Chapter Text
Karkat can't believe it. They won the game.
They did it. Everyone is alive (well, everyone that fought during the final fight), and the enemies are defeated. All that waits for them now is the new universe. Karkat looks around at everyone, at all the players that finally made this happen. There's tears that are shared and joyous cheers that cut through the noiseless blank space the platform hovers in. There's an overwhelming sense of happiness and Karkat can’t help but smile. He's never been any good at managing his expression, anyway.
Unlike a certain Strider. Karkat glances over at his matesprit- no, boyfriend, and sees the barely-contained grin on Dave’s face. Good. He deserves to be happy after all the bullshit that got thrown his way. Dave meets his gaze and Karkat quickly looks somewhere else to try to hide the fact that he was just staring at him. However, the feeling of a hand around his brings his gaze back to his boyfriend, and they share a smile. Both of them know they would have all the time in the universe to learn and grow with each other, and neither can wait.
Suddenly John calls out to the rest of the group. Karkat’s attention turns to the proper leader (since he knows no one else considers him to be a leader), and the noise grows quiet. John stands in the middle of the group, his hands on his hips and his usual goofy grin on his face. Once he knows he has everyone’s attention, he pumps his fist and tells them that he's going to open the door. The cheers come back as John turns and approaches it. Karkat is tempted to join in, but he glances back over at Dave first.
The sight that greets him is a far cry from the smile they shared a second ago. Dave’s face is pale, his eyes wide under his shades, and his mouth is agape. Karkat frowns and tugs on his sleeve only to shout in surprise as his boyfriend suddenly launches himself at him. They stumble backwards, human and troll clutching each other, one frantic and one shocked. Before Karkat can ask what the hell was going on, a loud crack splits the air. The following silence is near deafening.
Ever so slowly, Dave peels himself away. The two lock eyes and Karkat slowly reaches out to pap Dave’s cheek. He's still pale but now slightly clammy with sweat, and the only response he gives to the troll’s questions is to mumble something about time being wrong. Around them, the group murmurs to each other and pulls out weapons. John quickly puts distance between himself and the door, if it can even be called that now.
The area where it used to be is now a pitch black hole in the shape of the door. It looks out of place, like it's something drawn, but it feels like so much more. It feels endless and far more empty than the void. Of course, Karkat can’t know that for sure considering he isn’t a void player, but he's learned to trust his instincts over the course of his life. He stares at it until his head starts to spin. It's barely been a few seconds, but he knows enough to look away and focus on something else for the time being. Beside him, Dave mentions that the hole has some weird effect on time. Jade adds by saying it's the same with space. However, she elaborates. She says that beyond any door, there’s space behind it. She could sense it with the door that was there before, albeit the space there was condensed and stretched so the group could travel to the new universe. This new hole is different. There's no space beyond it, and Dave mumbles to say that there isn’t time either.
However, Karkat doesn’t focus on what they're saying. Instead, he focuses on the large white letters that are now floating in the void above the platform. They first appeared to congratulate the group, back when everyone stumbled onto the platform beaten and bloody but alive. Now they say something different. One by one, everyone on the platform notices his gaze and looks up to see the message too. The words are no longer comforting. Now they send a chill down Karkat’s spine.
ADD-ON ACCEPTED!
BOOTING POST-SBURB GAME
PLEASE WAIT...
Karkat stands perfectly still as he stares at it in disbelief. Around him he can hear gasps and angry shouts, but he's surprisingly calm. He really should’ve known this would happen. He's stupid for finally letting his guard down and believing he could be done with the game. Nothing good is ever going to happen to him, not as long as paradox space has some way of making his life worse. Dave squeezes his hand but Karkat doesn’t respond. He only watches the letters type themselves and feels the pit in his stomach deepen with each line.
RETRIEVING SBURB DATA
RETRIEVING SGRUB DATA
RETRIEVING ADDITIONAL PLAYERS
RETRIEVING LEVELS FROM PLAYER MINDSCAPES
CONSTRUCTING LEVELS
CONSTRUCTING NPCS
CONSTRUCTING TIERED SYSTEM
CONSTRUCTING ENEMIES
TESTING COMBAT AND SUPPORT SYSTEMS
TESTING NPC AND PLAYER RELATIONSHIPS
TESTING NPC AWARENESS AND COOPERATION
TESTING TIER MOVEMENT AND COMMUNICATION
INITIALIZING CORRUPTION SEQUENCE 38
Hah. A corruption sequence. It isn’t surprising, not after all the hiccups during Sgrub. Something always has to go wrong.
START UP COMPLETE!
Karkat feels Dave step backwards, so he absentmindedly rests his hand on his boyfriend’s back to stabilize him. Except he doesn’t feel anything. Karkat glances over with worry that Dave already fell, only to find that Dave isn’t there anymore. The rest of the group isn’t there either, and the platform is also gone. Instead it seems to be replaced by the same noiseless blank space the platform used to be in. Except, as Karkat looks around, he quickly realizes that the space around him is something else entirely. If Jade was right, he can't even call it space. It's that same spaceless and timeless not-void in the hole that replaced the door. Is he inside of it, or did the hole take over everything? Karkat finds that he can’t really care; he's already resigned to whatever fate this new game has in store for him. He only stares numbly ahead as the same white letters appear again.
WELCOME [KARKAT VANTAS] , [KNIGHT OF BLOOD] !
YOUR STARTING TIER IS:
[ETERNUS]
YOUR SUPPORTING TIER IS:
[ERROR 403: ACCESS DENIED]
GOOD LUCK!
He doesn’t know what else he expected.