♑ > You're the Joker in a dyin' masquerade
Characters: faygot and Kamen_luthier, possibly bethehugejerk and lovingdream once they get back?
Location: Near the safe hive
Time: Many hours after this
Style: Third.
Status: Closed
Gamzee had never liked to fight, not even before his brush with sobriety. He had much preferred to feed the imps in Sgrub his pies and watch them be dope. And maybe that was what they should do now! Gamzee's spirit lifted for a moment and he nearly fumbled his SFC out of his pocket to tell Karkat of his plan before he stopped. No. Karkat had told him to deal with the scalebeasts, hadn't he? Had ordered him to. Had told him this was his shot at making up for all the wicked shit he had done.
Gamzee had never liked to fight, but he summoned his clubs now.
He stood in the street Karkat had assigned him too, disliking the easy way his clubs fell into his hands. He hadn't touched them since that had happened and would've been chill with never touching them again. But Karkat had told him to and what kind of a friend would he be if he just sat by while his brothers got hurt? It'd be fine. He'd be okay. He wasn't going to fuck up again.
The first few scalebeasts were dealt with relatively easily, though the smooth strikes left him more exhausted than they should and the pain from the injuries they caused seemed sharper than normal. Karkat had mentioned something about that, right? Something about the coral? Just another fact lost in the wall of grey text and in his fogged up mind.
In between attacks, Gamzee tried to rest. He wished the scalebeasts were just like his scaley bros had been. They had been fun motherfuckers to hang with and wrestle, but he hadn't seen them since these harsh new scalebeasts had shown up. They were probably dead, he realized, always a bit slow to put two and two together to make five. Still, no wrestling with them could've prepared him for what was about to come.
The Allosaurus slowly moved down the street, cocking its giant head as its cold eyes swept across the way. It was big, but not bigger than Gamzee's denizen had been, not bigger than the Black King had been, Gamzee told himself, though he couldn't quite remember how those fights had gone over with either. Somehow miracles had happened, had made everything all right. And that was what would happen this time too, right?
The Allosaurus' eye fell on him, and Gamzee prepared himself, praying for Their strength and Their rage to fill him. He had friends to protect, after all. And a huge heap of shit to make up for. Gamzee narrowed his eyes, steadied his breath and charged.
It was stupid.
Where his clubs had had some impact on the smaller beasts before, the giant Allosaurus seemed at best annoyed by them. It roared loudly enough to make Gamzee's ears ring and his head hurt, before it caught Gamzee with its powerful tail, smashing him into one of the walls. It hurt. Even dying by Karkat's sickle hadn't hurt this much -- that had been quick at least. Now everything seemed to hurt. Blood ran down the back of his skull and neck to soak into his t-shirt and his chest ached like it was on fire. His head throbbed, pounding with each strike of his heart. Was this it? No. This couldn't be it. Karkat had told him to protect everybody. He needed to protect them. Rapunzel was helpless, still fast asleep in a way not even weirdo humans were supposed to be. And where was Wataru? Was he okay? He could do that weirdass thing he did but was that enough to beat a scalebeast?
The Allosaurus roared again, loud enough to tax Gamzee's already aching head.
"shut up."
The ground shook a little as it came closer, roaring once more, closer this time.
"i said.
SHUT THE FUCK UP."
The weapon in his hands changed, thinning into a different, longer handle but Gamzee didn't care anymore. He wasn't Gamzee anymore.
When he came to again, blinking open his eyes sluggishly, he squeezed them shut nearly immediately. A sharp pain shot through his pan and the worst part was that he could not quite tell if it was from where his head had crashed into the wall, his hair clumping together with blood, or if it was them.
Swallowing hard against a wave of nausea, he opened his eyes again, slower this time, coming to two discoveries. First of all, the giant scalebeast was dead, down, either way. Second was the odd hammer across his legs. He would've liked the hammer, maybe. It was cheerful, normally colourful, though now it was covered in thick, red blood. His fingers were wrapped tight around the handle of it, and that was not right, was it? He used clubs, not hammers. He didn't--
The suddenly realization was like ice-water to his blood, and he scrambled away from the hammer, his heart hammering (haha) in his chest. His promise to Karkat resurfaced in his crowded, mix-up mind and he quickly fumbled his SFC out of his pocket. It was okay. He had not screwed up yet. He was fine. The pain in his head was just from hitting the wall. He was okay. He was okay.
He was dead scared.
His fingers shook as he jammed the buttons of his SFC, finding Wataru's name, opening the video feed. Wataru would make things okay. He would. Wataru always helped him take away the pain in his head and the way the world didn't quite look right.
"Wataru?"
Location: Near the safe hive
Time: Many hours after this
Style: Third.
Status: Closed
Gamzee had never liked to fight, not even before his brush with sobriety. He had much preferred to feed the imps in Sgrub his pies and watch them be dope. And maybe that was what they should do now! Gamzee's spirit lifted for a moment and he nearly fumbled his SFC out of his pocket to tell Karkat of his plan before he stopped. No. Karkat had told him to deal with the scalebeasts, hadn't he? Had ordered him to. Had told him this was his shot at making up for all the wicked shit he had done.
Gamzee had never liked to fight, but he summoned his clubs now.
He stood in the street Karkat had assigned him too, disliking the easy way his clubs fell into his hands. He hadn't touched them since that had happened and would've been chill with never touching them again. But Karkat had told him to and what kind of a friend would he be if he just sat by while his brothers got hurt? It'd be fine. He'd be okay. He wasn't going to fuck up again.
The first few scalebeasts were dealt with relatively easily, though the smooth strikes left him more exhausted than they should and the pain from the injuries they caused seemed sharper than normal. Karkat had mentioned something about that, right? Something about the coral? Just another fact lost in the wall of grey text and in his fogged up mind.
In between attacks, Gamzee tried to rest. He wished the scalebeasts were just like his scaley bros had been. They had been fun motherfuckers to hang with and wrestle, but he hadn't seen them since these harsh new scalebeasts had shown up. They were probably dead, he realized, always a bit slow to put two and two together to make five. Still, no wrestling with them could've prepared him for what was about to come.
The Allosaurus slowly moved down the street, cocking its giant head as its cold eyes swept across the way. It was big, but not bigger than Gamzee's denizen had been, not bigger than the Black King had been, Gamzee told himself, though he couldn't quite remember how those fights had gone over with either. Somehow miracles had happened, had made everything all right. And that was what would happen this time too, right?
The Allosaurus' eye fell on him, and Gamzee prepared himself, praying for Their strength and Their rage to fill him. He had friends to protect, after all. And a huge heap of shit to make up for. Gamzee narrowed his eyes, steadied his breath and charged.
It was stupid.
Where his clubs had had some impact on the smaller beasts before, the giant Allosaurus seemed at best annoyed by them. It roared loudly enough to make Gamzee's ears ring and his head hurt, before it caught Gamzee with its powerful tail, smashing him into one of the walls. It hurt. Even dying by Karkat's sickle hadn't hurt this much -- that had been quick at least. Now everything seemed to hurt. Blood ran down the back of his skull and neck to soak into his t-shirt and his chest ached like it was on fire. His head throbbed, pounding with each strike of his heart. Was this it? No. This couldn't be it. Karkat had told him to protect everybody. He needed to protect them. Rapunzel was helpless, still fast asleep in a way not even weirdo humans were supposed to be. And where was Wataru? Was he okay? He could do that weirdass thing he did but was that enough to beat a scalebeast?
The Allosaurus roared again, loud enough to tax Gamzee's already aching head.
"shut up."
The ground shook a little as it came closer, roaring once more, closer this time.
"i said.
SHUT THE FUCK UP."
The weapon in his hands changed, thinning into a different, longer handle but Gamzee didn't care anymore. He wasn't Gamzee anymore.
When he came to again, blinking open his eyes sluggishly, he squeezed them shut nearly immediately. A sharp pain shot through his pan and the worst part was that he could not quite tell if it was from where his head had crashed into the wall, his hair clumping together with blood, or if it was them.
Swallowing hard against a wave of nausea, he opened his eyes again, slower this time, coming to two discoveries. First of all, the giant scalebeast was dead, down, either way. Second was the odd hammer across his legs. He would've liked the hammer, maybe. It was cheerful, normally colourful, though now it was covered in thick, red blood. His fingers were wrapped tight around the handle of it, and that was not right, was it? He used clubs, not hammers. He didn't--
The suddenly realization was like ice-water to his blood, and he scrambled away from the hammer, his heart hammering (haha) in his chest. His promise to Karkat resurfaced in his crowded, mix-up mind and he quickly fumbled his SFC out of his pocket. It was okay. He had not screwed up yet. He was fine. The pain in his head was just from hitting the wall. He was okay. He was okay.
He was dead scared.
His fingers shook as he jammed the buttons of his SFC, finding Wataru's name, opening the video feed. Wataru would make things okay. He would. Wataru always helped him take away the pain in his head and the way the world didn't quite look right.
"Wataru?"