioniic, you'll be good enoug)( to get me around faster. Now be a good boy and use t)(ose psionics to move us forward!" Even with the order, Sollux just stands there and doesn't even try. The Condesce glares and kicks him in the stomach.
"DO somet)(ing you disgusting lowblood!" This time Sollux looks up at the Condesce with a glare and shoots his energy at her. Of course the tyrant dodges and screams at Sollux.
"You're lucky I kept you alive you piece of scum! You're )(ere for one reason, and one reason only and t)(at is to power MY GOD DAMN S)(IP W)(EN I FUCKING SAY SO!"
The portal turns black again and stays that way having done its job. Nepeta is ready to go into absolute rage mode, having to see her friend go through that. It's almost like Sollux is partly under some kind of mind control or something! He'd never do that on his own!... She climbs up the rope and exits the well... This can't wait. Nepeta rushes back as quickly as she can to head back to the hive.
()
For the three hours that Tavros has been looking for a place to train with his pals, he's sat and rested a few times to just get a good look at his surroundings.
He searches forever and finds nothing at all. It's a huge bummer and he wonders if he's the only one still out searching. What if the others get worried? Ah shit so much to worry about...
He... wants so badly to trust Gamzee. But even so he still doesn't know what's going on and that scares him a little. Not knowing what's going to come next is terrifying and he just hopes he can deal with it all. He hopes his friends can deal with it...
Levina would be dying when it was time for them to go since she would be the catalyst between the world the group is in now and the one Gamzee and Sollux are in... Why couldn't they go right to Gamzee? What happened in other timelines and other realities to make this the best option for everyone?... Tavros figures Gamzee must have seen many things... many deaths and many unfavorable outcomes to pick THIS.
"wHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO GAMZEE?..." A thought worms its way into his mind and he takes out the note Gamzee gave him...
"HeY tAvRoS. DaMn I mIsS yOu MaN :o( AnY tImE yOu GeT sAd Or FeEl LiKe GiViNg Up, I wAnT yOu To ReAd ThIs NoTe AnD rEmEmBeR tHaT i'M cOuNtInG oN yOu AnD wAiTiNg FoR yOu. YoU'rE a VaLuAbLe MeMbEr Of OuR gRoUp Of FrIeNdS aNd... MoSt ImPoRtAnTlY sOmEoNe I cArE aBoUt A lOt. HeH tHiS sOuNdS pReTtY cHeEsY bUt It'S tRuE. So LiKe I sAiD, iF yOu FeEl DoWn In ThE dUmPs, JuSt LoOk At ThIs NoTe AnD sMiLe FoR mE pLeAsE? I'lL sEe Ya.
YoUr ReD qUaDrAnT,
gAmZeE. :o)"
Tavros stares at it for a long time... and nods a bit.
"yEAH... hE IS WAITING FOR US... i CAN'T GET SAD JUST YET..." He folds the note up again and stands up, running further into the city to do something useful for his friends!
After another hour of searching the area he spots a building with...his sign on it!?
"w...wHAT?" Tav slows down and then walks over to it cautiously... The inside is an average hive with nothing notable about it... But there must be something in here for him to find... He sure hopes so. With a quick look into the main room he sees nothing. Same with the kitchen and most other rooms. But when he finally gets upstairs into the other rooms he sees... Weapons! Real ones! Real GOOD ones! Tavros gasps and rushes over to look at them.
"yES! fOUND SOMETHING!" A few of them are the same.
There isn't anything for Aradia.
A sweet new lance for Tavros, a sword actually inside the handle. He wonders in what situation he'll need that...
Nothing for Sollux of course.
New claws for Nepeta. They sure look dangerous... oh boy.
Terezi gets a real sword! Not just a stabby sword that comes in a cane, but a real thick heavy sword.
Kanaya gets a new lipstick... and Tavros doesn't dare touch it yet. It could explode.
Vriska gets some ... creepy glowing blue dice and a cool new sword and gun. The gun looks like it can transform, but he's not sure what.
Equius gets some new gloves with spikes on the end it looks like. And a wrench?... He must need it for something later.
Eridan's new rifle looks... even more deadly than before. It looks mostly like his Ahabs crosshairs, but it's in his color purple now and the thing has more fishiness to it, fins and gills carved into the design.
And finally Feferi's new trident looks almost exactly like the Condesce's... But now there are dazzling fucia jewels in places, and the spikes are even more spiky...
How on earth is he going to carry all of this?... He guesses he'll carry what he can- WHA!
All of the weapons shrink just enough so that they can ALL be carried!...
"gAMZEE YOU BUTT I COULDA CARRIED THEM MYSELF YOU KNOW." A little chuckle rises in his throat but he just grabs everything and stuffs what he can in his pocket. Not...Kanaya's new lipstick though... he holds that in his hand just in case it wants to blow up into whatever it does... Tavros runs down the stairs *happily noting the stairs part* and totally books it out of that hive and runs as fast as his metal legs will take him! He can't help but love how he doesn't have to feel the sting of tired legs anymore. He can almost run forever as fast as he wants in these awesome things! Yes. He was going to help his friends win this war...
And he was going to help get his fucking friends back.
