Chapter 28

Face Off

It was soon time for Dualscar to return out to sea to continue his work for the Empress, and Vriska was dreading this moment because not only was her comfort leaving but soon she would be bombarded by annoying questions and judgements from her peers. While Dualscar was there she, surprisingly, wasn't bothered by any of them, probably because they all fear some sort of wrath from the elder seadweller. She knew they knew, however, whether it be from the idol questioning glances she got as she would pass them by or the slightly ajar mouths that appeared whenever she was near. If she was still the malicious spirited girl she used to be she would hunt down the gossiper and impale them through the chest with her blade, but alas that kind of fury resided in to the deepest recesses of her mind, waiting for the day when she can take all that anger out on the bitch named Mindfang.

"I am going to miss you," she says softly standing on the dock next to him as the crew gathered belongings and supplies putting them on the ship.

"Aye. I feel the same. It seems like this wveek has gone by faster than expected," he sighs patting her shoulder.

"At least we will be able to talk though while you are away," she replied with a soft smile.

Vriska had convinced Sollux to give her one of his spare husktops so she could give it to Dualscar so they could remain in contact. Now whenever she felt that empty longing she could just message him, which made her feel a little better. It was nothing like talking in person, but at least it was something, so she couldn't complain.

The odd pair said their goodbyes and parted ways, even though it hurt them both to do so. Vriska stood on the docks watching quietly with a cigarette betwixt her lips as she watched the ship fade away slowly into the sunset. She takes a long drag letting the smoke leak out from her nose, she was anxiety ridden over the judgement that was coming, but she had to remember in the end it was all going to be okay. She heard footsteps approach her from behind and she let out a low sigh flicking her cigarette into the water.

"What is it?" she asked not even turning to see who it was.

"You doin' okay, Babe?" a suave calm voice spoke.

She looked over her shoulder. "Oh? It is you. I am fine… Why are you here, Cronus? To ask me about my intimate matters? I assume Eridan told you the minute he got home."

"Nah. I figured it out day one so I don't really hawve any surprised questions to ask. In all honesty I just vwanted to see if you vwere alright," he replied pulled out a box of smokes from his back pocket.

"I don't mean to be harsh… but why do you care?" She asked turning around entirely.

"Because I knovw you are pained, and it hurts my heart to see such a fine lady like yourself be upset. Pretty girls should never be sad," he chuckles pressing a cigarette up to his lips.

"How painfully poetic," she scoffed. "Look man, I am taken, so you can just stop beating around the bush with your 'modest' word games and go," she hissed walking passed him.

"Yes, I am knovwn for my vword games and it is hovw I try to lure pretty women to me, but that is not vwhat I am after," he says blowing smoke. "After meetin' Dualscar, and seein' hovw much he cares for you I vwould like to keep an eye out for you. Someone has to do it, and Eridan is too upset to care and the others are vwell… are on the immature side."

"Why would you care? What is in it for you?" she mutters.

"Satisfaction…" he walks towards her. "Self- admiration… Possible praise from my ancestor… Knovwing I helped someone … and… a friend…" he chuckles looking down at her.

"Friend?" she scoffed crossing her arms. "Why would you desire my friendship… other than for my looks?"

"Some might say I hawve vwhat you call a 'corrosiwve personality'. I end up hurtin' or upsettin' those around me vwithout ewven tryin' to. I try to shovw those I care about exactly hovw much I care, but it alvways backfires because I couldn't ewven find a proper vway to shovw them in the first place. Despite gettin' upset vwith myself on hovw much I truly…. Suck I alvways end up actin' like a prick in public. Constantly repeatin' the cycle that alvways causes me to dig myself a deeper hole. I knovw I suck… There are things I vwant, but knovw I could newver get which fuels my unstable actions…. To be blunt… I knowv you are the same… I just assumed us corrosiwve personalities should stick together, because vwe vwould be able to stand one another," he says taking a deep inhale from the cigarette.

She sighs looking down, "Damn… Guess you caught me."

"I knovw you hurt, so just talk to me if you need an ally," he says patting her back before walking past her.

"… Is that why you hurt yourself?" she asked.

He stopped almost immediately and grew still. "And hovw do you know that?" he mutters.

"Well Eridan said he's caught you mutilating your gills and fins… Is it because you are upset with yourself?" she asked.

"Let's just say no matter hovw good the vworld tells me I look, the mirror alvways says other vwise. Again, there is somethin' I desire, that I vwill newver get," he replied before walking away.

Vriska returns to her hive and turns on the lights for it was night time by the time she made it back to her hive. She face plants into the cushions of her couch and wraps her arms around one of the throw pillows. Shortly after arriving home, not even having a chance to relax, Vriska heard a knock on the door. The annoyed girl let out a long drawn out sigh, and contemplated if she even wanted to deal with opening it. She pulls herself off the couch making her way to the door and opening it. There was the small group of her female 'friends' who barged their way inside.

"Yes. Hello come on in," she huffed.

"Vriska! )(ow could you not say anyt)(ing!?" Feferi exclaimed.

"I am assuming Eridan told you," she mutters.

"NO N3P3T4 D1D," Terezi replied.

"Nepeta?!" Vriska looks over at the feline troll. "How did you find out about that?!"

":33 I heard Equius talking about it," she giggles.

"I am going to kill that horse head," Vriska growls under her breath.

"How Did You End Up With One Of The Strongest And Most Feared Trolls Out On The Sea?" Kanaya questioned.

"Eh. Shit happens," Vriska huffed. "Some things can happen that you can't explain."

"-Ending up wit)( Dualscar isn't somet)(ing t)(at just )(appens," Feferi states.

"Well I got to know him. He got to know me, so you know. I don't really feel like talking about it…" she sighs.

"WHY 4NOTH3R 4MPOR4? N33D 4 B1GG3R 3R1DAN?" Terezi snickers.

"Firstly, Dualscar is nothing like Eridan… In any way, shape, or form. Secondly, I am with him because he is kind to me and we care about each other, not because his blood line," she replied.

"So….. You two… pailed?" Feferi whispers.

"Yes! We pailed… He is my matesprit. That is something you do with a matesprit," she scoffed.

"W)(at does it look like?" she asked quietly.

"Excuse me?" She snarled.

"You know…)(is bul- "

"WHY?! Why are you asking that?"
"W)(ale… We want to know t)(e size…"

"Why?!"

"W3LL 1N 4LL HON3STY WHO WOULDN'T B3 CURIOUS?" Terezi states.

"Well, I Have To Admit I Am Also Curious. We Have Never Met An Older Troll Like Him," Kanaya says.

"1 H34RD TROLLS L1K3 H1M C4N H4VE 1T UP TO TWO M3T3RS," Terezi chuckles.

"Fucking hell?! What kind of demented fan fictions have you been reading? If it was that big I would not be alive at all…. He is not one of Equius' muscle beast pictures. He is just a normal troll… for the most part," she huffed.

"But how big is it?" Aradia asked.

"You're a pervert too? I had hope for you, Aradia…" Vriska sighs completely exhausted and disturbed by the ridiculous questions.

Aradia just replies with a small shrug and an unamused expression across her face. The girls kept asking outlandish questions that kept making Vriska more and more uncomfortable. Is this what women seriously talked about when it comes to male matesprits? Vriska thought to herself. Maybe this is why she never had a matesprit before. They never pestered her when she slept with Eridan, during their black rom, but why is Dualscar so special to them?

"Why do you care so much about his junk?" she sighed. "You never bothered me about Eridan's when I was with him…" she huffed.

"Dualscar is no Eridan…" Feferi giggles.

"It is decent, okay?"

"HOW B1G?"

"I am not discussing that. Please let me rest."

"F1N3 BUT TH1S 1SN'T OV3R," Terezi laughs.

"It never is with you," she says with a smirk.

The girls leave with the rest of their intrusive questions and Vriska decides to shower up before hunkering down in her coon. Out on the ocean Dualscar was in his cabin for the evening, the waters were calm so he decided to relax. He tried messaging Vriska on his new communication device known as Trollian, but there was no reply so he assumed she must have already gone to sleep. He sits at his desk flipping through a few nautical magazines, finding himself rather sleepy. That was until his fins twitched to the sound of metal boots and he jolted awake.

"Howv did ye get in here?" Dualscar growls glancing over his shoulder at Mindfang.

"Yer watch men are practically fallin' asleep out there. It was easy for me to sneak a8oard. Ye really need a new crew," she snickers putting her hands on his shoulders.

He yanks away. "Don't touch me, ye filthy wvhore… I am guessin' ye came by a dingy. I didn't feel the presence of yer ship, and the wvaters are still," he says softly.

"I have me ways of sneakin' a8out. I am a pir8," she chuckles. "I just really wanted to see me Orphy," she whispers in his ear.

He chuckles, "Wvho wvouldn't wvant to see me? I am pretty fascinatin'." He reached under his desk grabbing a hidden dagger. "Nowv tell me wvhy should I not kill yer ass?"

"Aw why do ye have to 8e that way?" she pouts stepping back.

"This cutesy coy bullshit may havwe savwed yer ass in the past, but yer wvicked, and ye must perish. Stand there a minute longer and I wvill kill ye, and it wvill be bloody," he growls standing up.

"Ye haven't changed at all," she says crossing her arms with a smirk.

"Wvell I wvould prefer that rather than becomin' more wvicked, like you," he snarls pointing his dagger up at her. "Ye got forty seconds to flee nowv. Take them and run!"

"Aw. Can't we just have fun?" she teased.

"Yer idea of fun is a8usin' anyone wvho doesn't think like ye! Ye'vwe hurt a lot of people I havwe cared about and I wvon't stand to havwe you destroy anyone else!" he growls.

"That little girl… Vriska?! She is a lost cause. How could ye 8e with someone so puny?! She is just 8ig talk and nothing more! I am honestly disgusted ye could go red with… with that," she snarls.

"Howv could you be so cruel to her? She is yer blood. She lovwed ye Mindfang! She wvas probably the only one wvho evwer truly did. I am disgusted ye could do that to someone wvho admired ye…" he yelled. "Ye havwe ten seconds nowv."

"She would have gotten in me way and made me weak… Just like she is makin' ye, 8ut ye have always 8een soft on pretty girls who are willing to take yer 8ulge in their throat," she scoffed.

"That's bullshit! Plus ye suck at takin' a bulge in yer fuckin' mouth! Ye evwer heard of not usin' teeth! The only good thing about yer shitty blowvs wvas it actually got ye to stop fuckin' talkin'," he yelled.

"Oh yeah? Empress wanted ye to kill me 8ut I managed to change yer mind," she smirks.

"I wvas foolish and stupid back then," he hissed.

"YE STILL ARE, DUALSCAR! Look at ye, complainin' and whinin' a8out how I hurt yer little slut, without even 8eing aware of how she is holdin' ye down!"

"It isn't just Vwris ye'vwe hurt. Ye killed me fuckin' doctor! He wvas a good man!" he snarls.

"So what? Ye killed me first m8," she scoffed.

"And I wvould gladly do it again… There was more I wvanted to do to him… I wvould of made him feel true pain, but me rage made me go to quick and easy on that bastard," he growls. "Anywvays ye hurt Rosa too… Just cause I lovwed her!"

She growls, "Ye killed her! Ye got pissed off 8ecause I loved her too, and you got jealous!"

"Ye didn't lovwe her…. Ye lovwed her submission… Ye forced yerself on her! Ye defiled her!"
"She wanted me! She loved me 8ack!"

"Ye are so fuckin' blind, Fang. Ye wvant to knowv wvhy I killed the wvoman I lovwed?" He walks up to her growling softly in her ear. "She asked me to…. Because she couldn't livwe wvith the fact that ye dirtied her."

She pushed him away snarling. "Yer a fuckin' liar! She loved me!"

"Yeah. Keep tellin' yerself that. Only one of us wvill evwer be right. Yer time is up, Fang," he says as runs his finger down the dagger's blade. "I wvould of let ye livwe for nowv if ye chose to flee…. But ye didn't."

He lunged towards her but she quickly parried to the left, dodging his blow, unfortunately this left her falling on his bed. He growls getting on top of her and straddling her waist to hold her down as he tried to bring the blade down into her chest, but she held his wrist tightly with her mechanical arm. If it was just her normal arm he could have easily overpowered her and killed her already, but the Darkleer always built his robotic limbs with super strength. He growls spitting in her face as he towered over her, still trying to bring the blade to her flesh. She squeezed his wrist tightly causing his arm to shake before he dropped the dagger with a groan.

"Wvhy did ye come here?" he sighs.

"I wanted to see if I could turn ye 8ack into the man I h8ed 8ut it is apparent I can't. Ye are too weak," she chuckles.

"Fuck ye…. Wvhat happened to ye? Ye use to be so admirable. Strong. Beautiful. Powverful. Bold. I used to care a lot about ye… but like evwerythin' else… ye'vwe taken that awvay… I thought maybe there wvas still some light in ye… but I can see that is gone nowv."

"Oh save the dramatics," she scoffed.

He gets off of her and opens the door for her. "Get off me ship nowv. I am sparin' ye…. Though the next time I see ye I wvill kill ye. For me. For Rosa. For me crewv. For the Empress. For Vwris… and for wvho ye use to be."

She giggles standing up. "Oh so honora8le," she teased. "Oh I knowv wve wvill duel next time. I wvill 8e sure of that~" She slips out the door.

Dualscar sighs softly and lays down on his bed running his fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes and fell asleep right there, having a conversation like that with that women took all the energy out of him. The next morning there was banging on his door from one of his crew mates. He stood up with a groan and opens the door glaring at the crew member.

"Wvhat is it? I am tryin' to sleep," he yelled.

"Uh-h M-mindfang…." The man whimpered.

"Wvhat about her?" he snarls.

The man hands over a box neatly wrapped in gift paper. "She left this…"

"Wvell wvhat is it?" Dualscar asked looking at it.

"I don't know…"

Dualscar groans shaking the box some, there was a loud thud as something banged against the sides of the cardboard. Well, it wasn't a bomb it didn't sound metallic or mechanical, plus shaking it would have probably made it explode. There was a note on the wrapping paper that read, 'Here ye go, Orphy. I got ye a gift. This is very special. There's only one in existence… or was one :::;P.' He cocked a brow and pulls the wrapping off before opening the box. He dropped the box seeing what was inside and steps back putting a hand over his mouth.

Vriska woke up early that day and went for a run along the beach, she needed to get stronger. The waves were calm and the wind was gentle, which put her in a pleasant mood. Everything was so tranquil, it was actually very surprising after everything that had happened. Around noon she walked up the cliff path that led to her hive. She planned on messaging and chatting with Dualscar to see how he was doing on this nice day. She spotted Equius outside and huffed lightly, she needed to talk about his gossiping, which she thought she would have never had to do.

"Equius!" she called out running up to him.

"Oh hello, Serket," he says softly.

"Why did you think it was okay to talk about my quadrant with Dualscar? That wasn't right. I thought you had restraint…" she hissed.

"I am aware I did wrong. I was just very surprised that you were with such a noble seadweller. I apologize for upsetting you," he says bowing his head.

"Well, I appreciate that you are sorry, but you can't just tell people that," she sighs.

"I only told Nepeta, she must have talked to others about it. I was saying how I was proud of what you've become."

"Proud?" she asked confused.

"I was always upset with you because you had so much potential, but you wasted it away being harsh and 100d, but you have proved to me that you can change so I am proud of you. You have matured."

"I am confused. What does this have to do with Dualscar and me?"

"Well if a noble sea dweller could care for you and love you then you truly must have changed. He sees good in you and I would like to see it too. If he can find respect and love in his heart for you, then I want to be able to respect and care about you too. I want to be your friend and protect you because it is what the noble desires," he replied.

"Oh well thank you I guess, but you really don't have to look out for me," she replied.

"Well I can help make you STRONGER so you can one day face Mindfang," he states.

"Like…. Give me robot body parts or something?" she asked confused.

"Uhhh… I was thinking more like letting you use my work out equipment." He sweats some. "Unless you want robot parts."

"Oh…" she giggles. "That would be nice. I don't really have anything to work out with, other than running," she replied.

"Oh well e%cellent. You are welcome to stop by whenever you wish. I would like to help you whenever you need it," he states.

"Oh well thanks Equius. I appreciate it," she says. "I am surprised you are being so nice to me. I thought you thought I was evil or something."

"I know you were never evil like the others said you were… I remember when you were kind… That was before you had to kill for Spidermom… You just were broken after that… You became dangerous… I didn't want you to hurt Nepeta… So I grew cautious… Now… I think you are finally moving on. You've realized the bad you've done, and you are STRONGER for knowing that."

She nods looking down some. "One day at a time."

"The days will add up and eventually you will be the STRONGEST you can be," he says.

Equius looks over her shoulder growling as he sees some man trying to enter Vriska's hive. "Intruder!"

Vriska looks of snarling, "Who the fuck are you?!"

The man took off in a sprint towards the shore dropping a box on the front porch. The Serket chases after him down the walk way to the beach, but unfortunately the perpetrator jumped on a small motor boat and zooms away into the horizon. Vriska pants lightly walking back up the pathway to Equius, who was holding the long box.

"He dropped this," Equius says handing it over.

"I wonder who that guy was," she huffed looking at the box. "What's this? Hmmm there's a note."

'You're next~!' the note read. She scowls at that. "Creepy."

She slowly opens up the box and looks inside before screaming. She drops the box on the ground, a severed arm rolling out, a familiar bear tattoo on the flesh. She hunched over shaking some before vomiting on the ground in horror and disgust. Tears well up in her eyes and she runs into her hive going to her husktop. Equius looks at the arm in disgust before chasing after the horrified girl. Vriska managed to connect with Dualscar in a video chat, but when he saw her she was panting and hyperventilating.

"VWRISKA! Wvhat's wvrong?!" he shouts.

Equius comes up behind her concerned. "Vriska?"

"W-where is your f-f-first mate?" she whimpers.

Dualscar goes quiet for a moment before looking her in the eyes. "Wvhy are ye askin'?"

"I-I h-have his…his arm…" she cries.

"Vwriska… I screwved up… Mindfang vwisited me… and I didn't kill her…" he sighs.

"W-where is he?" she mutters.

"She gavwe me his head…"