END GAME: THE COUNTDOWN STARTS

[sailmods]

[the prisoners wake up on cold, hard floors.

the lights are bright, glaring, a sterile cell with sterile bars facing a sterile hall. the prisoners with you, across from you, and no one else. no rocking of a ship in waves, nothing. just the prisoner and their prison.

time passes, one assumes. the rhythmic click of Friday’s heels down the hall. it’s almost like the ticking of a clock.]

Comments

Open To: Helena, Phil, Pratt, Kolchak, Jade, Sheo, and anyone who escapes their cell

[angrycrabnoises]

I sit. In my desolate room.

Karkat is mid-yell when he arrives in his cell with a start. He shudders and calls out, “NIMONA? NEPETA??” Upon hearing no response, he kicks at the wall in frustration, yelps, and grips his foot in pain.

“WELL, THAT PLAN COULDN’T HAVE POSSIBLY GONE WORSE,” he grumbles to himself once he can speak again. “I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE FUCK SHE DID, BUT I’M PRETTY SURE OUR ABILITIES GOT NEGATED AGAIN. OR AT LEAST I PERSONALLY CANNOT ACCESS MY STRIFE SPECIBUS OR MY SYLLADEX.”

[theweakhavepurpose]

Pratt should remember Karkat, or at least what his voice sounds like. He made him a whole gift basket after the Lodge and everything.

But alas, he does not. He does however, remember the word Sylladex (mostly his immense jealousy over it.) And who told him about it.

"Eridan? Why are you yelling? We can hear you bro."

[angrycrabnoises]

Karkat grits his teeth at the mention of Eridan.

For a moment, he is silent.

Then, he says, “I’M KARKAT, DUMBASS. ERIDAN IS DEAD. HE DIED AFTER THE LABYRINTH.”

[theweakhavepurpose]

He closes his eyes from where he's laying on his back staring at the ceiling. Trying to mentally place who Karkat is.

"Did you steal his weapon hot swap thingy?" He's coming up blank on what this guy looks like, and he can't see around the wall, or so he assumes. He hasn't gotten up to try it, he knows what being a prisoner is like, he's just gonna stay where he is and not waste the energy he might need later.

"You mean like dead dead? I didn't realize the head room ate some people. Or the hourglass things. Whatever." He also hadn't even realized Eridan was gone because until he was reminded of him he'd totally forgotten he even existed. "I'm Deputy Pratt."

[angrycrabnoises]

“HIS STRIFE SPECIBUS? NO, I HAVE MY OWN,” Karkat says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“THAT’S JUST SOMETHING EVERYONE HAS WHERE WE’RE FROM. HONESTLY, I WAS PRETTY FUCKING SHOCKED WHEN I ENDED UP ON THE SERENA AND NOBODY HAD EVEN HEARD OF A SYLLADEX OR A STRIFE SPECIBUS. THE HUMANS I USED TO TALK TO ALSO HAD THOSE ON EARTH.”

In a sad tone, he adds, “IT WAS THE HOURGLASS. HE WASN’T THE ONLY ONE. A FEW OF THE PASSENGERS JUST DISAPPEARED WHEN WE BROKE THE HOURGLASSES.” Then thinks for a moment and says, “WAIT, YOU’RE A DEPUTY AND YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THIS? WHAT THE HELL KINDS OF THINGS ARE YOU INVESTIGATING?”

[theweakhavepurpose]

"Important shit, like the ghosts, and..." There was a time when Pratt knew Guatava, Huracan, and Coatrischie's names, but that time is not right now, "what's her names brothers."

He is totally blanking on Jenny too. But he'll always remember what they look like.

"I have it all written down because I have the memory of a goldfish, but I could summon them in the bars and we were trying to figure out if we could get them to take human form and help us escape. Since she'd done it before. But it ended up just being fucking gross, and I liked Ebalon too." He shrugs even though he's on the ground and Karkat can't see him. "I know a shit ton of things about this place, the problem is when you forget everything the next day and sometimes have psychotic breaks - no one believes you. It is what it is man."

[stalksthedarkness]

He's trying to think as Karkat spoke IN ALL CAPS, in the cell nearby. "Hey keep it down, will ya?"

Huff, last thing they needed at the moment is for everyone to lose their heads.

[teethoftherisk]

It's later when Siffleur comes by, peeking into cells to take count of who's all here. His ears perk up when he sees Karkat.

"Nepeta is fine. She's okay, and you don't need to worry. But it's fine if you do." He expects that worrying is something Karkat has to do at all times.

[angrycrabnoises]

Karkat’s eyes widen and he grips the bars. “SIFFLEUR WHAT THE FUCK? HOW’D YOU GET OUT?”

He doesn’t comment on Nepeta, but he is definitely relieved by that information. Siffleur is right about the worrying.

[teethoftherisk]

"Friday made my bars weaker than they were, so I could bend them and get out. I'm spreading information between people." He debates, then decides that yes, this is the time to say something before it's too late. "When you and Nepeta had your dates, did you decide how you felt about her?"

[angrycrabnoises]

“OKAY SO YOU COULD GET YOURSELF OUT BUT CAN’T ACTUALLY BREAK ANYONE ELSE OUT RIGHT NOW,” he comments.

He sighs, “AND NO, WE NEVER DID. LITERALLY A DATE IN EVERY QUADRANT AND WE STILL COULDN’T FUCKING FIGURE IT OUT.”

[teethoftherisk]

"Yes, the rest of the bars are unmovable." He still gives a push on Karkat's bars, just to test them. But there's no give to them at all.

"I'm sorry. Love is difficult... the only person I've ever been certain I loved was my mother. I was never sure what it felt like with others, so I never said the words. But... I'm making myself say it now, because even if I can never be sure, I know it would hurt to lose them. Maybe you and Nepeta can't figure out what kind of quadrant your feelings are in, but it is clear that you both love each other very much." He presses a paw to the bars and makes a promise he shouldn't. "I'll do whatever I can to make sure you two can speak face to face again."

[angrycrabnoises]

Karkat doesn’t know what to say to that. He sucks in a breath through his teeth and nods.

“I DON’T KNOW IF THIS MEANS ANYTHING TO YOU,” he says finally, “BUT YOU’D MAKE A GOOD LUSUS SOMEDAY.”

[teethoftherisk]

Siffleur butts his head against the bars, chuckling softly to himself. "I means very much. I have two children in my world, and I was a terrible father to them. But if I could have been a lusus to them, we all would have been much happier."