You open the door to the large empty room that the mayor has claimed and find that he is not there. Dave and Dirk are though. They seem to be having some epic sword fight over on the half of the room that hasn't yet been populated by cans. Roxy, Kanaya and Rose are sitting down off to the side, watching.

You decide that cantown can wait and go to sit down with the girls.

"Hey, what's going on?" You ask Roxy.

"Epic strife to the death or something like that."

You watch as Dirk does some fancy move with his katana, sending Dave's sword flying across the room, narrowly missing cantown. The Striders are panting. It seems they've been at it for some time now.

"Careful boys." Rose says, "If you destroy cantown the mayor will never forgive you."

Dirk holds out his hand, Dave grabs it and pulls him into a bro hug. The Striders sit down with your little circle of friends, still trying to catch their breath with sweat running down their faces.

"I don't know why you insist on doing this to yourselves." Rose says, gesturing to the cut across Dave's cheek.

"You don't know the wonders of brohood until you've experienced some mandatory strife." He gives Dirk a fist-bump then turns back to Rose. "We should go a couple rounds sometime."

She smiles.

"I think I'll pass."

The door suddenly swings open and six faces turn to see who just walked in. It's Jane, Jake, Jade and Feferi. They seem to be working on their party planning.

"I'm telling you, it will be perfect." Says Feferi, "Just look at this place."

They look around the room.

"I think you're right." Jake says.

You might be imagining it, but you think you see Jane glare at him briefly before agreeing. Jake doesn't notice. He's staring at Dirk who is doing his best impression of a rock.

"Choosing a room for the dance?" Roxy asks.

"That's right." Jade says.

"How is all of that going by the way?" You ask.

"We've got it all planned out!" Feferi says, giggling in excitement, "All we have to do is start on the costumes, food and—"

The door swings open again. Ten faces turn to see who just walked in. It's Vriska and Eridan. Eridan is dragging Vriska along by her arm, she seems to be covered in soot and blood but she isn't acting all that hurt.

"There you are Feferi." He says. "We've been lookin' all over for you."

"Whoa, Vriska." Feferi says, jumping to her feet. "What happened?"

She rolls her eyes.

"Sollux happened." She says, "He blew up my respite block."

Feferi helps Vriska sit down even though she seems to be in no need of assistance.

"Why would he do a thing like that?" Feferi says. "I'm going to half to have a word with him."

Vriska waves her off.

"Don't bother."

Everyone looks at her in surprise.

"What?" She says, crossing her arms. "I can be forgiving sometimes."

Feferi shakes her head as if to clear it.

"Anyways, what were you guys looking for me for?"

"I wanted you to tell Vris that I am capable of bein' a good moirail."

"He's a terrible moirail, don't go down that road." Feferi says to Vriska.

She shrugs.

"I figured."

The door swings open again. Twelve faces turn to see who just walked in. It's Terezi and Nepeta. Terezi is dragging Nepeta into the room.

"I'm telling you, it will help you get your mind off of…"

She stops at the doorway when she smells so many people.

"What's everyone doing in here?" She asks.

You shrug even though she can't see it.

"I just came to hang out with the mayor." You say.

"Hey us too." Terezi grins at you. You hold up your hand for a high-five. She misses and hits you in the face instead.

"Oops, sorry." She says, not sorry at all. "Where is that guy anyway?"

"That shiny black chap with the sash?" Jake asks. Terezi nods. "I think I saw him in the kitchen last."

The door swings open again. Fourteen faces turn to see who just walked in. It's Tavros, Aradia and Sollux.

"There's blood everywhere. What if she's hurt?" Tavros says.

"Tho what, the detherved it." The three of them stop when they see the large gathering. It seems like they were following the bloody blue footsteps that Vriska left.

Tavros spots Vriska and hops behind Sollux, hiding his face. Sollux shoves him away.

"Get off of me you big wimp."

Tavros stumbles and lands on his knees. He looks up to see Vriska standing over him.

"I-I'm s—" He breaks off and glances at Aradia who glares at him. "I mean, I didn't… I wasn't… I… uh…"

He is obviously having a mental breakdown. You feel bad for him and would probably intervene, but you really aren't sure what to do.

The door swings open again. Seventeen faces turn to see who just walked in. It's Gamzee and Equius. The two of them stop when they see the large gathering. Everyone just kind of stares at everyone, not knowing what to say.

"Is that it?" Vriska says. "Is everyone in this gogforsaken hive finally all crowded into this one room? Is this seriously a thing that is happening right now?"

You get to your feet and count everyone.

"Actually, there's only one person missing."

You cover your face with your hands when you realize who it is.

The door swings open for the last time. Eighteen faces turn to see who just walked in. You don't look because you already know who it is and you really do not want to have to deal with him right now.

"This is the last straw douchewit."

You uncover your eyes and recoil when you see his bruised battered face.

"Oh my god. Karkat, what happened?"

He glares at you and throws something small he had in his hand to the ground. It shatters and he steps on the pieces. You look down to see the shattered remains of your last harlequin figurine.

"You know gogdamn well what happened."

Karkat, get tackled by John

Ok I kind of lied. It wasn't intentional, but this chapter turned out to be EXTREMELY long, so I had to cut it in two. This "part 1" is already a thousand words and so is "part 2" XD To keep the chapters somewhat consistent (as consistent as 500-1000 words is) I had to break it up.

So, sorry! All you get today is set up. And a lot of it at that. In fact, this whole fanfic is setup for what is going to happen next chapter. ;)