Prince of Heart- Hamil-who references? I've never heard of a musical about that president before no-sir-ree AT ALL.
Eridan found himself still conscious as John brought the four of them along with him to find a winning session, which was unusual. Eridan had been teleported before, but he'd never been conscious while it happened, which gave him a strange sensation of de ja vu, though for a reason he couldn't place his finger on. He looked out into the dark chasm of a void, stretching further and further than his eyes could see, but with several cracks and crevices revealing colourful spots that lit up with a flurry of neon-rainbow gorgeousness. He saw very faint outlines of figures in the dark: large, horribly shaped figures that seemed the stuff from his nightmares, or the very least, his dreams on Derse. He attempted to raise his hands, though they felt surprisingly light, and when he looked to see where he swore they were, there was nothing. His whole body was nothingness, lost in the vast emptiness of the void, with no end in sight. But, for some strange reason, Eridan found it comfortable, safe, inviting even. Like a home he never knew he had. He felt… relaxed here. His breath slowed, his eyes closing, as he felt a force overtake him, slowly engulfing him and making his body feel much heavier than before, before something blinding pierced his eyelids, and pulled him from the faux reality.
He came to suddenly, falling to some sort of solid, concrete surface, just a second of being conscious again. He heard a collective of gasps and startled screams as he collided, but it was soon overshadowed by a larger body falling down on top of him as well, knocking whatever wind he had back out of him. He wheezed for a moment, the blue-pajama boy surprisingly heavy for his lankiness, who managed out a grunt when he fell atop Eridan, before Eridan used all his might to push the boy off and onto the ground.
"wwhat the actual FUCK you grub shitter i thought wwe wwere standin up?" Eridan barked at him, rubbing his head as he turned onto his side.
John responded by groaning out, "i don't know! it just happens man, usually i'm flying or-" John stopped dead in his tracks, eerily silent.
Eridan craned his head to look at who John was talking to, before noticing they were surrounded by a bunch of their friends, who Eridan last remembered seeing most of them covered in a pool of their own blood. Behind him sat the two Knights, Dave and Karkat, only the Knight of Blood having any sort of reaction towards the event playing out in front of them. To his right, past the groaning, slender body of Roxy, floated two sprites, one of a blue Tavros, and one of a red Equius, though this versions shades seemed awfully sweeter that the fucking loser pair he used to wear frequently. To his left, past the lean, unconscious body of Jake, were a startled Kanaya, a smirking Rose, and the two unconscious bodies of Jade and Jane, both looking much more peaceful than they were in his timeline. And in front of him were the two final figures; a slightly confused Terezi sitting against a chained-up fridge, and gog-damned Vriska fucking Serket standing above them, a triumphant smile on her fanged, dark blue lips.
"Well, hey there John!" She beamed, a strangely smug aura coming from her awfully kind sounding words. "Glad to see you guys finally dropping 8y!"
"woah…" John exclaimed, looking around, "HI EVERYBODY!"
Dave slowly leaned into Karkat, the two mumbling to each other over the awkward silence, before Dave shook his head and responded, "oh yeah hey john whats up?"
Eridan surveyed the scene as the two talked, noticing the platform they were on was suspended mid space, barrelling toward the massive central planet of Skaia ahead of them. The globe looked exactly how Eridan remembered it; green, roving continents and pale blue seas, though each were tough to spot from space, with puffy white clouds orbiting in the outer atmosphere. He noticed the visions, though those were typical of the planet, coming from the surprisingly close clouds to them, most of them snapshots from the future that he had no clue how to interperate.
John waved frantically to his friend. "hey dave, not much! hi again karkat! haha, i only saw you like five minutes ago, but i guess that was years ago for you. dang. you've probably been through a whole lot of silly nonsense, haven't you?" He shook his hands to focus himself. "wait never mind, you don't have to answer that. there will be plenty of time to catch up! hi to everyone else too! oh man, i missed you all so much! even the people i don't know very well, or haven't met yet. oh! by the way, this is roxy, and Eridan to those who probably haven't met them! they're my new friends, and we just went on a crazy adventure together, to save the time line and come find you all. so here we are!"
"uh," Roxy nervously chuckled, giving a wave, "hey hi."
Eridan shook his head, standing up and dusting his sweater off for show. "yeah hello there land dwwellers and humans alike wwere back i guess."
The group stared at them for a moment, an understandable silence overcoming the group, before Roxy's awkward smile widened as she looked at Rose, and she dashed across the platform towards her. The sound of footsteps ceased as she slid the last few feet, direct into the Seer's lap, the two giggling in a mother/daughter to mother/daughter hug, the scene putting a charmed smile on the Sylph's face next to them.
John let out a sweetened, "d'awww," before taking Vriska's hand up and onto his feet, following her over to Terezi and the fridge.
Eridan checked beside him, the short, but lean boy still out cold, before he felt a pair of arms wrap around him from behind, the force knocking him to his knees. "HOLY FUCK YOU'RE ACTUALLY ALIVE, YOU ASSHOLE!"
Eridan struggled to turn to face his assailant, settling into the groove that Karkat planted him in, before giving up and hugging the Knight's arm. "hey kar howws it goin?"
"OH YOU *ABSO-FUCKING-LUTE* BASKET OF ASSORTED ASSES, I THOUGHT I'D NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN," the boy exclaimed, a tear staining his face.
"yo did someone call for a basket of assorted asses," Dave said from behind them, "cause lucky the store had one left for dad on christmas day."
Eridan froze in his spot; he had no clue why, but he heard the ever faint voice of the Knight of Time in the back of his head, mumbling out youre… youre not a bad guy. His eyes widened, he felt a slight change in pace of his breath, before he was brought back to reality by a tighter squeeze from Karkat. He shook his head and stammered out, "oh u-uh hey davve its good to see you as wwell."
"damn fucking right five minutes without me and you might just blow a load or two. assuming yall have loads to blow."
Karkat stood up, wiping the tear off his cheek, then allowing Eridan to get back up with him. "BUT… BUT… *HOW*" Karkat questioned him, running a hand through his black hair.
"fuck i dont knoww john did some wwindy shit and fuckin dumped us out here after our session wwent to fucktowwn."
Karkat shook his head slightly. "THAT'S IT? YOU FUCKING POPPED OUT OF MID AIR, SCARING THE ABSOLUTE *SHIT* OUT OF ME MIND YOU, AND YOU GIVE ME THE SAME STORY I TOLD MY LUSUS WHEN I GOT BACK FROM HANGING OUT WITH SOLLUX? HOLY ACTUAL FUCK I MISSED YOU BUDDY."
"uh yeah i can see that. so wwhat does that mean happened to me in univverse b?"
Karkat's lip quivered, before Dave lightly pushed him away and took over story duties, "fuck dude do you want the long version where i tell a bad ass one chapter filler of heroics of you four or the short pulp juice loving cousin of the bad ass filler?"
Eridan waved his hand dismissively, "i really think im done with long filler stories id rather ge-"
"so it all started a few weeks ago right," Dave began in a haste…