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While Meulin and Nepeta had fought, they had not noticed the tragedy that had befallen their friends. Neither had known that the shuttle had been damaged, had flown without coordinates into the sky.
Neither had known that, shortly after exiting the atmosphere, the shuttle had exploded.
Karkat knew. He knew from the moment that the shuttle took off that they were going to die. Warning lights cast an eerie, multicolored glow over his last moments. His and Kankri’s, though the older troll was less inclined to abandon hope at this point.
Fucking idiot.
Karkat cringed. His last thoughts in this world were going to be criticism of the most frustrating troll in existence.
Either that, or how fucking annoying it was to fight off all of the stupid carapaces while the lights were flashing. He buried his scythe into the neck of a carapace and pulled, severing the head for the body. There were only a few of the shitstains left to be taken care of, and though his body was wrought with exhaustion, Karkat dismembered and destroyed each one.
Kankri had managed to fend off a few of his own in that obnoxious not-going-to-use-violence way of his, and the lopsided teamwork did save them from death at the hands of obnoxious, humanoid creatures, but their doom was still imminent. The warning lights were still flashing. The control panel was smoking-well, that was new.
Kankri lunged for the display, attempting to use it while the machine was clearly under duress. It sparked.
“Kankri, don’t be a fucking idiot!” Karkat grabbed his elder by his ridiculous red sweater and pulled him back. Kankri frowned.
“We need to continue to pilot the shuttle, Karkat.” How could he be so calm in such a disastrous situation? “Otherwise, we will be, the phrase is, I believe, ‘dead in the water’.”
“We’ll be dead no matter what, fuckass. Don’t you get it?”
“Language, Karkat, and tag your triggers. I believe the appropriate tags would-”
Karkat wasn’t paying attention anymore. The klaxon had increased in pitch, and a definite heat was coming from the control panel. Yes, the machinery was most definitely on fire. A few popping sounds were emitted before…
“Kankri, get down!” Karkat pushed the other over right as the panel exploded. The rest of the shuttle did as well shortly afterwards.
Karkat didn’t feel a thing.
~~~
Everything was dark. Karkat couldn’t see anything.
Was this the afterlife? Was he doomed to a forever of black, left to nothing but his thoughts? Because that would be really fucking boring.
“Of course not, silly! You’ve just got your eyes shut!”
Sure enough, Karkat opened his eyes. The darkness was not nearly as dark; instead, it was dotted with stars. But that was it.
“Also,” the voice said, “You’re facing the wrong way.”
Karkat wanted to turn and see who was talking to him, but he was suspended to a degree. In space, he realized. He was floating in space.
His lack of movement was remedied when Karkat found a white light enveloping him and turning him in place. When he was apparently facing the right direction, he couldn’t help the startled noise he made.
“Kanaya?”
The Jade-blooded troll with the barbed horn smiled. Next to her floated-they were in space, after all-a semi-lookalike. Both girls were… glowing white.
Karkat curled his lip. “What the fuck.”
“Karkat, don’t be rude,” Kankri chided. Karkat turned his head.
“No. Fuck you. What the fuck is going on?”
“Karkat! Your language could trigger somebody!”
“It won’t. Not here, anyway.”
Karkat didn’t recognize the girl who spoke. She looked human, based on what he’d seen of humans, but she seemed to be the one controlling the whole “floating in space” thing.
“What. The. Fuck.”
Kanaya tsk-ed. “Your vocabulary is more extensive than that, Karkat. Use your words.” Karkat was still blown away by how different she looked.
“No. No, and fuck you. I need to think. I… shut the fuck up.” He could feel his mind crumbing under the pressure. He clutched his head.
Thanks to the human’s powers, Kankri was able to move closer to Karkat. “Karkat, I understand that you may be triggered by these recent events. This is truly an unexpected circumstance, but-”
“How the fuck are you so calm through all of this?” Karkat barked.
Kankri’s lips pressed into a thin line. He let out a breath through his nose. “I already knew. Porrim told me.”
Karkat’s traitorous gaze flew to Kanaya. “What the fuck?”
“Okay, I understand you’re having some sort of mental breakdown here, Karkat, but you really need to get over that!” the human girl huffed. “There are more important things going on here, so take a deep breath, shut up, and listen. Okay?”
Kanaya floated towards Karkat, papping him. “I am sorry I didn’t tell you. I had no idea Porrim was going to divulge such information to Kankri.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, either, Karkat,” Kankri said.
“Apologies, apologies. Are you two ready to become Indigo Lanterns or not?”
Porrim hissed. “Jade, you could use more tact.”
Surely, Karkat and Kankri both looked completely floored by the human’s-Jade’s-outburst. “Indigo Lanterns?”
“What Jade means requires a bit of explanation,” Kanaya elaborated. “I would ask that you sit down to prepare yourself for such an assignment, but we’re in space, and so the point is moot.”
“The story is a little bit lengthy, I warn you,” Porrim added, “And Kankri, I know you are given to long-winded statements, but I ask that you do not interrupt today. Nor you, Karkat, if what Kanaya has told me about you is true. Understand?”
Both mutantbloods nodded.
“Good. I believe the storytelling has fallen to me. I assume you’ve both heard of the Signless?”
~~~
“The world is ending.”
Bright scarlet eyes turned to the moon, where dark scars could be seen. These were marks of war, marks that adorned each planet in the galaxy, and more. The very ground on which the mutantblood stood was marked in such a way. It was a sign of death, destruction, and the end of all things.
“I have to do something.”
The Signless turned to his one companion, his beloved. “I have to go see her.”
The wild-eyed oliveblood nodded, verdant tears peaking in the corners of her eyes. “I know.”
The Signless pulled his disciple into his arms, enveloping her in an embrace as lengthy and gentle as it was sorrowful. This was their goodbye; this was the last time they saw each other. But neither of them knew that, and when they pulled apart, she looked into his eyes.
“I will wait for you, my love.”
He took her hand in his and kissed it, and she closed her eyes to relish the touch. When she opened them again, he was gone.
The Signless took a pilgrimage to the most desolate part of that planet, one that was not his home. He did not truly know how to contact her, the mother of all, the woman who named herself “painful”. The Dolorosa only ever said that when he needed her, she would be there. He traveled for days, reaching to the very edges of the civilized world and beyond.
His isolation could not protect him, though, for the Condesce had scoured the galaxy for him, and she would find him. His search would be in vain as she tracked him down and caught him in her grasp. She tore the planet apart to make sure he was destroyed. As the Signless hid, waiting for the Dolorosa, he wept, for it was his fault that everyone was dying. He wept for the millions of unnamed on the planet, not knowing they were harboring a fugitive.
He wept for his beloved.
But he continued to hide, simply because she told him to. Constantly, in the back of his mind, he could hear a mother’s voice telling him to hide. He did as he was told until the Condesce was practically upon him. Then, he asked;
“Why?”
The Dolorosa answered, for she had truly been with him all along.
“You were not ready, my child.”
At this, the Signless grew angry. In him festered a rage that threatened to overpower the very hatred that fueled the legendary Red Lanterns. Only his composure kept him from lashing out and physically attacking her.
“Why would you have me hide away while everyone else suffered?”
“Were you not the true Sufferer here? Knowing that you could not do anything to help?”
“I could have. If you had only let me-”
“I never held you back. You could have easily defied me. Do you now understand your folly? Do you now understand true compassion?”
At this, the Signless broke. He fell to his knees before her, only able to offer one statement.
“I don’t want anyone else to die.”
When she heard his words, the Dolorosa smiled.
“Now that you have experienced such things, are you ready to make a difference?”
She held out her hand. Within her palm glowed an indigo band.
~~~
“And that’s how the Indigo Lanterns came to be!” Jade interjected.
“To be brief, the Signless became the first Indigo Lantern once the gift was given to him by our leader, the mother of all, Dolorosa.” Kanaya offered.
“And so, what, we’re automatically fucking Lanterns because, hey, we just so fucking happen to share the same shitty blood color?” Karkat snarled.
“You two share a lot with the Signless. Blood color is the least of this.” Porrim placed a hand on either’s shoulder. “The Indigo Lanterns have the possibility to turn the tide in this brutal war, but there are no others. You two are, in a sense, our only hopes.”
“Okay.” Kankri said.
“What? Just ‘okay’, just like that? You’re seriously buying into this shitheap? Where the fuck did these guys even get this information, anyway? Sounds like a shitty bedtime story to me.”
“Karkat, shut the fuck up.” Jade sighed. “That story is a hundred percent fact.”
“It’s a hundred percent hoofbeastshit. No, more like a thousand percent. No fucking thank you. I don’t make it a habit to take stuff from space witches.”
“Regardless of your decision, Karkat, I believe that this is an opportunity that would be best to take into mind,” Kankri said, but Karkat was having none of that.
“I don’t fucking care, I-” Jade had floated forward and was now covering Karkat’s mouth with her hand.
“You really need to shut up.”
Karkat flushed red, pushing Jade away. He tried to sputter out an insult, but nothing came to him.
“He’s just afraid of messing things up, I think,” Kanaya said. Kankri nodded his affirmation.
“I’m not! Just, just fuck off, okay?”
“Karkat…” Jade said gently, “I understand if you’re scared, but you’ve gotta look past that, okay? People need you-”
“What have people ever done for me?”
“We’re never going to get through to you, are we?” Jade sighed. “You’re really fucking impossible, you know that?” She held both of her hands up beside her, as if to shrug and say “what can you do?”, but then smiled. With a bright flash of light, two objects appeared above her palms, glowing gently a rich indigo.
“I’m sure I can change your mind. Take the rings. How would you like to become Indigo Lanterns?”