Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Rose is in the house," Kanaya says, still at LOFAF's volcano with the frog.

"Did you..." Your throat still isn't working very well.

"I heard about it," Kanaya adds, darting her gaze away from you. "John was already here. He put the ring in the volcano." She dares a glance at you, holding back green tears, then resumes fiddling with frog equipment. "I need to remain with the frog until it's been delivered to Skaia. I'm sorry." You don't know what to say to that, so you fly the rest of the way to the house.

John and Rose are at Rose’s information headquarters, on one of the higher landings of the impossibly tall house. You land, get a good look at the twist in Rose's mouth, and then promptly forget how to speak or move. You spend several seconds just standing in place, willing your legs not to buckle from the black hole that's overtaken your chest.

Jade should be here. She should be here with you and Rose and John, but she's not, and it's your fault for not doing anything about it, and the only thing anybody wants you to do about it is throw yourself at the wall of death that is Lord English.

"Dave..." Rose starts, brittle. You don't know what to say. You don't have any excuses.

John pulls Rose up to you with him and squashes you all into a giant hug. You try to work your throat, but don't produce any discernible words; instead, you just squeeze back as tightly as you can and hope that they understand. You can't tell if it's you shaking or not.

You can't stay like this forever, either.

"Dave," Rose says again, after you've parted, staring at you, voice composed but eyes still red, "someone needs to input the code Sollux and Aradia were making."

You're glad to have something else to think about.

"Sollux was making it," you reply. "Aradia was just doing the navigation for him."

"All that needs to be done now is to put it in the server," Rose continues. "The frog is done, too, so all Kanaya needs to do is deliver him to Skaia."

"Really?" John asks. "Karkat told me that Sollux's code still needed work. And it's in ~ATH, so it still needs to be... activated."

"Well," Rose answers, "I'm sure it's nothing big, so I can go and finish it while Kanaya—"

"Whoa, hey, wait, hold up," you say. You know exactly where this is going, and you absolutely detest it. Rose flashes her eyes at you like she's daring you to challenge her. "John just said they weren't done yet. You'll never get there fast enough without a completed map."

"So I'll finish the map, too," Rose replies. If she thinks you're gonna buy that, she's wrong.

"That's not how the Furthest Ring works," you shoot back. You are not going to let her pull this on you again. "You'll just get lost cause you won't know where you're going." She doesn't even have any yarn this time, either. It's just not going to work.

"I'll just ask the Horrorterrors to finish it for me," Rose says. Her face is so carefully controlled it's like looking at yourself in the mirror.

"It doesn't matter if they tell you or not," you reply. "If you can't translate what they're saying into a functional map, you'll just end up going in circles. I'll do it."

"I know how to ask for a more direct connection," Rose says, "I've done it before. It’s worked. And you have a prior commitment."

For exactly .85 seconds, you forget how to breathe.

"I'll cheat," you say. “There's gonna be a window of time,” your voice goes stringy on the word window, and you notice Rose noticing it, but press on regardless, “between the croak and the door Karkat talked about, so why wouldn't there be one between the computer shit and when Cal shows up? I can go there, finish the code, and then get back to being buried fuck deep in a stupid prophecy that doesn't do shit for anyone." You feel like you're unraveling.

"Guys, can we—"

"That's not how ~ATH activation works," Rose interrupts. "you can't just go and come back."

"Guys," John says again.

"It doesn't matter if the end result of my prior commitment is gonna be the same, does it?" you ask her right back. "Cause the only other person who has an aspect they can navigate with is Kanaya, and she's a little busy right now, too, unless you fucking forgot why she's had to sub in on that." Rose gives a little gasp, but you don't care. If she's going to play dirty, then you can do it, too.

"Guys," John repeats.

"You know that if you run away from your responsibilities, it'll only make everything worse for everyone else," Rose says. "You can't just whine to me about your situation when we both know you could go and change it if you actually had the guts to do it." You think your hands are starting to shake. "I know what needs to be done, so I'm going to do it, and that's final."

"Hey," John says.

"Oh, Rose, that's so altruistic of you," you retort, "everyone knows that watching things happen from a little crystal ball is exactly the same thing as having to fucking do it yourself." An icy panic is gripping at your chest, but Rose only looks like she's waiting for you to run out of steam.

"I did forget that the world still revolves around you. Thank you for reminding me that no one could possibly be upset about wanting to act and not being able to while you're angsting about doing your one job, Dave."

"I'm not the one who wants to jack her brain back into a bunch of eldritch squids ‘cause the booze’s gone and that's the only other way she knows how to deal with not having complete control over everything."

"So wise and mature for someone who's afraid to deal with a ten-year-old alien who's essentially a fucking puppet."

"She says as she pitches a hissy fit like we haven't had the argument about who's gonna go do the thing before."

"I'm the only expendable one this time—"

"You actually have something to look forward—"

"I'll do it," John says.

You and Rose freeze, gazes locked, then both immediately turn to John as one.

“No way—”

“You can't—”

"I-I'm leader," John says. You and Rose fall silent. "I can zap over there if I concentrate hard enough." He's staring you down with what looks like every single ounce of determination he possesses.

It's such a far cry from what he might've said three years ago. Three years ago, he used to grouse and protest that title, insisting that you were all just friends playing a game together, and no one had to worry because it was supposed to be fun. But you can't pretend your actions don't have consequences, and you can't block out the gaping hole where Jade should be. You tried to keep John from having to think about all the times you've had to calculate and weigh your own death against the steady march of the alpha timeline and the lives of your friends, but just when you've reached your limit, he's ready to do what it takes to keep you and Rose from spiraling into recklessness and suicide. And you realize that yes, this is John, too, it's only that he's acknowledging it instead of stubbornly pushing it away. If this is what he thinks will keep the rest of you together, then he's going to do it, and to watch him finally accept that brings you a strange, sincere joy at the same time as it breaks your heart.

"Anyway, I'm the only person here who actually knows how to code," he adds, almost as an afterthought. "I'm going."

"But—"

"John—"

"No," he finishes, voice more even now. Five seconds of utter silence stretch like a rubber band about to snap, and you realize that absolutely nothing is going to make him change his decision.

This isn't fucking fair.

John crushes you into another hug just as you reach for him and Rose again. Rose buries her face in your shoulder, and you hold her there because you know what it is to want to hide that. John's glasses creak when they hit your cheek, his hand gripped tight against your back through your cape, and you think the only reason it isn't trembling is due to how forcefully he's pressing, because your hands are shaking like you've been awake for days. You don't see but hear Rose's breath hitch softly, and will your knees not to buckle.

A few moments later, John disconnects just as quickly. Your hand is still on Rose's hair as he backs up a couple steps, eyes wide like he doesn't want to forget what you and Rose look like, and then he swiftly turns and flies away, up towards the roof. Even if you wanted to chase after him, you feel too heavy to lift yourself off the ground.

Rose carefully wipes her face with her sleeve, then disengages herself from your arm.

"Alright," she says, brisk. "The important thing to remember with Slick Junior is that the algorithms are in D Minor." What is she talking about? "And he likes Scarlatti more than than Bach, but Tchaikovsky will also work in a pinch."

"You mean Señor Mucoso, right?"

"...What?"

"I was talking about it with John and Dirk when they were in LOTAK," you say. It's not exactly the truth, but it's not too close to a lie to feel wrong. "We decided to name him Señor Mucoso."

"Slimer?” Rose asks pointedly. “Did you even tell John that’s what it means?"

"Does it really matter?" you ask. It's the least you can do to name a universe frog after that stupid mascot.

"I suppose that detail is of less consequence," Rose answers. "In any case, you have to remember to keep transposing into the right key, or the protein chains will start unraveling. The rest of it shouldn't be too different from last time."

"What are you talking about?"

"Helping Kanaya with the frog, of course. He has to remain stable while she carries him. It's your knightly duty, isn't it?" Rose looks ready to start arguing again, but also like she's trying to keep her temper in check. Her ability to pokerface left with John's leaderly decision. Your own pokerface is useless, anyway. Rose has always been able to read you like an open book. Everything hurts so much it's gone all the way around the clock back to a total blank.

"You were telling me literally two minutes ago that I had to fight Cal and wasn't allowed to do anything else," you say.

"The situation has changed," Rose says. "If I use the Quills and work together with Jake, there's a chance we could hold out until Roxy gets back with Callie." She must be talking about Jake's freaky anime wings.

"But it's not as good of a chance, is it?" you finish for her. Rose doesn't deny it. Terezi conditioned you to not personally think much of chance, but you know better than to undermine Rose's confidence in her precognitive powers.

"...No," Rose says, after a few moments of silence, very quietly. "Not as good a chance." She pauses again. "I still don't know how it'll end up."

"That's fine," you say, toneless.

"Dave, don't." Oh, there’s Rose’s anger again.

"It doesn't really matter as long as the frog's okay, does it." You can't get Jade's confused face out of your head. You can't stop thinking about John flying off to go write his own death into a computer.

"Of course it matters!" Rose insists, spots of color appearing high in her cheeks.

"I really, really hate this," you say. You can't fathom a way for it to be fair that this is the alpha timeline. You want to go back and know that you can't.

"Yes," Rose agrees.

"...You know, if you actually put me on frog duty, I'd just play Snoop to spite you, right?" Goddamn, do you love subject changes.

"Kanaya recited Troll Gangsta's Paradise to him once," Rose says. You love how quick she catches on. "But I don't think Señor Mucoso would react positively to Snoop."

"Try Will Smith," you suggest, "it'll bug the hell out of Vantas as an added bonus, too." Rose tries to smirk, but doesn't quite make it. "And..." shit, this is going to be too serious again, "...if you have to, you and Jake tag-teaming isn't a bad idea. But you gotta give me room to throw down, so don't try it unless I give you the thumbs-up on it."

"Of course I'm going to bail you out if you need rescuing," Rose says. You wonder if dumb facades that stay up too long are something that's genetic or learned. Your sister probably has an entire book on that very subject.

"Cool," you say, as casually as you can, then shove your hands in your pockets and turn to leave before your pokerface cracks in half completely. "Imma just alchemize some last-minute stuff now, k?"

"Sure," you hear Rose say. “I'm going to see how Kanaya’s doing.”

You start making your way downstairs, but are quickly interrupted by a blur of gray and red that crashes into you. It's Karkat, riding on Dirk’s rocketboard.

"Shit, Vantas, could you be any more of a terrible flier?" You help him up from where he's fallen over.

"Where..." Karkat's huffing like he's just run for miles. He starts tipping over again, and you push him back to center. His teeth snap into a grimace with a click as he uses the rocketboard to pull himself back up. "Where is he?"

"What?"

"John. Where is he?" Karkat stares at you, eyes manic, still breathing heavily. You feel your entire body tense.

"He left," you say, as shortly as possible.

"Where," Karkat says, then coughs raggedly. "Strider, where did he go? "

"To finish Sollux's code, shut the fuck up," you hate this stupid game, "I'm gonna alchemize you training wheels before you crash into anyone else."

"No, I have to—" Karkat wheezes again, doubling over with a grimace, then catching himself on the rocketboard and shakily pushing himself back up, "fuck, I have to—"

"No one else is leaving," you declare. There's something very wrong with the way Karkat's breathing, like he's got needles in his chest. You know that if you let him chase after John, even if they finish the code, he's going to do something stupid out of a desire to save somebody else, and it's going to be the end of him. You don't want to stand here useless while another of your friends flings himself headfirst into his own destruction.

Three years ago, you don't think you ever would have guessed that you and Karkat would be friends. He was egotistical, abrasive, never knew how to shut up about anything, and never knew when to stop digging into a subject when you'd rather leave it alone. Now, you consider him one of your closest friends, but you'd almost been competitive, then, and over what? Respect as a competent fighter? The attention of your friends? His ability to actually admit how he feels for someone out loud?

"You don't understand," Karkat's eyes are wide, "I have to go before—" his teeth like knives. You've never seen his face so unguarded before. "I can't just let him leave without telling him—"

"What the fuck don't I understand?" you snap, throat feeling just as ragged as Karkat's seems to be. You see in Karkat's desperate, reckless face everything you haven't let yourself show since Jade disintegrated into green flame.

"Just tell me where he went, please ." You...

You can't deny him. He gets to choose how he's going to die, who he's going to die for. You almost envy that he's about to run off and go out in a blaze of glory with John for the sake of everyone else succeeding, while you have to stick it out til the bitter end and watch yourself let your friends down over and over again.

You just point up with one hand.

Karkat nods. You clap him on the shoulder with your other hand, then watch him pull himself back onto the rocketboard and careen haphazardly up the side of the building.

"...Shit." No one's there to hear you say it. You squeeze your eyes tight for exactly six seconds, then open them with an exhale. You shove your hands back in your pockets and trudge the rest of the way to the alchemiter.

Dirk is there, fiddling with the controls in a purposefully casual way.

"Sup," you say.

"...Sup," he replies. He previews a set of magenta pants, then cancels the alchemization. "Just you and Rose here?" He's not even mentioning John by name. Though considering what they went through during their trip through LOTAK catacombs, maybe he can't.

"And Kanaya. Yeah." You can't mention the people who aren't here, either. "I'm probably gonna head back to the center soon."

"Gonna do some last-minute alchemy first?" he asks. You shrug.

"Maybe." You contemplate filling your sylladex with glass shards. "You should make the pants, those poofy shorts make you look like an asshole from a dumb anime." Surprising no one, you are the real asshole, here. It must be a reflex. You should probably unblock him on Pesterchum.

"...Nah. They kind of grow on you." Like a fungus, maybe. Dirk fiddles with a few more buttons, then comes up with a black-and-white picture of Geromy's face. "I could make you a rad tat before you leave." He's joking, right?

"That JPEG isn't nearly degraded enough," you counter. "Bunp down the quality one more time." Before your eyes, the Geromy hologram becomes even more pixelated.

"This version will rub off in about a week," he says, pausing to shove his shirt sleeve up, "but we can still match."

Sweet suffering alien jegus. He's a total nut.

"Fire up that sucker and slap it on me," you reply, rolling your own shirt sleeve up. "Let's show them to Señor Mucoso while he's still in his impressionable childhood years." You must have made a dumber decision sometime in your life.

"It's negative two-hundred-and-three artifact grists." He punches the button, and the grist flows into the hoard.

"Could do better, but every little bit helps." The temporary tattoo pops into existence on the pad. Dirk retrieves it and walks up to you.

"You ready?"

"Do it." He makes it happen. This is truly the absolute dumbest thing you have ever done, and it's fantastic not to have to be responsible.

Someone started pestering you while you were busy being a dumbass.

-- golgothasTerror [GT] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --
GT: Dave you should get back to skaia.
GT: The breach is going to reopen and hes going to be here very soon.
GT: Were all on the battlefield and you should be here when it happens.

There's absolutely no one Jake could be talking about other than Cal, is there?

"Who is it?" Dirk asks, hand still holding the picture of Geromy against your shoulder while the ink sets.

"Jake," you say. His fingers tremble, but only for a second.

"What's he saying?"

TG: i thought he was always already here
TG: like
TG: that was his thing
GT: Yes but dirk got rid of the jujus and hes downright incensed.
TG: ok but how do you know cals going to be on the battlefield
GT: For heavens sake just ask dirk!!!
TG: fine ill ask him

They're both so touchy about the weirdest things.

"He says the breach is going to open again soon," you tell Dirk.

"Already?"

"He says you'd know because of the jujus."

Dirk stiffens, then goes blank.

"Yeah," Dirk says, dipping his head down to peer closely at your shoulder. He won't even try to hide his avoidance. "The ring's been taken care of, and Jake and Terezi and I got one before that, so that's all seven, now. If Jake says Cal's going to show up soon, he's probably right."

"Okay, but how do you know?"

"'Cause he told me he was gonna," Dirk replies. "...Cal did, I mean, in between all the talk about serv—" He halts again. "I don't really want to talk about it. Sorry." He peels the temp paper away from your shoulder. "You should let that dry, so it doesn't smudge."

"But all the jujus are gone?" you ask.

"Yeah." Dirk looks back at you. "You should be fine."

Well. He should, at least.

"Listen," Dirk says, "about before..." You can hear the weight in his voice. He's noticed. Something must be showing on your face.

"Not right now," you say quickly, just above a whisper. "I-I still need to..." You take a few short, shallow breaths. "You just said... so..."

"...Later?" He sounds like he's expecting you to say no. He sounds like he's expecting there to be a later.

You don't want to still be mad at him when you go to fight Cal, though.

"...Okay," you say, still quiet. You roll your shirt sleeve back down.

“Not gonna dazzle them with Geromy’s angelic face?” Dirk is talking at a normal volume, now, but he’s fidgeting with the temp paper in one of his hands.

"I know it's there," you respond. Rose would probably call that a metaphor for something weird and Freudian, but you can tell Dirk understands. Ok, you definitely need to unblock him. Maybe that will make him feel better about it. "You ready to go?"

"He really is serious about that grudge, bro."

"Yeah, I know." Shit, you guys are gonna start slipping into raps if you don't watch out. "But I've got some ideas."

"Alright," he smirks. You hold out your fist tentatively. He bunps it perfectly. Because he’s your bro. You can be okay with that, for now.

[TG] is an idle chum!
GT: Ill wait.
GT: You two sure have a tendency to ramble dont you?
GT: We dont have all day to spend lollygagging around.
[TG] is no longer idle!
TG: it happens
TG: on our way
GT: Excellent see you soon!
-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering golgothasTerror [GT] --

-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] --
TG: i got a tattoo
TT: What.
TG: its geromy
TT: Oh my god. You're serious, aren't you?
TG: dirk has a matching hella jeff one
TT: I think I need to see a picture of this to believe it.
TG: no get over here kanayas bringing the frog to the battlefield anyway right
TG: you better not be late
TG: you got courtside tickets to the lord cal smackdown
TG: theres some choice seating over here
TG: hang on a sec
TT: I'm almost too afraid to ask.
TG: k dirk says its quote the plushest most comforting derriere on which a discerning lady such as yourself might want to rest her own posterior unquote why the fuck did i type that
TT: Oh, now I can't wait.
TG: no do wait
TT: I'm coming at once, and I'm bringing a camera with me.
TG: scrub my brain clean and make a temp tat of the big man first so we can all match
TG: itll be good family bonding
TT: ...Now you've gone too far.
-- tentacleTherapist [TT] has ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --
TG: rude
TG: ...
TG: be careful

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Good, you got here," Jake says, once you and Dirk return to Skaia. Jane and Terezi are still with him, anxiously looking at the spot where the breach was, while the Mayor is aimlessly wandering around, gaze towards the ground.

You’ve never been to Skaia itself before. While the planet is all blue swirls with opaque, white clouds from afar, the entire landscape is actually composed of black-and white checkered squares, from the hills and castles in the distance to the relatively flat plain you're on right now. Every now and then, cracks and fissures break up the ground, a molten glow peeking up from underneath.

Everywhere you look, there are old, dried bloodstains. You don't know where the bodies went, only that there must have been an enormous number of them.

The Mayor stops walking and looks up at you. He stares at you like he knows exactly what happened here. You've never seen him look so old before; it makes you want to distract him from the deep red splotches and sprays on the ground with something inconsequential, or else sit and hold his hand until whatever movie repeating in his head abates because that's always what he did for you on the meteor. It must work the same the other way around. You've suddenly got three years of negligence to make up for, and this is your last chance before Cal shows up.

"Are the others on their way, too?" Jane asks. You resist the urge to jump, and instead turn back to her.

“I talked to Rose,” you reply.

"And?"

You look to the Mayor again, still at a loss for words, then back to Jane.

“And she's gonna help Kanaya bring Señor Mucoso here,” you add. Jake grins back at you.

“Strider,” Jane says to Dirk, nodding once.

“Crocker,” he replies, nodding back awkwardly. Then he breaks from your side to go over to Jake, and they begin talking quietly. Jane watches them for a moment, then turns back to you.

“So,” Jane prompts. “Rose and Kanaya have the frog, and John and Karkat…?”

“And Rose and Kanaya are gonna get here soon,” you repeat. When you glance at the Mayor, he looks down swiftly at the ground once more. You look back at Jane, whose eyes are currently squeezed shut.

“We’ll just work with what we have, then,” she says, opening her eyes again calmly. You lapse into silence.

“...I couldn't tell him no,” you say, eventually. You can't tell if you're talking about John or Karkat. “They went to finish the code.”

“They made their own decisions,” Terezi says. She looks about as cheery as you feel, but at least she doesn't look particularly surprised.

Another silence creeps over the three of you.

“Is Cal here yet?” you ask. You just want to get it over with, at this point.

“No,” Terezi says, pointing, “but they are.” You follow her finger to Rose and Kanaya.

Rose is carrying Kanaya, who is guiding a frog at least five times her size, down through Skaia’s clouds to the ground. Rose is also softly singing the Wild Wild West theme to the frog.

“Hello!” Jake calls. “What an excellent song choice! I loved that movie.” He would.

“The frog is growing nicely,” Jane comments.

“Thank you,” Kanaya responds. “He’s doing most of it on his own now. Rose and I are just keeping him stable.” Even as she says it, you can see the frog nearly doubling in size. "Once he's full-sized, he'll be ready to—"

Someone calls out to you that he hopes you haven't forgotten about him. You turn to see who it is.

"Jack," Terezi chitters. "How the hell did you get here? And why are you a robot? And who are they?"

Jack tells Terezi that she and that other backstabbing troll kid did a real good job banishing him to her planet's wasteland, but he's done a lot of hard work with his crew to rise up from that setback, even though his subordinates have since folded, so to speak. It was pretty close for him, too, but he's got new, strong robot parts to make up for that. He's even got fifteen new subordinates, now, as you can all see from the numbers on their hats, and they all snuck in here through that purple-yellow clock of Lord English’s.

The Mayor starts gesturing frantically to the carapace lady who's standing next to Jack. She looks at him, then back to Jack.

This carapace is wearing Jade’s starry gown. That was the dress Jade wore when you were frog-hunting, the dress she wore when she shot you. She'd gone tramping through the grass and mud and woods in it, but no matter how scuffed up or bloody you got, she still looked like she was wearing a sparkling, emerald galaxy.

Jack says oh yeah, he made this lovely lady with the paintbrush a member of his crew, too. Isn't she swell?

He points to her with the large, golden staff in his arms, topped by a black orb. Yeah, this bling used to be English’s, too, but like he said, new management's in town. It even used to do some weird rainbow shit, but that stopped working a little while ago. Much less of a headache this way, though, don't you think? Anyway, he's getting real tired of looking at that slimy monstrosity, so he's gonna make him croak the right way, now.

"NOT YET." You feel every single hair on your body stand on end. You turn to look back at the breach.

Jack says you have got to be kidding him. How did this guy get here so fast?

"I WAS ALREADY HERE."

Cal is large and ugly and green, wearing only a threadbare green coat and torn, white shorts held up by green suspenders. His eyes are the same cherry-red as yours, and where his lower right leg should be is a gold peg-leg. You expected him to be covered in the flashing rainbow of his clockwork majyyks, but they’re gone; maybe that's another consequence of the jujus being destroyed.

"DAVE." You try to keep your breathing even. "CAN YOU HOLD ON A COUPLE MINUTES? I'M ALMOST READY FOR OUR GAME. LET ME TAKE CARE OF THIS FIRST, AND THEN WE CAN PLAY."

You can't move. You've been thinking about this impending battle since you saw Cal shatter the Furthest Ring exactly one year ago. You were supposed to figure out how to win, or barring anything in your life working out, psych yourself up to at least die with a sense of purpose. You were supposed to be ready for this by now. You're not. Jake and Rose and Dirk already have their weapons out. Jake looks like he wants to attack right away, but Dirk is holding him back with one hand.

"JACK. GIVE ME MY STUFF BACK." You weren't expecting him to sound like a petulant twelve-year-old. It doesn't make you feel any more confident, though.

What? No. Finders keepers, you big green lug.

"I SAID. THAT'S MINE." Cal snaps his fingers, and then the golden staff suddenly appears in his hand. "THERE WE GO."

What? Jack is complaining. That is so unfair. How did he even—

Cal clears his throat. The green pool-ball guys all scoot over to stand behind him. The carapace lady looks between Cal and Jack, and then dashes over to stand with the Mayor.

"JUST TWO MORE THINGS." Cal tips his staff horizontal, which turns it into a machine gun, nonchalantly fires a good couple dozen bullets into Jack, then brings it back upright into a staff again. The entire thing is over in four seconds. Then, Cal points it at the breach. “GOD. HE WAS SO ANNOYING.”

Your teeth start rattling. The breach sends out shockwaves in ripples, like it did when Jade and Vriska were fighting over it, and then the shrunken Green Sun rises out of the abyss and shoots towards Cal. He grins as the Sun gets sucked into the orb at the top. You can't breathe.

"Much better," Cal says. "Now. Where were we? Hello, Dave."

"What do you want?" you ask him, sounding much steadier than you feel.

"I want to play a game, Dave," Cal grins.

"What kind of game?" you ask. You wish he wasn't staring holes in you, talking to you like no one else is there. You're not any sort of leader. You also want to know why your bro thought it was a good idea to teach him that phrase, but you should probably focus on more pressing concerns right now.

"Chess," Cal says. The word sinks into the pit of your stomach so deeply you wonder if it has its own gravitational field.

"...What?" you demand. You can't keep the sharpness out of your voice.

"You heard me. Dave." He looks so pleased with himself. You whip your head to look at Jake, who is gripping onto his pistols and glaring at Cal with all the anger currently rising to the surface from inside of you, then whip your head back, too furious to do more than call your sword to your hand and bare your teeth in a scowl of your own. "What else would we play here? I told you I would teach you. Didn't I, Dave?"

That entire time in the pyramid, you were talking to Cal instead of Jake. He's been playing you this whole time. The creep. You don't know how much you've helped him get to this position, but it's probably way more than you were supposed to.

"Fine," you grit out, your fingers tightening over the hilt of the sword Jade made for you. "You want to play, we can play your stupid game."

"The time limit is fifteen minutes," Cal says. At least that's going to give Roxy one last chance to get here. "That should be plenty." He means neither of you are allowed to go forward more than that during the battle, which is about the upper limit of how long you can keep it together, anyway.

"Anything else?" you ask. Better cover your bases just in case.

"No cheating," Cal smiles. "We start... now."

[TG] created memo on board board FRU1TY RUMPUS B4TTL3 TOWN
TG: terezi i dont even know how to play chess
GC: TH4TS OK 1 DO
GC: 4LR1GHT P3OPL3 L1ST3N UP
GC: UNT1L FURTH3R NOT1C3 TH3S3 3R3 TH3 POS1T1ONS
GC: D4V3 4ND J4K3 4R3 L3FT 4ND R1GHT KN1GHTS R3SP3CT1V3LY
GC: K4N4Y4 4ND J4N3 4R3 L3FT 4ND R1GHT ROOKS
GC: 4ND D1RK 4ND ROS3 4R3 L3FT 4ND R1GHT B1SHOPS
GC: TH3 FROG 1S OUR K1NG OBV1OUSLY

She shouts the positions the same time she types them, and your opponent grins in response. Of course, he has a skull for a head, so he's always grinning, but you can tell the difference.

"Were we supposed to tell him that?" you ask.

"It's part of the rules," Terezi replies briskly. "Now, go forward two, then in the direction of that trail."

GC: 1 W4NT YOU 4S CLOS3 TO TH3 M1DDL3 4S F4ST 4S POSS1BL3 DAVE
GC: K4N4Y4 S33 1F YOU C4N G3T ON TH3 OTH3R S1D3 OF TH3 FROG SOON
GA: I Will
GC: J4N3 1 W4NT YOU TO ST4RT ON TH3 OFF3NS3 W1TH D4V3 BUT T4K3 4 F3W ST3PS B4CK 4ND DO H34L1NG WH3N YOU H4V3 TO
GC: D1RK COV3R J4N3 WH3N SH3 H4S TO H34L
GC: ROS3 4ND J4K3 S33 1F YOU C4N DO SOM3 FL4NK1NG WITH D4V3 4ND J4N3
GT: Roger that terezi!

You glance toward your right, where red smoke is starting to trail. There's nothing there yet, but you trust Terezi’s ability that there will be in two minutes.

"Got it," you reply, and fast-forward. Two minutes later, you dash to the right. Your sword clashes with one of the green guys and his mobster tommy gun.

He's fast, maybe to the point of Cal using time powers to boost his speed, but you're still faster when you rewind outright. The faces of all those terrified carapaces in the Derse prisons flash into your mind for a second, but you shake them loose and slice at the green guy until he stops moving.

You wait two more seconds to make sure he’s dead, then square your shoulders to wade deeper into the vortex of the fray. Just when you’re about to move closer to the battle’s center, though, another green guy comes up, this one with a bright red fire extinguisher.

“Lay off, man,” you say, swinging your sword at him. He blocks it, then tries to spray you with the hose. You dodge, but it smells terrible.

“I’ve got this other guy,” Dirk says, flashstepping to your side. “You go after Cal.”

You nod at him, then move on, dashing towards Cal, slaloming between two more of his henchmen to get at him.

"There you are," Cal grins, deftly blocking your blade with his staff. "Good to know you're not a total pushover."

"So how's this supposed to go?" you ask, pulling your sword back, only to attack again. "We fight a lot, we talk smack, you leave my fucking friends alone?"

Cal's high-pitched laugh send shivers up your spine.

"What happens is I kill you," he says. "Your flailing around until then is pure entertainment." He makes a strike of his own with his staff, and you dodge out of the way.

"Nah," you reply. "Think I'd rather win."

"You're going to be disappointed," he growls, striking again. You're forced to block with the flat of your blade, and as you connect, it shifts you both forward another two minutes.

"Wanna bet?" Is it really going to be this easy to goad him?

"I'm not a gambling cherub," he says. "I don't start fights I won't win." He strikes a third time, skidding you back by your heels along the ground.

“I’m rolling my eyes, dude.” You spin to the side, letting his staff slide off your blade and to the ground. As soon as your sword’s free, you swing it up in a counterattack.

“Prove it,” Cal grins, blocking you again. So he’s fast, too. Whatever. You’re not gonna go down easy, either.

“Bet you’d like that,” you retort. “I saw your creepy rainbow light show in the pyramid.” Trying to hit this asshole is like trying to punch a wall.

“Are you going to fight on your own this time?” Cal asks. “Or are you going to hide behind others more competent than you again?”

“They’re called friends, moron.” Hey, that reminds you, you should probably see if Terezi needs you to do something again. You rewind until you see her teal text in the memo again.

GC: D4V3 GO 4FT3R TH3 L1TTL3 BOUNCY ON3 WH3N 1TS CONV3N13NT
TG: got it
GC: ROS3 L3TS G3T 4 L1TTL3 MOR3 4GR3SS1V3 1 W4NT TO SM3LL SOM3 BLOOD
TT: Gladly.
GC: J4N3 4ND D1RK GO FOR TH3 HOL3 ROS3 OP3NS UP
GT: J4K3 YOU SUB 1N ON TH3 B1G GUY WH1L3 D4V3S ON TH3 L1TTL3 ON3

You switch from dodging machine-gun fire to chasing after the smaller green guy, who is currently heading for the frog. Both the Mayor and the white female carapace are preparing to hold the Felt member off, but you're not sure how effective a cable lasso, a half-dozen cans of soda, and a paint can are going to be. In any case, you can't leave the Mayor hanging. Terezi must have known that when she sent you here.

GC: HOLD THOS3 POS1T1ONS UNT1L 1 T3LL YOU OTH3RW1S3
GT: TAKE THIS YOU BONY RUFFIAN!!!!!
TG: go for it dude

You don't know how so much anger can fit into shorts that small, but you can't blame Jake for being pissed, either. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see his wings extend and then propel him towards the spot you're currently leaving, pistols firing searing white-blue lasers as he goes. At least somebody wants to fight Cal.

TT: Are you sure about this, Terezi?
GC: 1 KNOW WH4T 1M DO1NG
GT: I can take him!!!
TT: That wasn't my question.
TG: whats going on
GC: JUST TRUST M3 ON TH1S ON3

Neither Rose nor Terezi sound happy, but you can't spare the attention to worry about it because you've reached the Felt member currently harassing the Mayor and his companion. The Mayor looks tense, but he's gripping a can of Tab in each hand, fingers primed to crack them open and spray. The female carapace is next to the Mayor, paint can in one hand and brush in the other.

"Sup," you say, holding your sword against the little green guy's neck.

The green guy giggles and tells you he doesn't think you want to do that. He's still dancing a little—or at least the parts of him not near your sword are—and the purple hat with a 4 is bouncing on his head as well. What a fucking weirdo.

"And why the hell don't I want to do that?" you ask. The Mayor frowns when you curse but keeps gripping onto his soda. "I got a deadline to stab a hole in your boss. You really don't wanna get in the way of that."

The Felt guy says it would be extremely unlucky for you to harm him! He waggles his eyebrows at you and adds that even a hotshot kid with such a long, pointy, Welsh sword can't outrun Lord English's plans, and any attempt to fight will result in Lord English stabbing you with your own sword, chopping you in half, and roasting the pieces to make an example out of your incompetence.

"What," you return, voice flat. With all the dancing, you can't tell if he's threatening you or hitting on you. The Mayor starts shaking one of his cans, and the sound of it brings you back to your original point. The point being the edge of your sword Jade made for you pressing flush against the Felt guy's neck.

The Felt guy says that any attempt to kill him will just make something disastrous happen!!! Your sword could slip and hit the pawn in raggedy bedsheets instead, causing a catastrophic carbonation accident!!!!! You look back at the Mayor.

The look the Mayor gives you is one of asking to be reminded what the chances are of a tragic soda accident. You deliberately smile back in thanks.

"That's nice," you tell the Felt guy, "but let me tell you a secret." He leans closer, feet dancing ecstatically. "Luck doesn't actually matter."

The Felt guy blinks at you, frozen, and then you chop his head off.

TG: little guy taken care of subbing back in jake
GT: Cream him strider!

What a fucking dork.

“Did you miss me?” you ask Cal.

"Do you really think you're going to be able to beat me?" Cal shoots back, dragging you six minutes forward. In the background, someone's shooting grimdark lacerations of thorns, though you don't have to look very closely to have a solid guess who. Almost reflexively, you rewind yourself and Cal back eight  minutes and twenty-two seconds because you don't want to find out why just yet.

"You can talk shit all you want, I don't care," you say, Caledfwlch slicing towards his gun. It turns back into a staff at the last second, blocking you.

"And you can shut that impertinent mouth of yours," Cal says, bearing his weight down and shoving you back. "And die."

"Nah," you lie, smirking for added effect. "I'm gonna win."

"You're going to be obliterated," Cal grimaces at you, swinging his staff down towards your head. You dodge at the last second, flashstepping to the side. "And when I grind you into the dirt. To make an example out of a person who thinks he's. Hot stuff or deserving of things that belong to me." His staff follows your movement, and you have to spin in place, holding Caledfwlch out with both hands to block it. "Then we'll see. Who gets to be the meat puppet." You jump back, keeping your sword out in front of you. "And who gets to win everything. Forever."

GC: D4V3 S33 1F YOU C4N G3T TH3 B1G GUY TO G3T CLOS3R TO M3
GC: D1RK SW1TCH W1TH J4N3 FOR 4 L1TTL3 SO SH3 C4N H3LP K4N4Y4 W1TH THE CL34NUP

You glance over to where Terezi is; she gives you a little wave with the cane-sword she’s just pulled out of a Felt member.

“Pay attention, Dave,” Cal says, sending a short stream of bullets into your path. You dodge at the last second. “I’ll tell you when it’s time to stand back and watch.”

GA: There Are Only Two Green Creatures Left But Thank You
GC: ROS3 4ND J4K3 KEEP UP W1TH YOUR D1STR4CT1ON
GT: HAVE AT THEE!!!
TT: Jake, get on my other side. I've got an idea.
GT: Well make a sweater out of his sinews!
TT: Crocker.
GG: Strider.

Dirk and Jane nod to each other as they pass; Jane even smiles, this time.

So why do you feel uneasy?

“I’ve got a joke for you, Dave,” Cal says.

“You’re finally ready to rewind us back to the moment of your birth?” you ask.

“How many times are you going to fuck up before you finally admit your defeat to me?” Cal blasts at you with another round of gunfire. You flashstep to the side, then dart back to close the distance between you two.

“It ain’t gonna happen,” you retort, swinging Caledfwlch in a wide arc at him.

“Really?” Cal grins. “Just watch.”

Somewhere about eleven minutes in for you and seven minutes in for everyone else, Terezi gets riddled with bullets.

TT: Dammit, Terezi.
GG: I'm on my way.
TT: I’ve got your back.

You're too busy bringing your own time-lapsed version of Cal closer to whatever the equivalent of check is to be able to reach her before it happens. It's the scream that catches your attention, your own breath stuttering in response, but a Green-Sun-tipped staff blocks your way. You swing your sword to cut the staff again, but with the wind knocked out of you, there’s no force behind it. Your sword only sparks and scrapes.

"She did it on purpose," Cal says, bearing down on you with his full height.

"Jane's just gonna bring her back," you reply. Both of you rewind four minutes, then fast-forward another six. You can't actually tell who's initiating the jumps at this point, only that you're becoming increasingly frustrated with this asshole and his stupid skeletal grin.

"But only once." You and Cal go forward another minute and twenty two seconds.

"Quit fucking running," you say, slashing at him again.

In the memo, Future Dave and Future Terezi are butting heads.

FGC: D4V3 1 4M TRY1NG TO PL4Y 4 G4M3 H3R3
FTG: no
FGC: D4V3 1 S41D HOLD YOUR POS1T1ON >:[

"You first."

FTG: this shit is unacceptable
FTT: What?

You pull the both of you back three minutes.

"Just stay the fuck put," you say. Out of the corner of your eye, Jane is zapping the teal-covered Terezi with blue life energy.

"I've waited thousands of years for this," Cal says. "You can't hide forever." Now, Rose is yelling at the newly-revived Terezi.

“I'm not afraid of you anymore,” you retort. “I'm gonna stop you from this maniacal pool-demon shit you're deluding yourself with, and I'm gonna kill you so this game can end already.” Terezi is brushing the accusations off and urging Rose forward, though she's hanging back with Kanaya and the frog herself.

TG: whats going on over there
TG: is everybody alive again
TT: Terezi isn’t dead anymore, though not for a lack of effort on her part!
GC: 1M F1N3
GC: 1 C4NT 4TT4CK 4NYMOR3 BUT W3 4CTU4LLY H4V3 4 MUCH B3TT3R POS1T1ON NOW
TG: are you sure
GC: Y3S 4ND 1V3 GOT SOM3 MOR3 1D34S WH3N YOUR3 R34DY

"You don't get it. Do you," Cal says. You send another flurry of attacks at him. "It's not that you don't have the skills to defeat me. Which by the way you don't." You don't let up on your assault for a single millisecond. Pesterchum blurs so swiftly you have to start tuning it out. "It's that I'm the one writing the story here. It's already been typed out. Whatever author this story had might as well be sitting. In the middle of a black hole right now."

"Do you think that's funny or something?" Him and his stupid black holes.

"I've already decided how everything ends," Cal says, laughing. "I'm just waiting for everyone else to catch up."

"You're not deciding shit," you say, slashing at him. You only get his coat, though.

"Did you know? Dave," he says. "You're my favorite person to kill. It never gets old. No matter how many times I get to arrange it."

"That was a real creepy thing you said, just now."

"In two minutes. You'll die." He grins and gnashes his teeth at you. "And then. Three minutes and forty-one seconds later. You'll die a second time. And then I'll win." Then, he drags the two of you back four minutes.

"Quit running," you say. Your sword connects with his staff one more time, and you use the moment of the clash to fast-forward five minutes one last time.

TG: k im ready whats your idea
GC: H3Y ROS3 AND J4K3
GC: TRY TO G3T 4 B3TT3R 4NGL3 ON H1M 1F YOU C4N
GC: YOUR3 4LL CROWD1NG TH3 S4M3 S1D3 OF TH3 F13LD
GT: Well do our best!
GC: TH4NKS
GT: Come on rose lets see if we can get the jump on him.
TT: Not with those wings, you won't, but I'm right behind you.
GT: Leave the trail blazing to me then!
GG: Should I head around to the other side, then?
GC: Y34H TH4TS F1N3 YOU SHOULD B3 DON3 H3R3

Something feels weird. Maybe you should fast-forward a little to see what Terezi's planning, but... no, you can't do that. Cal's in assault-rifle mode right now. If you let him do as he pleases, he might start jumping without you, and that could get messy very quickly. If you can at least keep him focused on you until he's back to staff mode, you should have enough room to figure out what else might be going on.

TT: What about us?
GC: YOU TWO ST4Y WH3R3 YOU 4R3 1M TRY1NG TO SURROUND H1M

Why would Terezi give that order? This is a terrible position to be in while Cal's got his gun out. You're sitting ducks like this.

TG: im gonna get him to switch back to the staff
GC: D4V3 G3T B4CK H3R3

Terezi shouts her order at the same time as her teal text appears in the memo. You ignore her and start flashstepping towards Cal again. He doesn't switch his weapon’s form, and instead turns so he's between you and Rose.

Why would he let himself get flanked on purpose like that?

GC: D4V3 WH4T 4R3 YOU DO1NG
TG: this isnt right
TT: Hey, wait for me.

Cal sprays bullets into your path, and you have to turn on your heel and dodge back the other way. He follows with his gun, then abruptly switches his angle, sending you back in your original direction. You're much closer to Cal than anyone else, now, practically between him and Dirk.

TG: somethings wrong
GC: TH4TS WHY YOU N33D TO HOLD YOUR POS1T1ON UNT1L J4K3 4ND ROS3 G3T TO H1S OTH3R S1D3

You lunge at Cal sword-first with a yell, forcing him to shift his rifle back to a staff, skidding him along the ground for two seconds.

"You have absolutely no sense of chess strategy," Cal says.

"You afraid you're gonna lose?" you spit back, striking again at him anyway.

"All I've wanted is a good game. Dave." You trade a few more blows. "I told you. I don't make bets I don't win." Cal digs his heels into the ground, shifting your balance so you're suddenly on the defensive. "And I know exactly what you're going to do in the next thirty seconds."

"Let me guess, it's kicking your ass," you say. You try not to let him shove you back and take back all the ground you just gained, but he's at least twice your height and weight.

"You're going to let me win," Cal says, suddenly grinning. Your stomach lurches. “Because I’m going to start killing people until you do, and the traitor I’m going to start with is—” He darts his gaze off to your left, and then a split second later, he smacks you back a good fifteen feet with a blow that nearly knocks the air out of your lungs. How does he still have that much energy left? Is he playing with you again?

He's playing with you again. But who's he going to go after?

GT: Napoleons knickers that looks like it stung are you okay?
TG: im fine im going back in
TT: Do you need help?

Jake has joined up with Jane on Cal's other side. Rose is off to your left again, between Cal and Terezi, having retraced her steps to presumably back you up. Dirk is between you and Rose, alert but otherwise stationary.

GC: UGH OK4Y W3 C4N ST1LL F1X TH1S
GC: CH4NG3 OF PL4NS ROS3 B3 PR3P4R3D TO 4TT4CK

Is it really a change of plans if everyone is exactly where Terezi originally wanted them to be? You know from previous jumps that Rose is going to start using her grimdark powers soon, and that last time, she activated them because someone else died. But if he's not going after Rose, then who…?

GC: 1M TRY1NG TO G3T H1M 1N CH3CK SO K33P B4CK STR1D3R
TG: not yet
GC: D4V3 1 4M TRY1NG TO PL4Y 4 G4M3 H3R3
TG: no
GC: D4V3 1 S41D HOLD YOUR POS1T1ON >:[
TG: this shit is unacceptable
TT: What?

"Dave?" you hear your bro say, sharp and alarmed, the same time the orange text appears on the memo screen.

TT: Dave?
TT: What's going on?

Dirk is darting his gaze around, to you, to Terezi, to anything near him that so much as twitches.

TG: you dont gotta be so stone cold
TG: why dont you actually ask people what they wanna do before you make decisions like that
TG: anyway ive been counting
GC: D4V3 TH4T 1S NOT HOW CH3SS WORKS
TG: i dont care
GC: D4V3 W3 H4V3 GOT TO TH1NK 4BOUT OUR PR1OR1T13S H3R3
TG: says who
TT: I think I'd like to know what's going on now, too.
TT: Someone please tell me what's going on.
GC: D1RK JUST GO B4CK J4N3 UP
TG: rose
TT: What?
TT: Well, fuck this.

Dirk turns sharply from the direction he was headed and veers towards Rose.

Cal grins at you like he knows exactly what you're about to do, because he does. He's arranged it. It makes you pretty pissed off that this is the tune you're currently dancing to, but it's not like you're just gonna sit and twiddle your thumbs, either. Cal turns and follows Dirk's path, aiming not at Rose but at Dirk himself; you can see him start to squeeze his finger.

"Check it," you murmur, flashstepping between them, because if it's good enough for rap battles, it should be good enough for chess battles. No one else is going to dissolve in front of your eyes.

-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] --
TG: tag
-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] --

Cal's teeth flash green and gold as he shoots, spraying you in a deluge of bullets.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

You wake to howling wind and psychic screaming. Things you refuse to name with too many beaks and tentacles race past you, eyes rolling and pink-black gore streaming behind them like meteoric trails. Large cracks in the darkness glow with searing rainbow, breaking off into chunks of solid nothing that seem to fall sideways. Are they being pulled? You can't tell. Your shirt's so wet with red it's dripping.

"What were you EXPECTING?" you shout back. You'd clap your hands over your ears, if you weren't so busy holding onto your shades. Despite your best efforts to get away from the chaos, you feel yourself being dragged right along with them to who knows where. Your teeth feel like they're rattling by the individual molecule, like you're falling towards some inexplicable point of no return.

"IT'S HIM, NOT ME, YOU STUPID SQUIDS!"

"Is someone there?" The sound is nearly drowned out entirely, and you only hear it because you're trying to shut out the Horrorterrors as much as possible.

"Over here!" you shout back.

"We've been out here for three days! There's no one else left!!!"

"I'M OVER HERE!" At this rate, your throat's going to go raw. You fly as fast as you can towards the sound, though it's hampered by all the debris in the way. In between dodging the existential flotsam, you can make out a small group of people.

"It's another one!" Is that Aradia? There's one troll wearing red, at least, and you don't think you'd be able to see the horns from here if it was a Vantas.

"What's going on out here?" you shout. There's a blonde girl in blue, too, and another troll in green you can't recognize. Is that girl Roxy? She looks a lot like Rose, but you can tell she's not Rose. The others are behind those three.

"Keep—!" Was that…?

“Is this one thirty-eight or thirty—” you hear Aradia’s voice again.

"STOP COUNTING THEM!!!" the other person yells back again. Is that Jade's voice?

"Jade!"

"Just—!"

The group falls away from you, shooting down towards the source of the calamity, and for a single second, you can see Jade staring back at you, shouting. Then, her words are drowned out by a wall of panicking Horrorterrors and you lose sight of her.

"JADE!" You're trying to fall after them, but it's not working. "JADE!" You can't catch up to her. "JADE!!!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

You come back to life with a gasp, cradled in shaking arms. When you blink away the glare from the magic, Jane is standing in front of you, palm out, gaze steady. But if she's not holding you, then... Oh, right. You should have known by the gloves.

"How's everyone?" you croak. Your throat feels like it's lined with sawdust. Caledfwlch is on the ground, off to the side, waiting to be picked up again, but you don't want to move.

"...We're fine," Dirk replies, fingers clutching at your shirtsleeves. "You weren't out more than a couple minutes." Well, you knew that part. Jane is still staring at you both, but she slowly lowers her hand.

"Didn't make sense to wait until everybody was doomed," you say. Jane still hasn't given you a real smile since the last time you saw her on Derse, but her expression softens just enough to let you know she's not going to chastise you for not being careful again.

"I should go help Rose and Jake," Jane says, then turns and leaves. You follow her gaze; Rose and Jake are holding up, but they don't look like they'll last much longer without more help. You don't want to go back and fight Cal again, but you make yourself turn to face Dirk before you do leave. The second you start to move, his hands jump off you like you've burnt him, then hover like he wants to grab onto you again. The front of his shirt’s all red, now.

"Dave..."

"I have to go," you mumble, looking away. You don't want to tell him who you heard when you were dead.

"...Okay." Dirk picks up Caledfwlch, hesitates one more second, then pushes the hilt against your chest. You cover his hand with yours, letting it linger there for a half-second, then take your sword from him and flashstep back towards the battle before you can change your mind.

Rose is screeching at Cal, a white laser shooting from one wand and black thorns snaking from the other. Her eyes are glowing white, and a terrifying, dark smoke is rising off her ash-grey body. She doesn't seem to notice the multiple bullet holes in her body. You hear your name in between Horrorterror curses and accusations towards Cal of your fault your faultyourfault.

Jake is dive-bombing towards two other Cals with pistols firing steady beams of searing energy, his own white-hot aura making him almost too blinding to look at. The Cals just keep blasting at them relentlessly. They're holding up, but it doesn't look like it'll last long.

TG: im back
GT: I knew you could do it!

Yeah, Jake's still a cheeseball. He's got a couple bullet holes in him as well, but at least he isn't as bad off as Rose. He flies off to the side to let you slip into the position Rose was occupying, his wings buffeting you gently. You can still see him firing at Cal out of the corner of your eye, but he's slowing down, only dodging Cal's return fire by the barest amount.

"Yo," you say.

"You're not allowed to move anymore," Cal says, glaring at you.

"Says who?" you retort.

"I got you," Cal says. "You're out." You keep flying towards him. "Stop cheating."

"Fuck you." Jane is dragging a still-shrieking Rose back to tend to her bullet wounds.

"That's not a legal move." Jake is sending his own barrage of fire at Cal because holy shit does that kid never give up, but it's just being brushed off.

GC: 4CCORD1NG TO TH3 RUL3S H3S T3CHN1C4LLY R1GHT
GC: 1TS NOT 4CTU4LLY 4 L3G4L MOV3 D4V3

"Shut up." You pick up as much momentum as you can.

"THAT'S NOT FAIR." Another Cal appears in the present and cold-clocks you from behind. Your shades go flying off.

TT: Dave!!!

You can see Dirk flying towards you as fast as he can; he looks more terrified than you've ever seen him, more than when you died, even. You can hear Cal's weapon shifting to its machine-gun form. If you flash stepped, you could probably turn around and counter it with only minimal collateral damage. Everything around you would get blasted to hell, but you'd live. You'd maybe find out what sort of grudge he really has against you. If you keep flying, he'll get a wide-open shot.

But John gave you those shades, dammit. You reach out with both hands.

Cal blasts at your right leg, and your knee erupts into a screaming, open wound. You slam your shades back on automatically, then look down.

Below your knee, it just isn't there anymore. That's a lot of blood for just one leg.

In the seconds while you take deep, shuddering breaths and stare down at what remains of your leg, Cal goes after Jake again. You hear the crack of metal against bone, and whip your head up again just in time to see Jake careening back, holding onto his ribs. From the other direction, Rose has shrugged off all but the most essential help from Jane and is heading back. Dirk is flashstepping back towards the battle, too, but you can already tell neither of them will get there fast enough.

You rewind and cheat your way to where Cal is. A wave of dizziness washes over you when you skid to a halt, but you blink it away.

"I thought you wanted to fight me, dickface." Spots form in your vision, and you blink them away again. “I'm the one you're playing against.”

"You've already lost," Cal says. "Quit your whining."

"Come on, asshole," you say. "I still got three limbs left." You're stalling, and both you and Cal know it. You're losing enough blood that you can barely hold your sword up, but you point it at him as best you can. Cal is starting to look smug.

"I'm done dealing with you," Cal says. Part of you wants him to get it over with before anyone else gets close enough to be caught in the crossfire, but most of you is still trying to buy some time. You've got three-quarters of a minute, tops, before your fifteen minutes are up.

"Doesn't mean we're done yet." Dirk, Jake, and Rose are flying towards you, from all directions. Jake gets there first, but he looks almost as exhausted as you feel. You look at him, still bristling just as much as at the start of the battle, then roll your shoulders and try to focus. "Right, guys?"

"Infuckingdubitably," Jake says, glaring at Cal.

"Right," Rose agrees, from your other side, eyes starting to glow again. You meet her gaze for a moment; there's no visible countdown, no giant bomb about to go off, but it feels the same as that crypt in Derse. If you could've talked her out of being here, you would, but at the same time, you're glad you don't have to do this alone.

"You two are next," Cal says. He levels his machine gun at you.

"No." You grit your teeth and adjust your grip on your sword, but don't move. "Not yet." Bluffing like you're hot shit with no substance to back it up is the only way you can fight back right now, but you don't care how embarrassing or stupidly ironic it is. You won't stop while you're still conscious because as long as Cal's busy killing you, he isn't hurting anyone else. Once you're dead again, Jake and Rose will buy everyone else another few precious seconds until Cal starts aiming again.

"I win," Cal says. You can see his green, clawed finger start to squeeze on the trigger like it's an eternity. You swallow.

Something rips. You can feel the milliseconds split apart from each other. The aftershock of spatio-temporal energy throws you back. You and Cal turn your heads to look at the source at the same time.

There's a crack in the universe, reaching from the ground to the clouds. Looks like John and Karkat finished Sollux's program. You don't have a chance to dwell on that, however, because two figures immediately come flying towards you from the other side.

The latter one you recognize as Roxy. In front of her is a green creature in the same green suit as that troll from earlier.

"Calliope!" Jake shouts. She has the same skull-face as Cal but is half his size, with eyes of lime-green rather than cherry-red.

"Hello, Brother," Calliope says. You look at Cal; his jaw has dropped open and his eyes are practically bugging out of their sockets.

"Hey guys!" Roxy shouts back, waving and grinning brightly, pink eyes sparkling from behind her midnight blue bandit-mask. She looks just like Rose, except for the parts of her face that aren't Rose, that you recognize when you look at yourself.

The rest of the smoke around Rose dissipates. She rapidly blinks her eyes until they're normal again, her chest rising and falling just as quickly, then she stumble-runs towards Roxy.

"I believe these belong to you," Jake says, flying more serenely to Calliope. He removes his wings, which transform into a familiar cape, and hands the shimmery fabric to her. He also gives Roxy his pistols and motions for Rose to follow suit. Rose jumps, then quickly pushes her wands at Roxy.

"Thank you," Calliope replies, making sure to smile at everyone in turn. "I couldn't have gotten here without all of you." She puts the cape on, and it turns into white, feathered wings again. Her suit also changes into a white, classical-style robe with the Space symbol emblazoned in all the colors of the rainbow on the front. Beside her, Roxy has combined the Crosshairs and Quills into a single deudly revolver, which she hands to Calliope.

"Are yoU ready?" Calliope asks. She's no longer smiling. Cal's jaw is still open.

"WHAT," Cal says.

"Good enoUgh," Calliope says, then fires. Cal blocks the shot at the very last second, then attempts a counterattack, which Calliope easily dodges. Then, she attacks again.

You watch these first few clashes between the two cherubs, but you’re so exhausted,  it quickly loses its appeal. Instead, you turn back towards Roxy.

Behind where Rose and Roxy are now speaking to each other, hands clasped tightly together, the crack in the universe is still open. It takes you a second to realize that there's someone standing right in the middle of it. It's Jade. You start flying toward her, as fast as you can, before you even consciously realize you've started moving. Someone calls to you, but you keep going.

"Dave," Jane says, "get over here."

"'M fine," you reply, flying closer towards the crack in the universe.

"Dave Strider," she repeats. You hunch your shoulders and slow until she catches up.

"You already zapped me once," you say. "Not like I'm gonna change my decision when I've already gone and made it." You're so dizzy. "Go save your zappy shit for someone it'll be more use on."

"I'm just going to bandage it, silly," she responds, not without gentleness in her tone.

"Ok," you say, breathing uneven. She cuts your cape off in a jagged line with her fork and wraps it around the stump, twisting tight enough to make your eyes water before knotting it deftly. "Shit, Crocker." You don't miss the slight glow from her hands as she does so, however.

"It's only enough that you won't pass out," she explains before you get the chance to protest again. "Now, let me get back to work." You nod once, and she flies back into the battle.

You fly the rest of the way to the slowly widening crack.

Jade is there. She looks almost exactly the same as the last time you saw her, dark clothes, dark hair, white dog ears. The main difference is that her eyes are completely white, too.

She's smiling. You don't understand why she's smiling. You don't get it at all.

"Hey," you say, throat ragged. Jade opens her mouth, but no sound comes out. You try to reach out your hand, but hit some kind of invisible wall. It feels like static, white noise on an out-of-tune television made physical. Like infinity leaking out the cracks of reality.

"I'm sorry," you say. "I couldn't tell you." Jade says something, smiling. You wish you knew what it was. "If I thought there could be any other way, I... I'm sorry," you repeat. You watch her mouth for your name. The only things you can hear are the distant sounds of battle and your own uneven breaths. You wish you'd tried more than thirty-seven times.

Then, she starts pointing, emphatically, to something behind your shoulder.

You turn just in time to see the final blows. Calliope, resplendent in her white robes, pistol-wand in her hand and feathery wings at her back, levels her aim at her brother and fires. He's still swearing at her.

She fires the second beam. He tries to block with his staff, but the bullet pops the miniature Green Sun right off the crown and sends it tearing a hole straight through his chest. The Sun keeps going until it falls one last time into the blackness.

"Go back to yoUr black hole," Calliope says. The words make every single cell in your body vibrate at once, and the disintegrating body of Lord English follows the Sun's path down and out of sight. The dip in gravity ripples, then smooths over into calm.

When you turn back around to tell Jade what happened, the crack is gone. All that’s left is the black-and-white of the battlefield and old, red blood. Your exhale is too thready to make a sound.

Above Señor Mucoso’s ever-increasing bulk, a platform has appeared. Calliope starts flying toward the frog, Rose carrying Kanaya, and Roxy close behind. Eventually, everyone begins to gather around them. You're not sure you can move. You see Terezi and the Mayor with Jake, and the other carapace with Jane. Jane says something to Dirk, who then flies over to you and starts pulling you with him to the rest of the group.

"My leg hurts," you mumble.

"I'll make you a new leg," Dirk says. He flies you up to the platform, and you hold on so you don’t collapse completely.

"Like a robot leg?" you ask. You can't think of the scientific word for it; you're starting to get dizzy again. He hoists you up when you start to tip.

"Yeah."

"...Okay." As long as it's not gold, but you think even he has better taste than that.

When you get to the platform, the Mayor is hugging Terezi and Rose and Kanaya; Terezi looks like she’s trying not to cry. Once he's done that, he goes up to you.

“Hey, dude,” you say.

The Mayor says he knows you kids will build a good democracy on the other side.

“...What?”

The Mayor explains that he and the other carapace need to go back down to Skaia before it merges with the frog.

“No,” you say, barely above a whisper. He hated being on the battlefield; now he has to go there when you all just got away?

Only Players are allowed to go through the door, the Mayor says. Game constructs have always been meant to become part of the frog. The way he calls himself a construct twists at you, and you don't know how he can be so composed about this. And you’d thought there weren't any other ways this Game could take people away.

"I'll send them to Skaia," Calliope is saying. You just sort of stand there, Dirk still holding you up, and then look back at the Mayor.

He hugs you, and presses a paper into your hands, soft and worn from having been folded many times. You look down at the paper, see John's name in capslock crossed out, replaced by a little doodle of what's probably supposed to be your face, and then look back up quickly because you know what's written on the rest of it. If Dirk sees what it says, he doesn't say anything, just keeps you from tipping over.

You don't know how to respond, since no one's ever said that to you before, so you just hug the Mayor again, and then shove the paper in your pocket and do your best not to cry.

The Mayor goes over to Calliope, who snaps her fingers, sending them down into Skaia. The Mayor gives you a thumbs up until he's too small to see clearly.

"Everything's set, now," Calliope says to Kanaya. “When he reaches the threshold size, he’ll merge with Skaia, correct?”

“It should be any—” Kanaya starts, then stops with a gasp as a low croak rises to the platform from the surface of Skaia. The frog grows even bigger, the sound swelling with him, until he’s so large you can see him from up here, then as big as the planet. He starts changing colors, stars swirling to life within his body as the noise permeates all around you.

On the platform, a door shaped like a house appears.

"ThroUgh this portal," Calliope says, "is a new reality." When she speaks, it echoes through your head. "It's oUtside of paradox space and beyond the reach of any Unsavory individUals who might want to take advantage of the genesis frog yoU have all helped create."

"We can really go through?" Rose asks. "What if your brother tries to...?"

"My brother is trapped in a loop of his own devising," Calliope answers. "He can only emerge into a Universe as it dies, and yoU have already seen those deaths. He will not be back." That answer seems to satisfy Rose.

Dave, Calliope says into your head, lime green eyes vibrant, heavily lined with kohl, there is still one more thing for yoU to do.

"What?" You're so tired.

Roxy and I are gratefUl to everyone who helped Us get here. I want to thank them. You think about the two people who made it possible for Calliope and Roxy to enter the Medium. You think about the leaderly decisions that were made not too long ago on LOFAF. Your throat is too dry for the whine that wants to escape it.

"But—"

Whether it's three years or three Universes or three days doesn't matter, she continues. I'm the one writing the story, now.

"She means bein' terrible at something is sometimes the best way for it to be good," Roxy says. Can she hear what Calliope’s saying to you? “So really, everybody did great. I was talkin’ to the squids, and they don’t always make sense, but I’m pretty sure they agree with me, too.” Does she mean you were terrible at stopping John and Karkat from dying because it was the thing that was supposed to happen? Did the Horrorterrors anticipate and facilitate that particular failure? "Don't make that face," she whispers, cupping her hands and leaning close, "I liked your movovies."

You think about how incredibly shitty a SBAHJ movovie would be. Both John and Karkat were shitty at coding, too. Something clicks. You look back to Calliope.

You have ten minUtes and twenty-six seconds, Calliope says, still smiling. Yes, go! Roxy wonks at you.

You can do it.

"Crocker," you say, brisk, disentangling yourself from Dirk. Your head's still spinning. "I..."

"Dave?"

You can still save them.

"I need your help."

"What's going on?" your bro asks.

"We..." you start again, but have to pause for a second again when spots appear in your vision, "...we have to hurry." Jane is looking at you critically, but you don't have to look at how pursed her mouth is to know she's aware of your current state. "Please."

"Hey," your bro says, sharp and tensing. You have to leave before he stops you. You can't get Karkat's face from when he was on the rocketboard out of your head.

"Crocker," you say. Jane quickly grabs your arm. You look back to Calliope, and Jane follows your gaze.

Start northwest, Calliope suggests. YoU'll figUre oUt the rest from there. I have faith in yoU.

"I convinced the rest of 'em to help you guys a while back," Roxy adds. She must be talking about the Horrorterrors. It's easier to decipher her speech as long as you're not trying to think about it logically.

You look back to Jane; she squeezes your arm lightly. You point towards where you think northwest is. Jane starts flying you.

When you chance a glance behind you, your bro is shouting at the both of you, Roxy in front of him, gently pushing him back.

"Faster," you say quietly. You turn your head back, doing your best to block it out. Jane seems to understand, and she picks up speed, carrying the both of you until you're out of range. You lean against her heavily.

"Dave," she says.

"We've got ten minutes and twenty-six seconds," you reply. "That's what Calliope said." Your leg feels heavy and light at the same time. "To get them and bring them back." You hate yourself a little for not being able to use complete sentences, but you need to save your energy if this is going to work. "I'll get the route. You have to mark it."

"I can do that," Jane says. "Chin up, mister."

"Right." You take your shades off, grip them tightly in your hand, and start to navigate. The Horrorterrors, in their infinitely horrible sense of humor, give their directions as a song originally sung by a frog. "Got a message in through the telephone, a secret cheat like Konami's code, send me a wire what you're up to now, got me running ragged but I don't back down, don't screen, come clean, gotta split this scene, pond's too small for your answering machine..."

Jane starts beatboxing because she's fucking awesome.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

At first, you're unsure which of the nearby meteors is the one with the ancient computer on it. Jane, however, seems to have an idea, and she drags you toward one in particular without batting an eye. The chunk of rock in question is strangely-colored, redder than the others and oddly smooth on one side. You can see a few entrances, but Jane instead heads for an expanse of metal with a single, round hole in it.

"I can feel someone still in there," Jane says. "Wait here." She detaches you from her arm and takes out her fork, flying down and sticking it in the hole. With a loud tearing sound, she drags her fork across the metal, slicing it open, then with a yank, pulls it up and away from the rock. Then, she collects you again and flies you inside.

On the floor of the computer room, laying right underneath the hole in the ceiling, are John and Karkat. They're curled close around each other, like parentheses of exhaustion joined by tightly clasped hands. Red blood covers them in splatters, spilled out in excess with more pooling under and around them. A horrifyingly short trail of more blood leads to the computer, then winds in a staggered path through a door. Whatever they had to do to finish the code must have used up the entirety of their energy.

Karkat's still breathing, though it's a slow rasp, like he could hold himself together through sheer force of will. John isn't.

You don't hear what Jane says in that moment because your ears are filled with a sound from your throat even the Horrorterrors couldn't decipher.

Jane shoots a quick stream of blue energy from her hand at Karkat, then descends to pick up John into her lap. You watch as the blue aura surrounds them both completely, until John’s chest starts rising and falling once more.

“Nanna?” John murmurs.

“Not exactly,” Jane replies, smiling. “I need to switch.” She puts John down, then goes over to Karkat, pulls him away far enough to give herself room to work, and starts healing him too. You float gingerly down to John's other side, but he's still staring at Jane.

"How are you here?" John is still boggling at Jane and Karkat.

“Because you guys are shit at coding,” you reply, attempting to pack as much reassuring snark into your voice as possible, “and if anyone halfway competent at it tried, we would’ve all been retroactively fucked by the causality loops.” Well, that’s the impression you got from Roxy, anyway.

John blinks up at you with his left eye, the right scratched and scarred shut behind the broken frame of his glasses. It's still infinitely reassuring compared to his state just a few minutes ago, though.

“The croak’s only going to last about ten and a half minutes," you continue, "relatively speaking, so if we don’t get our shit together and haul you dorks through the portal soon, we’ll miss our exit.” Not that you actually have your shit together at all, but it’ll probably make John feel better if you at least pretend to. Or maybe you can just distract him from worrying by talking a lot.

“Karkat—” John starts again. Of course the first thing John asks about once he's semi-coherent is Karkat. God, Karkat’s shitty attempt at using a rocketboard is still fresh in your memory, too. They’re both your best bros, but they’re so dumb sometimes. The fact that his reckless, suicidal plan to chase after John actually worked is a feat in itself. It won’t undo the other loss that still cuts like a knife in your chest, but if you’re able to at least help preserve this, then that’s at least one thing the universe is looking kindly on.

"Crocker's patching him up right now," you say. When John tries to stand, he stumbles, and you reach down quickly to catch him. "Try floating instead of standing." He at least gets the hang of that easily enough, which is more reassuring than thinking about how much Jane's having to conserve her healing powers to merely bring everyone to consciousness.

"You'll have to fly us back," Jane says to John. "I need to borrow your hood, by the way." She's looking pretty exhausted herself, so you take out Caledfwlch and slice off the blue windsock, handing it to her before she uses up any energy that could go to healing instead.

"Dave, your leg—" John says. You look down at the blood seeping through your cape; so much for not overexerting your own injuries.

"Fuck, lemme tighten it again," you reply quickly. You stick the hilt of your sword into the loosened knot of fabric at your knee, then twist until everything goes numb again and you can re-secure it with your eyes watering behind your shades.

You do your best to copy the way Jane first secured your cape as a bandage. You try to distract John from his worry by filling him in about the battle he and Karkat missed, and it works semi-reasonably. You mention your shades, but you think John's still too concerned to get the implication. Just as well.

Once Karkat is fully conscious, John lifts him up with a gust of air and then they’re clinging to each other again; the whole thing takes less than ten seconds. Watching it doesn’t make what happened to Jade hurt any less, but it’s reassuring to know that at least they were able to find something good from their would-be suicide mission. Neither of them seem to mind, either, so you shoot them a thumbs-up to let them know it's the best use of a rocketboard you've seen yet.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

John drags you all back towards Señor Mucoso, following the route Jane recorded for you earlier. No one seems to appreciate your Stairway to Heaven rap on the way back to the portal, so you make up a new one.

"In the winter, window's opening, future's almost on its way, we're so much older than this morning, in the snow, I heard you say, in the starlight, write a letter, New Year's Day is on the rise, sailing east til I see the heavens shining like your eyes..."

You arrive at the frog just as he’s finishing the final notes of his croak. You wobble down onto the platform with the house-shaped door, still holding onto Jane for balance. Everyone crowds around, Dirk patting awkwardly at your shoulder, and then Calliope is ushering you all to go through the door with a smile. John and Karkat go through first, and then the rest of you follow.

”I mUst go throUgh last, bUt i will be there on the other side!” she calls. “Thank yoU, so mUch!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In the new reality, there is a planet, lit up and shining like a rainbow. There are a multitude of moons orbiting it, each a different color. Other planets are visible in the distance, then a sun, then an endless expanse of stars glittering like fireflies in the background. You can't tell if you're standing or floating. You try to walk, and start to tip over; John pulls you back up.

At exactly 12:01AM, you make out two people in front of the planet, waiting to greet you. It's Sollux, and… and… it’s Jade.

Your whole body careens towards her, your pulse thunderous in your ears and her name spilling out of your mouth before you even recognize you’ve made a sound out loud.

You completely forget about your leg, and end up spinning in place. John catches you again and carries you towards them, the other humans swiftly following behind; Karkat is doing the same with all the trolls. Everyone crashes into each other all at once.

"Jade," you say. "Jade." Someone's laughing. "Jade." Someone's yelling. "Jade." More than one person is crying. "Jade."

"Hey," she says. Her eyes are green, like the stars.

Behind the stars, another pair of green eyes smile, then disperse. But these are new stars, and you think they could last past forever.