A/N: This chapter is the second draft, as I don't think the original was up to my standards. I hope you enjoy my fic and all that good stuff! :)

Part 1: Karkles, Stop Being so Rude!

Aradia wasn't quite sure what Aranea was planning. She had never pegged her as a troll who kept secrets, or was secretive at all. She was open and honest and genuinely tried to help those she knew.

When she had asked for Aradia's help months ago in traveling between dream bubbles (as a resident of a bubble, Aranea could not exit them without Aradia's help until she and Sollux discovered a loophole God Tier-level players could use to bypass this obstacle) Aradia had thought nothing of it. Aranea was nearly as enthusiastic as she was about the bubbles, and now that the game was over, she had free time to help the spidertroll in exploring. They had become close, in fact. They met nearly every day when Aradia went to sleep. It was fun to share with someone all the secrets she had discovered.

Then when she fell asleep today, Aranea was waiting for her in her dream bubble and asked if she could gather all the trolls together. When Aradia tried to inquire to the reason, Aranea laughed and said, "You'll see soon enough."

How could she say no? So here she was, arguing with a disgruntled Karkat and searching the Furthest Ring for any signs of Sollux, since apparently he had decided to explore it today. It was frustrating to say the least, but she handled these problems with a easy smile. She was rather glad for the conflict. It kept the days from becoming monotonous.

Sollux and herself were the last to arrive at Aranea's bubble, and while he drifted over to Feferi, she stayed put, slightly apart from the crowd. She could join Equius and Nepeta, but no, she might as well give the moirails some peaceful time together to mull over Aranea's announcement. Speaking of which . . .

"Hello everyone! How have you been?"

There was a collection of grumbles and unintelligible comments, none of which Aranea could catch. If she had been fishing for a real answer, she would have been sorely disappointed. Not to be discouraged, she grinned at the small crowd, combing over every individual face.

It had taken some dubious methods obviously, because everything with the game was a mystery and a riddle and an enigma rolled into one, but each pair of eyes she met was bright and alive. She alone had the whitened-out eyes of the dead. It had taken much sacrifice - Aradia's empty, sightless gaze and Karkat's robotic limbs were a testament to that - yet they were all together in the land of the living again. She was not sure if they changed for the better. It was hard to tell, what with being trapped here and watching their actions from a distance. However, they did seem happier, and her ancestor - er, post-scratch replacement? - Vriska, seemed to act more civil towards others. She also spied Equius attempting to suppress a smile at Nepeta's antics, and even as Eridan argued with Kanaya over fashion, he had definitely improved, too.

It was, all in all, an uplifting sight. In the whole group, it appeared that there was only one that wanted to ruin the light-hearted atmosphere. Not surprising, given who it was.

"Why the hell are we here?" Karkat growled, crossing his arms and glaring daggers at Aranea. He was careful not to completely blow up. After all, his dream bubble visits were filled with vicious, painful memories that he would rather forget. Anything was better than watching his teammates being murdered, or racing through the lab with honks echoing in his ears. He wasn't about to ruin perfectly good peace and quiet by running his mouth. Or, he might, but he wouldn't mean to ruin it.

"Karkles, stop being so rude!" Terezi berated him, frowning disapprovingly and readying her cane for a well-deserved drubbing. She didn't care if his reasons for acting brash were justified, there was no cause to be mean to Aranea. Sometimes, it seems like he was trying to burn all of their bridges. Thankfully, he grumbled a few more obscenities and fell silent.

The spectacled spider girl laughed his foul language off and began her speech. "It's been quite a while since I last saw all of you together. The last time being-"

"Dear gog, if you breathe a single word about that, I will be walking away," Karkat interrupted, pointing accusingly at the troll. "Horrorterrors be damned, I am not listening to a brilliant retelling of how friendship and determination prevails and how everyone lives happily ever after on a desolate shithole of a planet." When he was finished, he narrowed his gaze and stared at Tavros, Equius, Nepeta, and Feferi in turn, then letting his head fall into his metal hands. Thanks to the mention of that particular day, he was now nursing a pounding migraine and trying to ignore the phantom pains in his arms and legs. This time around, no one raised their voice to correct his unpleasant behavior. None of them were eager to bring that subject up, leaving the room in tense silence.

Aranea, feeling this meeting going downhill already as everyone began to shift into feelings jam mode, quickly moved on. "I've gathered you together today so I might tell you of a highly exciting opportunity! You see, I have been constantly in search of a certain set of dream bubbles. I've been pretty lucky actually, though I did have some unwitting help." She paused a moment to wink at Aradia, who seemed to be experiencing an epiphany. "A short while ago, I finally located the last of these dream bubbles and I'm ready to announce . . ." She paused for effect, causing Karkat to peek at her from between his fingers and several others to lean forward expectantly. "From now on, you can speak with your ancestors!" Her face split into a wide grin. "All you need to do is speak with Aradia or myself and we can-"

As she tried to elaborate, she was cut off again by a certain crabby troll. "Why should we give a shit about them?" Karkat spat. A few months ago, he would've been protesting against the existence of their predecessors altogether, but after many conversations featuring endless proof given to him from several trolls, he had admitted that it made sense, and had reluctantly learned that his ancestor was the fabled Sufferer. Secretly, he was both pissed and astonished by this revelation. He felt both honored and cheated. He never wanted to be related to someone so . . . prestigious. The Sufferer had been the epitome of benevolence, equality, decency, everything good in the world, while Karkat . . . Damn, he couldn't unite a group of twelve let alone a following of millions.

Stupid gogdamn nookstain of a saint. Why did he have to have an ancestor that made him seem like even more of an ignorant, pushy douchenugget?

Aranea frowned. "I believe it could be a wonderful learning experience for all of you. To face the facts, you are them. You are your ancestor, and they, in turn, are you. Or rather . . ." She pulled a sour face, wondering if she should break the news now or later. She sighed and shook her head, reminding herself to bring it up at a later point. "Nevermind that. Both of you have grown under different circumstances, but you are the same deep down in your heart of hearts. You can learn from each other, become better for it. What do you say?"

"This is an amazing idea," Vriska praised, lips spread into a dangerous smirk. "When can I meet Mindfang?" She was nearly shaking with excitement, imagining her idol in the living - well not living but close enough - breathing flesh. What a dream come true. She could test her powers, swap stories, and perhaps inquire about the nature of her death and how it came about. There were so many things to talk about, it was dizzying. The Marquise . . . She could actually meet the Marquise Spinneret Mindfang.

"Soon, I suppose. Not tonight," Aranea answered, not paying her full attention to Vriska and ignoring her complaint of "Whaaaaaaaat? I can't see her now? Lame!" and focusing on the others' reactions.

Some of them were joining in on the excitement. Eridan and Terezi were celebrating profusely, similiar to Vriska, both imagining and wishing the same things Vriska had. Tavros was nervous at the thought of the Summoner, although he was terribly excited at the same time. The Summoner was so much better than him. He was brave and courageous and had the drive to lead a revolution. He couldn't see how he could ever help someone already so perfect.

Meanwhile, some were cringing at the idea of meeting their ancestors. Feferi was shivering at the mere thought of Her Imperious Condescension, and Aradia was grimacing as she reviewed what she knew of the Handmaid - or "the Demoness" as she was known in some texts - and recalled the known mythology surrounding her. Both the Condesce and the Handmaid were figureheads of death and destruction across the land, and in the Condesce's case, across two universes. They were not bright prospects. Sollux was also not looking forward to a future meeting with his ancestor. He did not particularly care about the Psiioniic, but something was telling him it was a bad idea. His gut feeling told him he would not like what he found.

Finally, the last few of the group were neutral for the most part, or barely leaned one way more than the other. Nepeta and Equius were already discussing the matter, the pros and cons of agreeing and disagreeing. They both knew very little of the E%ecutor Darkleer and the Disciple, respectively, so their acknowledgement of the news was minimal. Their curiosity, however, was piqued. Likewise, Kanaya was pleased . . . Well, perhaps "interested" would be a more appropriate word. Yes, she was interested in learning about the mysterious Dolorosa. Lastly, Gamzee had always been in too much of a haze to ever learn anything about the Grand Highblood beyond his name, but something told him the encounter would have one of two possible outcomes. He would either hate him, which was a strange, unused emotion in his world, or he would get along with his forbearer just fine. He decided he'd be cool with meeting him if the chance came about.

From the expressions of the majority of the group, most were at least open to the idea. Only Karkat and Feferi were showing complete opposition, and Feferi was already beginning to come around to it. (Maybe by seeing the Condesce's cruelty she could strengthen her own kindness.)

"So . . . your thoughts?" Aranea questioned tentatively.

Surprisingly, Tavros was the first to speak up. "I, uh, think it's . . . great," he replied quietly, blushing slightly as Karkat's glare fell on him.

"Toreadork is right," Vriska agreed gleefully, clapping the shy boy on the back. "For once in his life." She smirked at him, causing his blush to deepen to a darker shade of bronze and his gaze to drop to the ground in embarrassment. "Who knows, maybe the Summoner can give you some resemblance of a backbone."

"Y-yeah," he murmured.

"I also approve of this endeavor. Count me in," Kanaya put in, knowing full-well she would be left behind in the conversation soon and might as well add her two cents to the discussion.

Karkat snorted in disgust. "You fuckasses aren't actually considering this are you?" he said angrily, staring at each of them. "No, no, this is complete hoofbeast shit. Why are even entertaining this idiotic notion? There's nothing to gain! I'd rather be torn limb from limb again and left out during the daylight hours to burn like a fucking fillet than see that bulgemunching asswipe that I have the displeasure to call my ancestor."

With that eloquent statement delivered, he was met with several glowering gazes. As Terezi opened her mouth to initiate an arguement, Aranea swiftly cut in and diffused the situation. "Not all of you have to agree to this. I would need for at least half of you to support it so I'm not wasting my time, of course. Not that I don't have a lot of that to waste anyway." She chuckled nervously and glanced around. "Who wants to go along with it? Raise your hand."

Almost instantly, Vriska, Eridan, Terezi, and Nepeta raised their hands. After a moment's contemplation, Kanaya, Equius, and Tavros followed suit. It took some more consideration, but Sollux shrugged and raised his hand as well. Gamzee was too deep in thought to notice the voting taking place, while Feferi was still a bit too off-put by the thought of the Condesce. Aradia was making a vague hand gesure in Aranea's direction, almost a silent "I'll explain later". The only other person that didn't raise their hand was Karkat, and he was obviously so opposed to this proposition that, as he iterated earlier, he'd rather have all of his limbs taken away than meet the Sufferer.

Pleased with the overall result, although befuddled by Aradia's reaction, Aranea clapped her hands together. "Thank you! Thank you so much! This is such an amazing opportunity. Aradia, can you still do me a favor?"

Aradia nodded. "Where are their bubbles?"

Aranea shook her head. "Oh no, it's too late to do any visiting tonight. We can begin tomorrow, so you have your entire night to speak with them. Also, I want to warn them of your arrival before your visit." She tilted her head upwards, white eyes searching the sky. "I suppose I should go do that then. Will you assist me, Aradia?" Silently, the red-clothed troll strolled over, and they disappeared into a different bubble.

As soon as they were gone, the remaining trolls broke into excited chatter.

"This is quite an interesting proposition," Equius murmured absently, fingering the thick scar tissue that circled his neck.

"AC purrs and laughs at her meowrail, saying, 'Interesting? Purrhaps you are thinking the same as me? This sounds like a pawfully great adventure!'" Nepeta crawled into Equius's lap and flung her arms around his neck, giggling and hugging her friend fiercely.

Equius resisted the urge to roll his eyes like an immature wriggler, but nodded at her statement. "For once, I believe you are right." To this, Nepeta replied by giving him another hug and letting loose another peal of giggles. "After all, I believe Darkleer was an archer. An extremely STRONG role, if I do say myself."

"'And the Disciple was an especially fierce huntress,' AC adds, finding this whole thing furry exciting."

As the morails mused over this new adventure, Terezi was unsuccessfully trying to persuade Karkat into giving the ancestor proposal a try. After an especially vicious barrage of profanities and a few mumbled curses about some bitter preacher, she huffed and whirled around to talk with the two closest trolls, Sollux and Feferi. As she walked away, Karkat mentally kicked himself and buried deeper into self-loathing. His past self was acting shittier and shittier lately, and his future self was not helping one fucking bit.

Sollux and Feferi were sitting on the edge of the crowd, stargazing. "I don't think meeting him is a good thing," he said, referring to the Psiioniic. As he talked, he tilted his head up to watch the sky, caught up in the way his brain was filtering the sight. Being half-blind, but also having lost the mutated red and blue of his eyes, his vision was far stranger than it had been before the game. It wasn't an unwelcome change, but a weird one nevertheless. "I have a bad feeling about it."

Feferi nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean. I mean, glub, the Condesce herself? She is not what you would call an angelfish!"

At the appearance of the fishy pun, they both smiled a little, getting lost in a bit of silent reminiscing. When Terezi plopped down beside them, they both jumped, Sollux nearly jumping out of his skin as he was yanked out of the past. He cursed under his breath and sighed. After all these months, he still hadn't fully mastered being half-blind. It was incredibly disappointing how easily he could be snuck up on.

The Seer cackled and prodded his shoulder. "Scared?"

He simply snorted. "Whatever, TZ. Any answer I give will result in you cackling like a deranged hyena."

"What's a hyena?" Feferi interjected, blinking in confusion.

He shrugged. "Some sort of species of barkbeast that lives on the plains or something." He waited until after she responded to swivel back to Terezi. "So what are you thinking about this ancestor business? I bet you're looking forward to seeing - or smelling, or however the hell you get around - your ancestor, Cherryglare." When she tilted her head in annoyance, he sighed. "Oh come on, you act as if I actually know her name."

Instead of breaking out into a grin as he expected, she frowned. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "It's going to be fun, I can tell, but I wonder if she's as great as I'm imagining her. She's still a troll after all, with weaknesses like us. In fact, she is me, even if she is a different version. Or at least I think so. I can never tell anymore, I keep detecting this strange wave of deceit from Aranea whenever she-"

"Terezi!" Feferi laughed. "You're rambling just like Kanaya!"

At that, she broke into her wide, razor-sharp, crocodile grin. "I guess I am. But nevertheless, it should be interesting, no matter what happens." She cackled to herself and stuck her tongue for a sweep of the field, checking where everyone was positioned. "No use fussing over it anymore tonight. Tomorrow is the day for fussing, meddling, and the like." Her restless tongue flicked over the lenses of her delicious red glasses, then retreated into her mouth once more.

"I can't wait," Sollux replied sarcastically, his tone a complete flat line. In response, Terezi cackled wildly and marched away, twirling her cane. As she went, he rolled his remaining eye. "Nutcase."