♋ 13th stage: [video] [Dec 19th, late at night]

[dungenessmaster]

[Hours after Gamzee was caught and jailed, Death City's other least favorite grey-skinned asshole returns. apparently Karkat skimmed the network to get an idea of what's been going on. he's moving fast with the Kinshin Chamber vanishing in the background, and he looks... awful. his eyes are too wide. long story short, he's been through some shit

Comments

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[conheir]

karkat, you're back!!
i knew you would be back, haha. :D

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[dungenessmaster]

YOU DIDN'T KNOW GODDAMN BUGWALLOPING SHIT, EGBERT. YOU'RE JUST SO EXCRUCIATINGLY OPTIMISTIC IT ACTUALLY INJURES PEOPLE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY.

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[conheir]

of course i knew!!
and no one believed me, sheesh.
i think i deserve to take on the role of that jerk who goes "i told you so!" just this once.
anyways, welcome back, man.

[text]

[dungenessmaster]

FINE. YOU'RE ENTITLED TO A SINGLE I-TOLD-YOU-SO, AND I WON'T EVEN SAY THAT THE ONE YOU JUST HAD WAS IT. LOOK AT HOW MAGNANIMOUS I AM. IT'S LIKE ALL OF YOUR SAPPY HOLIDAY MOVIES WHERE THE CRABBY PROTAGONIST SEES THE LIGHT AND STARTS SMILING AND PRANCING AND THROWING MONEY AROUND LIKE GOODWILL IS SUDDENLY THE SAME THING AS INSANITY CAME TRUE.

SO... THANKS.

ARE YOU STILL STUCK IN THE CLINIC?

[Much later]

[spandexisyouth]

[He's gotten to the mirror in Europe and there's a look of stress on his face.]

Karkat? What is going on? The network is a mess of chaos; are you all right? What do you need? I am sorry that I am not there!

[video for once]

[dungenessmaster]

[Karkat, for his part, looks... exhausted. Physically and emotionally.]

Don't worry about it. Crisis averted, nobody died. You need to keep tearing ass up in Europe anyway.

[video]

[spandexisyouth]

I am sorry that I was not there when you needed me. I did not mean to let you down.

You look very tired. Are you all right?

[video]

[dungenessmaster]

No, no, goddamn it, Gai, you didn't... fuck. I got someone else to do it, so no harm done.

[there's a pause.]

Yeah. Everything's okay.

[it's really not, but he's not in the mood to talk about it.]

[ video ]

[blue_wayfinder]

No one's dead, though a lot of them are in the clinic.

[A beat.]

What happened to you?

Re: [ video ]

[dungenessmaster]

Yeah, that's what I heard. Do you know how many people? Or... who he attacked?

[awkward pause.]

A lot of shit. Long story.

[he doesn't look too interested in talking about it.]

[ video ] And now watch me skim through the network posts bc while Aqua has a good memory, I don't

[blue_wayfinder]

There are eight I know about that had shown up on the network. Of those I only recognized Jade Harley and Fabiola Iglesias. You're probably better off asking someone at the clinic or Flynn if you want to know more.

[She's curious, that much is obvious, but she's not going to press him for answers.]

You might want to stop by the clinic yourself.

[ video ] ahaha I'm sorry, you could've handwaved. I didn't mean to give you a homework assignment!

[dungenessmaster]

[he nods. he knew about Jade, and he'd seen the bandage on Fabiola.]

I'm fine, dammit! Besides, right now I have to deal with Gamzee.

Voice.

[soulparadox]

Karkat.

You are late in your return.

[dungenessmaster]

[Nataku's voice is sort of calming, somehow.]

I didn't know I was on a fucking timer.

How's Selendis?

[soulparadox]

Now you are aware.

She is all right. Or so she said.

I do not believe that she was or is.

[dungenessmaster]

[that surprises Karkat a little. was that a joke? did Nataku just sass him?]

Shit. Well... she'll survive a little longer. Right now I need to take care of my idiot clown friend.

[dungenessmaster]

Yeah. He didn't actually lose his mind, though. It's more like... the opposite, I guess.

[dungenessmaster]

Ugh, it's hard to explain, I don't think humans would get it. But yeah I guess that's the simplified version.