Jake falls to the floor. His breath comes in ragged gasps, but a silly grin is plastered on his face.
With Kanaya's aid, Rose gets to her feet, leaving the paper lying on the floor. She looks worn-down.
"Did it Work?" Vriska asks.
"I hope so," replies Jake. After a moment, he starts to laugh, hard and long. John watches him for a moment, then joins in. He kneels down, still laughing his head off, and helps Jake to his feet. They bro-hug.
"nice work, gramps!"
"I just gave it the ol college try! With luck itll pay off!"
Rose sits down heavily on the couch and lies across Kanaya's lap. The rise and fall of her chest is unsteady.
"If All Else Fails At Least Everybody Appears Unharmed" says Kanaya.
"Excuse Me? ….|" Vriska asks, pointing to her missing limb.
"Oh relaaaaaaaax!" replies (Vriska). "At least none of your lim8s are 8roken!"
Vriska rolls her eye.
"We're not… unharmed…" says Rose with an effort. White smoke rises from her exposed skin.
Vriska's and (Vriska's) smirks fade. John and Jake's laughter grinds to a halt.
Kanaya's eyes widen. "Rose Rose No No No What Is Going On"
Rose's serene yet pained expression says more than she could ever convey with words, no matter how pretentious her diction might be. She shakily raises a hazy hand and runs it across Kanaya's frightened face.
"Rose No Please Dont Die" Kanaya's voice quavers.
"We love you… so much…"
Rose's eyes flutter shut. The smoke stops, and her arm falls to her side. The room dims, though only slightly.
An unseen clock tolls a heroic death.
Kanaya is shaking. "God No Rose Please! Wake Up! Rose! Dont Die On Me! Not Now! No! No! Nooooo…"
Her cries decay into hysterical sobbing. She bends over and kisses her dead wife with a furious tenderness. Perhaps she hopes that Rose has some long-forgotten dream self. Alas, she does not.
Vriska watches somberly. Her face is set like Lexan, but a tear beads at the corner of her remaining eye.
(Vriska) pulls her doppelganger into a caring, almost sororal embrace. All the tension seeps out of Vriska's body. They both find themselves unable to mourn.
John and Jake stand silently in the corner. Well, mostly silently. John is whimpering like a sad puppy. Jake is having a tough time not doing the same.
Kanaya finally heaves a long, weary sigh. She dries her eyes on her shirtsleeve. "Well This Plan Had Better Have Forking Worked"
(Vriska) lets go of Vriska and takes out John's old phone. "I'll call Terezi, so we can-"
Her phone buzzes. It's a call from Terezi. (Vriska) smiles despite herself and answers it.
Meenah is even more intimidating in the flesh than she was in the dreambubbles. For one, she's ridiculously tall. Sollux is a rather lanky guy at 6 foot 1, but she still has an inch or so on him. For another, it's unsettling to see her with real eyes instead of the ghostly white that filled her sockets when she was dead.
She sits on the edge of a high-backed wooden chair, legs spread apart. She grips her 2x3dent like a king wielding his scepter. Karkat sits to her right, arms folded over his chest. A few other high-ranking troll officials are seated at various locations around the table. Sollux occupies Kanaya's vacant spot.
"didja bass on my message to serk?" Meenah asks Sollux.
He nods once. "she says it was her pleasure."
"whale she been a dam big help" Meenah cackles. She turns to Karkat. "hows the rowtin out o the rest o crockers forkces goin?"
"WE'RE JUST WAITING ON THE TERMS OF SURRENDER," he replies.
Meenah's eyes widen. "shorender? S) (OR-END-ER?! we CANT just let them all S) (OR-END-ER!"
She stands up and slams her 2x3dent into the concrete floor. A metallic clang echoes through the makeshift conference room. The troll officers all exchange nervous glances. They're accustomed to Meenah's ignorance of formality by now, but this incident seems even more egregious than does her typical lack of protocol.
"we gotta ) (UNT T) (-EM DOWN! we gotta MAK-E -EXAMPL-ES out o them! there otter be NO CONC) (T-EST to my rule!"
Karkat's grim expression doesn't change. "WE'RE NOT GOING TO DO THAT."
Meenah whirls around and glowers at him. Her voice is dangerously soft. "and why the shell not?"
Karkat doesn't back down, even though Sollux keeps shooting him looks. "BECAUSE THEY'RE PERFECTLY WILLING TO PEACEFULLY SURRENDER TO YOUR RULE. IT WOULD BE WRONG TO KILL THEM, ESPECIALLY SINCE THEY NO LONGER POSE A THREAT."
"threat? ya dont think theyre a threat? these folk turned against us beachfore. it wouldnt take much to gettem fightin us again. theyd krill us all with no remorase"
"BUT DOES THAT MEAN WE SHOULDN'T GIVE THEM A SECOND CHANCE?"
"we S) (OALDNT!" Meenah slams her 2x3dent into the floor again. Its prongs leave holes in the concrete. "its krill or B-E krilled! and ya know what?"
"WHAT."
"i dont wantcha questionin my aushoreity. im the empress round these ports. so do as i say or shellse"
Meenah glares directly into Karkat's remaining eye. The ring on her finger flashes. He holds her stare, refusing to give in. The conference room is utterly silent, save the occasional squeaking of a desk chair as the officers edge towards the door.
Sollux can't take it anymore. He stands up and yells, "kk, back d0wn bef0re y0u-"
Meenah hurls her 2x3dent at the sudden movement. It embeds itself into the wall not even an inch from his head.
"get... y0urshellf… i mean y0urself… killed," he finishes weakly.
One troll wordlessly stands and bolts for the door.
Karkat pulls out his sickles. "THAT'S IT!" he shouts. "I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH YOUR SHENANIGANS!" He holds his hand as far above his head as he can reach (which, granted, isn't very high). "TRYING TO KRILL - UH, KILL SOLLUX IS THE FINAL STRAW! I'M GONNA FORKING MURDER YOU FOR THAT!"
Meenah laughs once. "good luck beach"
Karkat yells and launches himself at Meenah. The unofficial empress effortlessly dodges his attack. She makes a break for the wall in which her 2x3dent is embedded.
The officers scatter at her approach. Some of them run out the door. Others rush to any shelter they can find.
Sollux isn't going to let his friend risk his life for his sake without doing something in return. He grabs hold of the 2x3dent and yanks it out of the wall. It's heavy. He stumbles backwards, nearly tripping over a desk chair. Meenah seizes the 2x3dent and pulls it towards herself. Sollux fends her off for a couple seconds, but she's too strong. The weapon is ripped from his grasp. Meenah smacks him into the wall with the flat of the trident.
Sollux staggers to his feet. Karkat fends off blow after blow from Meenah. He's driven backwards, inch by inch, until he's up against the wall.
It's now or never. "M0VE!" Sollux yells. Karkat looks up and dives out of the way. Sollux channels his energy and fires a psionic beam.
Meenah is caught in the full force of the blast. It knocks her into the wall and tears away at her skin. She screams in agony as her flesh disintegrates.
Sollux remembers, though distantly, that Aradia screamed exactly the same way. The beam stops. He puts his head in his hands.
Meenah keels over. What's left of her is steaming. With the last ounce of her strength, she drags herself forward and grabs the leg of Swifer Eggmop, who has huddled in a corner with some of the other officers. She does a lifey thing.
Fuchsia energy swirls around Meenah's damaged arm. Swifer shrieks, first in fright, then in pain, as patches of exposed flesh appear on her arms and face. Meenah's tissues knit themselves back together as Swifer's are torn apart.
Swifer's screams die in her throat. Her body slumps into the wall.
Meenah, now fully healed, stands up and shakes out her arms. She grabs her 2x3dent from the floor and runs it through Swifer's body for good measure. She flips it around and levels it at Karkat.
Karkat stares at Swifer's corpse. He blinks, as though a switch has just flipped in his thinkpan. He turns to Meenah.
"I'M NOT GOING TO FIGHT YOU."
"what?"
"YOU HEARD ME." He drops his sickles. They clatter on the floor. "I'M NOT GOING TO FIGHT YOU, MEENAH."
Meenah looks at him with growing suspicion. "water ya up to"
"I'M SICK OF ALL THIS DEATH. ISN'T THAT WHAT WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO STOP ALL THIS TIME? DIDN'T WE NOT WANT A TYRANT AT THE HELM ANYMORE? BUT ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU'RE TURNING INTO?"
"just forkin bassault me already!"
"NO."
Meenah loses her temper. She snarls and presses the point of her 2x3dent against Karkat's throat. He stands his ground, filled with determination.
"ill krill ya"
"YOU WON'T."
"ILL KRILL YA AND -EV-ERYON-E WHO DAR-ES OPPOS-E M-E!"
The 2x3dent is constricting his larynx, but Karkat still manages, "YOU DON'T WANT TO."
Meenah stares at him. "what the fork ya talkin aboat"
"YOU DON'T WANT TO BE A RULER. THAT'S WHY YOU RAN AWAY FROM BEFORUS, RIGHT?"
The pressure eases up on Karkat's throat.
"YOU THINK AGGRESSION IS THE ANSWER, BUT IT'S NOT. AND DEEP DOWN, YOU KNOW IT. WHAT'S KILLING ME GOING TO ACCOMPLISH? WHAT'S KILLING OUR ENEMIES GOING TO ACCOMPLISH? IT'LL JUST MAKE PEOPLE PISSED OFF AT YOU. SO YOU'LL HAVE TO KILL AGAIN AND AGAIN. ISN'T THAT WHAT THE CONDESCE DID?"
Meenah grits her teeth, but it's clear that she's having second thoughts.
"SO DON'T KILL ME, BECAUSE I'M NOT GOING TO BE A THREAT TO YOU."
Sollux prepares himself to step in and hit Meenah again if she tries anything, but she doesn't. She lowers her 2x3dent and tosses it to the side, still staring daggers at Karkat.
"ok ok ya made yer point. i wont krill crockers forkces"
Karkat nods. "GOOD. NOW, CAN YOU DO ANYTHING ABOUT SWIFER?" He gestures to the deceased troll.
Meenah shakes her head. "i can only heal myshellf"
One of the trolls haltingly raises his hand. "uh… can w€ go now?"
Meenah makes a shooing motion. "yeah yeah yer all dismissed! get the fork outta here!"
The remaining officers all flee the room without hesitation.
Karkat picks up his sickles and captchalogues them. Meenah does the same for her 2x3dent.
"im... sorry aboat tryna krill ya"
"APOLOGY ACCEPTED." Karkat extends his arms for a hug. Meenah reluctantly obliges.
Sollux smiles, though he's still in doubt about the fuchsiablood. He didn't want to be here, but he's grateful that he is. If not for him, the body count could have risen even higher.
He hopes that (Vriska's) plan turned out okay. Sure, he doesn't care for her, but he doesn't wish ill for her, either. He's gotten over it. He's content right now, but he doesn't think that she will be until she finds a way out of here.
And he doesn't think he'll follow. At least, not yet.
I never imagined how many character deaths there would be in this freaking thing. By my count, there have been... eight, so far? You could say eleven, but two of those are technicalities, and one just happened offscreen. No, I won't elaborate. :)
Okay, I might elaborate next chapter.
See you on Tuesday!