Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

(Before we start I would like to say this is an original idea I came up with I have not copied off of anyone, I do have this exact same story written on my Quotev account @ coolestkid that is me I just also wanted to post it on here to get more feedback on the story, I hope you enjoy thanks!)

"What movie do you wanna watch" Dave Strider said, sitting down in front of a bookcase full of different types of movies.

"I don't know! Why are you making me pick?!" Snapped Karkat, who was sitting on the couch across the room, "because why the hell not?" Dave said with a smirk
"I'll make it easier. Pick a number." Dave turned to look at Karkat, who was thinking.
"Uhh... fifty-three."
Dave turned back to the movie case and counted until he reached the fifty-third movie. "Alright, and tonight we are watching... Split" He paused for a moment, inspecting the movie cover. "Hmm, looks cool," Dave muttered as he stood up and put it in the DVD player.
"What's it about?" Karkat questioned.
Dave looked at the back of the case. "Its about these three girls getting abducted by this dude named Kevin who has twenty-three personalities and is struggling to control all of them," Dave replied. "It's a thriller." He turned off the lights and sat beside Karkat, putting his arm around the small troll's shoulder.
"Sounds interesting," Karkat replied, leaning into Dave.
The movie started off with these three teenage girls who were all friends and were hanging out at the mall. After they were finished, they went to their car and got in. They were about to drive away, when a creepy bald dude got into the passengers seat. The girls were confused and asked the dude to fuck off, but he turned to the girl in the drivers seat stared creepily at her, then sprayed her with this mist that made her pass out. He then locked the doors and sprayed the girls in the back. The screen shows a brief shot of creepy dudes face then cuts to the girls waking up in a room that looks like its underground, and of course the door is locked.Two of the girls start screaming and banging on the door. The third girl makes them stop and seems to be the only calm person there. That's when you know she's the main character and is probably the only person making it out alive. Suddenly, there are creepy ass foot steps from the other side of the door. All the girls back away from the door, looking around desperately for a weapon to defend themselves with. Then the door slowly opens and the creepy bald dude is there, but he is wearing women's clothing and is holding a tray of food. All of the girls are terrified, yadda yadda yadda, this personality is harmless and just gives them food.
Each day the guy comes in as a different "person". One of the personalities takes one of the girls that isn't the main character, and then she never shows back up. They will later learn that she got killed. After twenty-three days living there, the guy comes into the room. But this time he stays and explains to the two remaining girls that he is the original and that he is here to help the girls escape. As they are escaping, he casually mentions a twenty-fourth personality that he has. The girls don't think much of it until suddenly bald dude disappears. The two girls do the stupid thing and look for him. When they find him, he is shirtless and all muscly. He has his back turned to them. The last girl who is not the main character goes over to him and taps him on the shoulder. Bad idea. He grabs her and kills her. The main girl flips out and runs away but bald dude catches up. A lot of blood shed, running, and screaming later, the main girl escapes calls for help and happy ending.
As the credits were rolling Dave checked the time it was half past one in the morning. He stretched and yawned, then looked over at Karkat, who was staring off into space. Dave leaned over and kissed Karkat's temple.
"Ready for bed?"
Karkat yawned a nodded. They both got up and got ready for bed. Karkat laid down and fell asleep almost instantly. Dave got into bed, draped his arm loosely over Karkat, and fell asleep.

It was around four in the morning when Karkat stirred in his sleep. He thought he heard foot steps. He looked around the room nervously, but there was nothing. He closed his eyes, about to go back to sleep, when he heard it again. Foot steps. He tried to ignore it.

I'm probably just hearing things, he thought.
But then suddenly he heard the door creak. He opened his eyes and looked towards the door. Karkat tensed up. He could see someone standing in the doorway, and it looked like they were holding a knife! He squinted to try and see who the person was. It almost looked like... Dave?!
No, that's impossible! He thought. Dave is right be side me.
Karkat squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe he was dreaming. When he opened them again, the person was gone. But Karkat felt really uneasy. He sat up and turned to Dave, who was still asleep.
"Dave? Dave?" Karkat called quietly, gently shaking Dave to wake him up.
"Hmm? Wha is it KitKat?" He mumbled sleepily.
"I think I saw someone standing in the doorway...." Karkat whispered nervously
"You could have been dreaming..."
Reluctantly, Dave got up and went out into the hallway and looked around, then crawled back into bed.
"There's nothing there. Don't worry."
Karkat glanced back at the door. "Okay... if you say so..."
Dave laid down and put his arms out. "Come here."
Karkat went over to Dave and laid down, cuddling up to him.
"Don't worry," Dave murmured. "You're safe. There's no one here. And if there was, I would kick their ass into next year."
Karkat laughed quietly. He was starting to feel sleepy again. The pair slowly fell asleep again, with Karkat purring quietly.

Chapter Text

A few weeks went by, and Karkat still  had those stupid creepy dreams. But he didn't bother waking Dave up when he had them. He just tried to ignore them and go back to sleep. He hated that stupid movie for making him have stupid dreams.

Karkat was sitting in the living room by himself watching TV, scrolling through the guide hoping to find something entertaining to watch. He couldn't find anything so he just put it on a random channel that had a shitty cartoon on. It didn't make much sense. He watched it for a bit trying to make sense of what the hell was going on, when suddenly he felt hands grab his shoulders.
He yelped in surprise. "Holy fuck!" Karkat turned around to see Dave standing behind the couch.
"Oh my god that was hilarious," Dave laughed.
"Fuck you! You scared the shit out of me!" Karkat growled.
"I know. That was the point," Dave replied with a smirk.
"Fuck you!" Karkat said again, turning away from Dave.
"Hey, don't be like that," Dave said, going around the couch and sitting beside Karkat.
Karkat huffed and crossed his arms.
"Come on Karkles." Dave said ran his hand through Karkat's hair. Karkat started to purr quietly, and Dave smiled.
"You're so mean. You know that, right?" Karkat muttered, still purring.
"Yeah I know but you still love me," Dave replied kissing Karkat's cheek.
"Yeah you're right about that." Karkat leaned over and gave Dave a proper kiss. When they pulled away, Karkat leaned on Dave's shoulder.
"What are you watching?" Dave asked, looking at the TV.
Karkat looked back at the TV. "I have no fucking clue."
Dave and Karkat watched TV for awhile, until Dave had an idea.

"So were are we going again?" Karkat asked as he was putting on his shoes.

"A farmers market," Dave replied grabbing his phone.
"What the hell is a farmers market?"
"It's a event where a crap ton of people all gather in one space and put up booths and try to sell you things that are really overpriced, but you by stuff anyway because it's cool." Dave opened the door.
"Sounds interesting," Karkat replied as he walked outside.
"Hopefully it should be," Dave said as he closed the door and locked it. He then grabbed Karkat's hand and they began to walk to the farmers market.
When they got there they walked around, looking at all the different stalls. Dave stopped at one that looked interesting. They were selling squishy things that looked like different types of food. While Dave was looking, something else caught Karkat's eye. There was a booth across from the one they were at, and it had a bunch of kids toys. But there was also something that definitely didn't belong there.
"Uhh... Dave?" Karkat tugged on Dave's sleeve, trying to get his attention.
"What? What's wrong?" Dave asked, seeing the look of terror on Karkat's face.
"Why the absolute fuck is there a bucket over at the booth selling toys for kids?!?" Karkat pointed over at the booth.
Dave tuned and looked to were Karkat was pointing and burst out laughing.
"Dave why are you laughing this isn't funny! It's disgusting!"
Dave continued laughing, but he managed to calm himself down. "Okay, how can I say this so you'll understand? So... humans don't use buckets for the same thing trolls, you know? Well... when kids go to the beach and stuff they bring buckets with them to fill with water and sand to make sand castles...."
Karkat stared at Dave blankly for a few seconds. "That is fucked up! What the hell?! Why would human lususes give their kid a bucket to make things with?! That's just weird!"
"Yeah, but for humans its just something you do. You go to the beach with your bucket and build things. If it'll make you feel better, just pretend you never saw the bucket and let's keep moving," Dave said as he took his phone out and checked the time.
"...okay then, let's keep going," Karkat agreed.
Dave put his phone back in his pocket. As they were leaving, someone bumped into Dave, almost knocking him over. The person kept walking and didn't even acknowledge he bumped into Dave.
"Watch were your going asshole!" Dave called after him, but the person had already disappeared in the crowd of people. "Seriously, some people..." He shook his head.
"People can be idiots sometimes," Karkat said as they began walking around again.
"Agreed," Dave said, grabbing Karkat's hand. Dave and Karkat walked around for awhile longer and then decided to call it a day and went home.
When Dave and Karkat got home they made themselves supper and decided to watch a movie. It was a movie about a girl falling down a rabbit hole, eating a bunch of food that made her trip balls, and then painted flowers with giant-ass talking cards. It was weird but good. After that they cleaned up and went to bed.
It was three in the morning when Karkat woke up. But this time it wasn't because he thought heard foot steps, or saw someone standing in the doorway.
It was because he could feel something cold and sharp pressed up against his neck.

Chapter Text

Karkat froze with fear and slowly opened his eyes. There was someone standing over the side of the bed, and they had a knife pressed against his throat. He wanted to yell, but couldn't get any noise out. Karkat squinted as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He could now see who was standing there it was... Dave?!

Karkat's mind was racing. Why was Dave holding a knife to his throat?! This didn't make sense! Karkat then felt a slight shift beside him. He glanced over, away from his attacker, and saw Dave again. But he was lying down, fast asleep. He was very confused and scared. The knife positioned at his neck felt all too real.
This can't be real! This has to be a dream, he thought to him self.
Suddenly then knife was pushed a little harder. The sudden pressure behind the sharp blade made Karkat gasp quietly.
Dave looked down and smirked. "Well, look who's awake," he said quietly.
Karkat didn't say anything. He couldn't. His voice wouldn't work. He was terrified. He just lied there, staring wide eyed at Dave.
"Don't worry," his voice was a cold and angry tone Karkat had never heard from him before. "You won't be awake for much longer... " He smiled and chuckled, as if he made a joke.
Karkat started to tremble. He didn't know what to do. Dave moved the knife away from Karkat's neck. Karkat didn't move. He felt paralyzed. Dave lifted the knife above him and brought it down, aiming right at Karkat's chest. Karkat finally found his voice and screamed, squeezing his eyes shut, waiting to feel the sharp pain run through his chest...
But it never came. The only thing he felt was Dave jumping and sitting up in surprise beside him.
"What's going on?!" Dave said, rubbing his eyes.
Karkat sat up and looked around the room, expecting to see another Dave standing there.
"Karkat what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Dave sounded worried.
Karkat reached up and touched his face. He hadn't even realized he was crying. "I... I had a bad dream it... It was nothing... Sorry for waking you up..."
Dave wiped away Karkat's tears "It didn't sound like nothing. What were you dreaming about?"
Karkat hesitated. "Well... remember that stupid dream I had about a person standing in the doorway?" He nervously glanced at the door as he spoke.
"You mean the one you had a few weeks ago?" Dave questioned.
"Yeah.. Well I kept having that dream. I didn't mention it because I didn't want to keep waking you up, so I just tried to ignore it but... But this time, the person was standing there holding a knife to my neck... Like they were trying to kill me and I was terrified... " He trailed off, still staring at the door.
Dave reached over and hugged Karkat, who leaned in immediately and buried his face in Dave's chest.
"Karkat, can I ask who was the person you saw in your dream?" Dave asked softly.
Karkat looked up at Dave. "Well... Umm..." He wasn't sure if he should tell Dave.
"You don't have to if you don't want to. I was just curious," Dave said reassuringly as he moved a strand of hair out of Karkat's face.
"The person was..." He sighed heavily. "It was you." He had to look away. He didn't want to see Dave's reaction.
"What?" Dave said, looking surprised.
"It was weird," Karkat muttered, "because you were sleeping beside me, but you were also the one holding the knife... I probably sound like an idiot. I'm sorry..."
Dave started playing with Karkat's hair. "It's alright. You don't have to apologize. Dreams can be weird and stupid sometimes. I promise nothing like that would ever happen in real life. I would never ever hurt you."
Karkat started purring softly as Dave calmed him down. They lied there for a while.
"I love you Dave." Karkat said, breaking the silence.
Dave smiled. "I love you too Karkat." He leaned down and gently kissed Karkat. Karkat smiled and rested his head on Dave's chest. The two stayed like that and slowly fell asleep.
That was the last night Karkat had a nightmare like that.
But that wasn't the end of it.
This was only the beginning of madness.

Chapter Text

        "Hey babe, have you seen my phone anywhere?" Dave asked Karkat as he looked around the room for his phone.
"Uh... no I haven't. Where did you have it last?" Karkat put the book he was reading down.
Dave thought for a moment "I believe it was yesterday, at the farmers market."
"What if you left it there?" Karkat suggested.
"Oh shit! I could have! I've looked all over the house and it's nowhere... maybe I'll walk back over there and check to see if someone found it," Dave said, starting to put his shoes on. "Do you want to come with me?"
"No, I think I'm just going to stay here." Karkat walked over to Dave.
"Alright, I'll see you in a bit then," Dave said, hugging Karkat and kissing his forehead.
"See you in a bit." Karkat smiled and closed the door as Dave left, then went back to reading his book.

An hour and a half later, Karkat was lounging around not doing much, when his phone started ringing. He checked the call display. It was Dave. Karkat answered the phone.
"So I take it you managed to find your phone?"
"Yeah, I did..." Dave's voice answered from the other end.
"So are you on your way home now?" Karkat questioned.
"No, I'm not coming back." Dave replied.
"What do you mean?" Karkat asked worriedly.
"I mean I'm not coming back to the house. Ever. I don't want to see you anymore," he said harshly.
"Wh-what..." Karkat stuttered.
"I don't know why... I guess I thought I could convince my self to actually like you. But I've realized that your not worth it. I don't think I could ever love you."
Tears starting running down Karkat's face "I-I don't u-understand..."
"Let me make this simple for you. I regret wasting my time on you, you worthless peace of shit." Dave hung up the phone.
Karkat slowly lowered the phone, staring at the screen. He threw the phone to the ground and curled up, sobs wrracking through his body. He felt like he was in physical pain and he tried to calm himself down, but the tears kept coming. He was crying so much he didn't even hear the door open.
"Karkat I'm ba-" Dave walked into the room and saw Karkat curled up, crying. "Karkat, what's wrong?!" He immidiately went to Karkat.
"W-why are you here?" Karkat sobbed, moving away from Dave.
"What do you mean?" Dave asked, sounding confused.
"You know exactly what I mean!"
"Karkat, your making no sense."
"What the fuck do you want Strider?! I thought you said you weren't coming back!"
"When did I say that?!" Dave said in surprise.
"Are you fucking joking?! This isn't funny!" Karkat was clearly getting angry.
"Karkat, just calm down okay. I seriously don't remember saying that." Dave reached over to place a hand on Karkat's shoulder, but karkat pushed Dave's hand away.
"Yeah right! Let me guess, you don't remember saying that other too, right?!"
"What other stuff...?" Dave was very confused. He didn't remember saying anything.
"You said I wasn't worth it! You said you regret wasting your time on me!" Karkat's anger faded, and he started to cry again. "You sa... said I... I was wor... worthless." The tears kept flowing.
"Karkat, I would never ever say any of that! I promise you I didn't say any of it!" Dave protested.
"W-well you... you phoned me from your phone and you d-did," Karkat sniffed.
"Wait, you got a call from my phone?!" Dave exclaimed.
"Ye...yeah... Why are you so surprised? You... you're the one that phoned me."
"Karkat, I didn't phone you."
"Yes you did. It sounded exactly like you. I'm not an idiot, Dave!"
"Karkat, I know I didn't phone you because I couldn't find my phone," Dave said calmly.
"What?" Karkat was surprised.
"I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find it so I came home."
"But... it s-sounded exactly like you..." Karkat mumbled.
"Karkat, I swear I would never say any of those things. You are not worthless and are not a waste of time. You are an amazing person, and I would spend everyday with you. That wasn't me, you have to believe me."
Karkat hesitated. "I... I believe you I'm sorry..." He bowed his head,
"It's alright. Someone probably found it and decided to mess around. It's not your fault," Dave said, lifting karkats chin so he was looking at him.
"Okay..."
Dave moved closer, and Karkat didn't move away this time,
"I love you so much," Dave said softly, hugging Karkat
"... I love you too." Karkat hugged Dave back almost hesitantly.

Chapter Text

        Karkat's phone was ringing for the millionth time. It had been happening for a few days, and Karkat was getting sick and tired of this person bugging him. He grabbed his phone and answered it.

"Fuck off you annoying peace of shit!!" Karkat yelled into the phone. He ended the call, but a few seconds later the phone rang again.

Karkat sighed in frustration, shut his phone down and threw it into a random drawer. He flopped on the couch.

"I heard yelling. Are you still getting calls?"

Karkat turned and saw Dave standing in the doorway.

"Yeah. I swear I'm gonna snap my goddamn phone in half," Karkat said, grabbing a pillow and shoving his face into it.

Dave walked over and sat down beside Karkat. "That might be a bit hard to do." He pulled the pillow away from Karkat's face.

"Yeah I guess you're right," Karkat sighed, leaning his head agents Dave's shoulder. "But I sure as hell could try."

"You definitely could," Dave laughed.

"Seriously, it's so fucking annoying! I wish who ever that was would just stop already!"

"I know it's annoying. Hopefully who ever it is will get bored and give up." Dave put an arm around Karkat.

"Yeah..."

"Why don't we go do something to get your mind off the stupid phone?" Dave suggested.

"Sure, why the hell not? What have you got in mind?"

Dave thought for a moment. "We could go to the library and get this exchanged?" Dave picked up the book Karkat had been reading.

"Good idea I'm finished that one." Karkat said, getting up and hitting Dave with the pillow.

"I've been known to have those every now and then," Dave replied, grabbing the pillow from Karkat and hitting him back. He then tossed the pillow back onto the couch.

The two of them got ready and headed to the library.

Ten minutes later, Karkat and Dave were at the library. Karkat went and returned his book, while Dave wandered over to the comic books. After Karkat returned the book, he walked over to a section of books and looked for something new to read. He looked around for a bit, but couldn't find anything good, so he went to the next aisle and looked around until he eventually found a something that looked interesting. He was about to go find Dave, when suddenly he was shoved hard from behind. Karkat fell to the ground. He quickly looked behind him and caught a glimse of someone turning the corner. He quickly got up and went after the person, but has he was turning the corner he ran right into Dave.

"Oh, hey did you find a book?" Dave asked.

"Yeah," Karkat said looking past Dave, trying to see if anyone was there. But they were alone.

"What's wrong? You seem confused."

"Someone pushed me. Did anyone walk by you?"

"Uh... no were the only ones here at the moment."

"Well then who the hell pushed me?"

"Maybe you tripped?" Dave suggested.

"Dave, I was standing still," Karkat said, crossing his arms in annoyance.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you. Maybe it was a ghost?" Dave joked. "Are you okay?" He asked, hugging Karkat.

"Yeah, I'll live. Let's go." Karkat hugged Dave back. They walked towards the desk so Karkat could take out the book, then the two left the library and went home.

Chapter Text

    I walk away from the comic books and go to find Karkat. I look around the corner and see Karkat standing there. He's looking at a book. I quietly walked over to him and shoved him then quickly walked away from him, hoping he didn't see me. Karkat came after me right away, but I wasn't worried, and he had no clue. The look of confusion on his face was hilarious. He had no idea that I was the one that pushed him.

Chapter Text

        On the way home from the library, Dave and Karkat stopped at the store because they were running low on stuff. They walked into the store and Karkat went and grabbed a cart. They went down each aisle, putting the stuff they needed in the cart.
"Hey Karkat, I'll be right back" Dave said looking, at a different aisle.
"Alright," Karkat replied, continuing down the aisle.
A few moments later, Dave was back with a huge jug of apple juice.
"Holy fucking shit! Are you sure that's not too much?" Karkat laughed as Dave placed it in the cart.
"Actually, it's probably not enough" Dave joked.
Karkat rolled his eyes. The two of them finished shopping and went home. When they got there, they unpacked everything, made some supper, then went to bed.

The next morning, Karkat woke up really early. The sun hadn't fully risen yet. Carefully, trying not to wake Dave, Karkat got out of bed and crept downstairs, going to the back door. He put on on his shoes and a sweater, then went out into the back yard. He walked over to the shed and took out a ladder that was stored in it. He brought the ladder over to the house and placed it down and began to climb up he got to the top and carefully climbed on to the roof, sitting at the top. It was quiet.
Karkat sat there for a bit, when he heard a small noise from behind him. He turned and saw Dave coming up.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" Karkat asked as Dave sat down beside him.
"No, you didn't. Don't worry." Dave smiled.
Karkat noticed Dave hadn't bothered putting his glasses on. He loved it when Dave didn't wear them, so he could see his eyes. Karkat smiled and leaned his head agents Dave's shoulder. Dave reached for Karkat's hand and laced their fingers together.
The two sat there in silence watching the sun rise. After a few minutes, Dave moved away. Karkat looked at him questioningly.
"I'll be right back. I'm going to grab a sweater." Dave told him, moving toward the ladder.
"Okay," Karkat said looking back at the sky. He listened as Dave went down the ladder and into the house. Then it was very quiet again. Karkat waited for a bit, but noticed Dave was taking awhile. He was about to get up and go see what was taking so long, when he felt a stab of pain in his back like someone had kicked him and he went tumbling forwards, yelling out. He went off the side of the roof and crashed to the ground. He landed on his back, and he felt like he couldn't move. His vision was wavering. He looked up at the roof, and he could have sworn he saw Dave looking down at him with his glasses back on and... smiling?
"Dave..." Karkat mumbled. But his vision was already going black at the edges. As the pressure built inside his head, he gave in to the looming darkness and passed out.

Chapter Text

        I quickly climb down the ladder and go inside. I wait there for a while, then go back outside. I quietly climb the ladder and slowly go over to Karkat, who has his back turned to me. I get closer. He hasn't even noticed me. I'm close enough now. I brace my self so I don't fall, and I kick him in the back. Hard. He goes tumbling forward. I wait until I hear him hit the ground, and I look over the edge. I make sure he can see me I smile. His eyes keep fluttering open and closed, then finally they shut. I go back to the ladder, smiling, and climb down. This is too much fun. I smirk, laughing to my self. Hopefully I didn't hurt him too badly. I don't want to kill him.

At least...

not yet.

Chapter Text

        "Karkat...?"
Karkat groaned. His head hurt like hell.
"Karkat!"
Karkat slowly opened his eyes. He saw Dave running over to him.
"Karkat what the hell happened?!" Dave asked frantically, crouching down beside him.
Karkat tried to sit up, but moving hurt so he just layed there. "I fell..." he mumbled.
"Are you okay?! Can you move?!"
Karkat moved slightly, wincing. He remembered seeing Dave before he passed out. Hadn't he been on the roof, wearing his glasses and smiling? But Daves glasses were still off, and his red eyes shone full concern.
"Yeah... it just really hurts... fuck!" Karkat yelped in pain as he finally forced himself to sit up.
"Carful!" Dave said anxiously. "We should probably get you inside."
"Okay..."
Dave helped Karkat up, but Karkat still felt lightheaded and swayed. Dave supported him so he wouldn't fall and helped him into the house. He took Karkat to their room and set him on the bed, leaning against the wall, then sat beside him.
"How did you fall?" Dave asked, still sounding a bit worried.
"I don't even know... I was just sitting there and I felt something hit my back, and next thing I knew... I was on the ground." Karkat replied quietly.
"You felt something hit your back?" Dave repeated, confused.
"Yeah... right here." Karkat touched his back were he remembed feeling it and winced. "It still hurts..."
Dave thought for a moment. "Can I see if there's a mark there or something?"
Karkat pulled up his shirt a bit and Dave looked to where Karkat was pointing.
"Whoa..." Dave muttered, his eyes widening in shock.
"What is it?" Karkat asked,
"There's a massive bruise..." Dave said, lightly brushing his finger over it.
"Ow!" Karkat gasped.
"Sorry!" Dave yelped, pulling Karkat's shirt back down.
"Its ok...I wonder were the fuck the bruise came from..." Karkat wondered.
"I have no idea. It's odd..."
They sat there for a bit and Karkat thought for a moment.
"Hey Dave?" Karkat asked.
"Yeah?" Dave replied.
"What was taking you so long to come back? And... how did you know were I fell?"
Dave looked a bit confused by the questions. "Well, it took me so long because I couldn't find my sweater anywhere. It, like, disappeared off the face of the earth and I still don't know where the hell it is!" He sounded annoyed by that. "So I went back outside and I climbed up the ladder and noticed you weren't sitting there anymore, so I went and checked inside to see if you came in. But I couldn't find you anywhere, so I looked out side and found you on the ground," Dave finished.
"Oh... okay..." Karkat belived Dave, but he still couldn't get the image out of his head. Suddenly, his head throbed painfully. "My head hurts..."
Dave leaned over and softly kissed Karkat's forehead. "Maybe you might feel better if you get some rest?" He suggested.
Karkat was about to protest, but decided against it. He was feeling a bit sleepy. "I think mabye I will..." He yawned and moved so he was laying down. His head hurt less like that. His eyes were starting to feel heavy. He moved closer to Dave, who started gently playing with Karkats hair, being carful not to put pressure on his head. Karkat slowly fell asleep.

~

Karkat didn't know how long he had slept for, but when he woke Dave wasn't there. He sat up and his head throbbed, but it didn't hurt as much as earlier. He closed his eyes again, waiting for the the throbbing to go away. Eventually, then pain faded. He got out of bed and stood up. He walked over to the door and stumbled a bit, but regained his balence and carefully made his way downstairs. He walked into the living room and noticed Dave sitting on the couch drawing something. There was music playing quietly from the radio.
Dave looked up from his drawing as Karkat entered the room. "Morning sleepy head. How are you feeling?"
Karkat sat beside him. "Like shit," he muttered, still trying to wake up.
"Are you going to be ok?" Dave asked.
"I'll live..." Karkat replied, leaning against Dave's shoulder.
"You'd better Dave said, putting an arm around Karkat.

The two sat there in silence for a bit, music still playing in the backround. The next song to come up was a slower song. Dave moved away from Karkat and stood up, extending his hand to Karkat, who looked up at Dave, confused.
"Dance with me?" Dave asked, smiling softly.
Karkat smiled back, grabbing Dave's hand and standing up. They moved away from the couch. Dave pulled Karkat close and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy. Karkat's hands rested on Dave's hips and he leaned his head against Dave's chest. They swayed slowly. Everything was calm and peaceful.
"I love you, Dave," Karkat said softly.
"I love you too, Karkat," Dave replied quietly.
The two boys stayed there, even after the song was finished, enjoying being close to each other and both of them feeling happy.

Chapter Text

        The next day, Dave went over to John's house. Karkat decided to stay home to rest a bit more because he still had random throbs of pain in his head. He slept for a while, then got up in search of something to do. He eventually decided he would read his book, but half way through the first chapter his head started to hurt so he stopped.

Karkat was very bored. He couldn't find anything to do. He got up, sighing. He hadn't been on his phone in a while. Maybe he could check to see if the person had stopped calling him. He walked over to the drawer he had thrown it in and took it out. He pressed the on button but nothing happened. The phone had died.

"Dammit..." Karkat muttered to himself, heading upstairs in search of a charger. He managed to find one in his and Dave's room. He plugged in the phone and waited a few minutes until eventually the screen lit up. Karkat unlocked his phone and saw he had over 50 calls from Dave's phone. As he scrolled through all of them he noticed the last time his phone was called was yesterday morning. Karkat sighed. This was crazy.

"Maybe I should block the number?" He said himself. He was about to do so, when his phone glitched. He was now calling the idiot who was bugging him. Karkat was about to hang up, when he heard a faint ringing coming from the closet. He hit the end button and the ringing stopped. Curious, he stood up and pressed the call button again and he could hear the faint ringing again. He slowly walked towards the closet and opened the door. The ringing was a bit louder now. Karkat looked around the closet but couldn't find where the ringing was coming from. He looked up. There was a shelf that was too high for him to reach. Feeling rather suspicious now, he quickly left and grabbed a chair, brought it to the closet and carefully climbed up. The ringing was now very clear. He moved some stuff out of the way and found where the ringing was coming from.

It was... Dave's sweater. The one he'd said he couldn't find anywhere. Karkat grabbed it and got down off the chair. He reached into the pocket and pulled out a phone. Dave's phone. Karkat was very confused. Why the hell was Dave's phone here?! It was stolen... wasn't it? Karkat turned it on. This was definitely Dave's phone. He was about to look through the phone when he heard Dave downstairs.

"Karkat, I'm home!"

Karkat tossed the sweater and phone on to the bed. He felt angry. Had Dave been lying to him?!

He went downstairs. Dave was in the living room. Karkat walked over to him.

"So, have you found your sweater yet?"

Dave looked confused by the question. "Um... no, I haven't. Why?"

"I found it," Karkat said, trying to keep his anger under control.

"You did? Where was it it?" Dave asked, standing up.

"I found it in the closet on the top shelf," Karkat grumbled.

"Oh, awesome! Thanks!" He paused, noticing that Karkat seemed annoyed. "...is there something wrong?"

"Guess what I found with your sweater?" Karkat asked, completely ignoring Dave's question.

"What did you find?" Dave questioned

"Take a wild fucking guess! You should probably know!" Karkat snapped.

"I seriously don't know" Dave said, getting confused.

"Seriously? Dave I found your phone!"

"My phone... how did you find my phone? It was stolen." Dave was now really confused.

"Well obviously not, because it's upstairs with your sweater!"

"I don't understand how..."

Karkat sighed in frustration. "Come here." He grabbed Dave's hand and dragged him up stairs, into the bedroom. "See, look-" Karkat stopped dead in his tracks. The sweater was gone, and the phone was as well

"Okay, where is it?" Dave asked, looking around the room.

Karkat pointed at the bed. "It was here right here!" Karkat said, moving the blankets around and looking around the bed. "What the absolute fuck?!"

Dave watched as Karkat rambled to himself, most of it swears. "Uh... Karkat, are you okay?"

"I don't even know anymore!" Karkat whined, sounding defeated as he flopped on to the bed. Dave walked over to the bed and sat down beside Karkat.

"I'm sorry for yelling, I was just annoyed..." Karkat said, sitting up.

"It's alright. So you said you found it on the top shelf and then put it on the bed?"

"Yeah. I found it up there then heard you downstairs so I tossed it onto the bed and went to talk to you..."

"I see," Dave said.

"But apparently there was nothing and I'm going insane," Karkat muttered.

"I don't know what to say Karkat. I'm just as confused as you are..." Dave paused for a moment "are you mad at me?"

"No, I'm not mad at you," Karkat said leaning against Dave's shoulder. Dave wrapped his arms around Karkat and hugged him.

Chapter Text

        A few weeks later, Karkat was feeling better. The two of them had just decided to drop what happened, since neither of them knew what to make of the situation. Karkat was in their room, sitting propped up agent a pillow, reading his book. He wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on around him, so he didn’t notice Dave enter the room. Dave walked over to Karkat and flopped on the bed, resting his head in Karkats lap.

“Karkat, I’m boooard,” Dave whined.

Karkat glanced down at Dave. “Then why don’t you do something?”

Dave poked the back of Karkats book. “There’s nothing to do.”

Karkat sighed and put his book down, but despite sounding annoyed Karkat smiled. “Okay then, what do you want to do?” he started running his fingers through Dave’s hair.

“I don’t know. That's why I decided to come and bug you,” Dave said closing his eyes slightly.

“Well then lets find something to do.”

"But I don’t want to move now. I’m comfy.”

“Aw, you poor baby,” Karkat teased, kissing Dave lightly and pulling away.

“Hey…” Dave pouted at the short kiss and grabbed the front of Karkats shirt, gently pulling him down into another kiss.

Karkat smiled and kissed Dave back, leaning down a bit more. Dave was about to sit up so he could put his arms around Karkat when there was a loud crash from downstairs. Both boys jumped, pulling away from each other.

“What the fuck was that?!” Karkat said, getting up and listening to see if there was any more noise coming from downstairs. “We should probably go check it out..."

"Yeah, probably," Dave said, getting up as well and following after Karkat, who was already out of the room.

Karkat got to the top of the stairs and was about to go down, when he felt hands on his back pushing him forward. He cried out in surprise as he went tumbling forwards, falling down the stairs and landing at the bottom a few feet away from the last step.

"Ow... fuck..." Karkat swore, feeling a throb of pain in his shoulder. He looked over at the stairs and saw Dave sprawled out half on the bottom step and half on the ground.

Dave sat up wincing "Sorry..." Dave said grabbing his glasses, which had fallen off during the fall.

Karkat had felt a little distrusting towards Dave ever since the thing with the phone happened, and he hated himself for being like that, but the question was out of his mouth before he could even think about it.

"Did you push me?" Karkat said, sounding a little annoyed.

Dave looked over at Karkat with guilty expression. "Sort of. I tripped and fell into you. I'm really sorry. Are you okay?" Dave sounded extremely worried.

Karkat felt a pang of guilt seeing how worried Dave was. He hadn't meant to sound so annoyed. His voice softened. "It's alright. It was an accident. I'm fine."

Dave got up, quickly going over to Karkat and helping him up. "Are you sure your okay? You're not just saying that are you?" Dave said, his expression still laced with worry."

"Yes Dave, I'm fine. I promise." Karkat smiled a little.

"Okay, good." Dave hugged Karkat. "Come on, let's go see what that noise from before was."

"Okay."

The two of them went into the living room, and could see right away what was wrong. One of the windows in the living room had been smashed. Dave looked around to see what could have broken it but there was nothing. Karkat carefully picked up a larger price of glass and noticed something on it.

"Uh... Dave?"

"Yeah?"

"I think some of this glass is covered in... blood...?" Karkat said, looking closer at it.

Dave looked around at some of the other glass and noise some red on other pieces as well. "Did someone punch our window or something?"

"That's what it looks like..." Karkat muttered, dropping the piece he was holding.

"Well then... I guess we should clean this up," Dave said, going to get a broom. He came back a few seconds later with two brooms, handing one to Karkat, and the two of them started cleaning up the bloodied glass.

Chapter Text

        Dave and Karkat had managed to clean up all of the glass, and temporarily fixed the window by taping plastic over it. The two of them couldn't figure out what had happened. The glass was bloody, but they couldn't figure out why. In the end, they just both agreed it was probably some idiot who decided to try and break in, but failed.
Soon after they finished cleaning up the glass, Dave got a call on the house phone. When he hung up, he looked at Karkat. "I'm going to John's for a bit."
"Okay then, see you later," Karkat said, a little disappointed.
Dave went over to Karkat and pulled him into a hug, then kissed him. "I'll be back later, " he told him, smiling and heading towards the door.
"Okay."
"Bye. I love you."
"l love you too," Karkat said, watching Dave leave. He shut the door and headed back upstairs, grabbing his book, and started to read again. He sat there for a few minutes when he heard someone coming up the stairs. Karkat sat up and put his book down curiously. He saw Dave pass the door.
Karkat got up and poked his head out the door. "Hey I thought you were going to John's?"
Dave stopped in his tracks "I forget something..." he said, turning around.
"Oh.." Karkat paused, thinking for a second. "You've been over at John's a lot lately. What are you guys doing?"
Dave frowned when Karkat said that. "What? Can't I hang out with my other friends? You know, I don't always have to be here with you! I'm allowed to do other things!" He snapped, heading back towards the stairs.
Karkat was speechless. He knew Dave didn't normally get angry like that. Especially when there was nothing to be mad about. He watched as Dave stormed downstairs, and heard the door open and slam shut. Karkat stood there for a few minutes, then slowly went and sat down on the bed. That was very odd. Karkat had never seen Dave act like that before.
A few hours later, Dave came home and was completely oblivious to how he had acted earlier. He was his normal, easygoing, calm self.

A few days later, something similar happened. Karkat was in the kitchen, doing some dishes, when Dave came up behind him and startled him. Karkat spun around in surprise and accidentally hit Dave's arm.
"Fuck! Sorry, you startled m-" Karkat got cut off by Dave.
"What the fuck was that for?!" Dave growled, shoving Karkat, who lost his balance and fell to the ground.
"Dave, what the fuck?" Karkat said, wincing.
"Holy shit. You're so over dramatic. I barely he pushed you." Dave's tone was harsh as he turned and left the kitchen.
Karkat was a little shaky as he slowly stood up. He carefully looked out of the kitchen, and Dave wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Over the next few weeks, Karkat was on edge. Dave was acting really weird. He'd have random bursts of anger, then disappear for awhile, and come back acting like it had never happened. Karkat was slowly feeling more distrust towards Dave, and as beginning to feel scared around him.
Karkat was sitting in the living room and Dave walked in.
"Hey, Karkat?" Dave asked.
"Yeah...?" Karkat answered hesitantly.
"I was going to go for a walk wanna come with?"
Karkat thought for a moment "Um... I'm good. I think I'll stay here..." Karkat braced himself, waiting for Dave to get mad, but he just shrugged.
"Okay, I'll just stay here then." Dave walked over to the couch and sat down beside Karkat, putting his arm around him.
Karkat tensed up a bit when Dave did that. He stood up. "Don't let me stop you from going on a walk. I was actually thinking about taking a nap. I'm kind of tired," Karkat lied, heading towards the stairs.
"Oh okay... I guess I'll go on a walk then. I'll see you later," Dave said, sounding a little disappointed he stood up and headed towards the door.
Karkat quickly headed. He listened from the top of the stairs and heard Dave shuffling around, and soon the door opened and closed then everything was quiet.

Chapter Text

        I slowly walk up the stairs, making sure I'm heard as I pass the room Karkat's in. A few seconds later, I hear his confused voice.

"Hey I thought you were going to John's?"

I stop in my tracks and reply to him, slowly turning around. "I forgot something."

"Oh..." I can see he's thinking about asking me something. "You've been over at John's a lot lately. What are you guys doing?"

I can tell he meant to make the question casual, but I knew he was worried. I frown "What? Can't I hang out with my other friends? You know, I don't always have to be here with you! I'm allowed to do other things!" I snap.

I can see Karkats face frozen in shock and hurt. I almost smiled as I quickly stormed downstairs, making sure to slam the door behind me.

I wanted to see how far I could take this, so a few days later, I walked up behind Karkat in the kitchen and startled him. He turned around in surprise and accidentally hit me. He was about to apologize, but I cut him off and shoved him hard. He stumbled and fell to the floor, looking scared and pissed off at the same time. "Holy shit. You're so over dramatic. I barely he pushed you," I said harshly, turning to leave and smiling to myself.

Over the next few weeks, I noticed Karkat on edge. He doesn't trust me as much anymore. I can tell he's scared. He doesn't want to piss me off. It makes me feel powerful. I wonder how long I can keep doing this until he breaks?

Chapter Text

        A week went by without Dave acting strange, and Karkat was feeling hopeful that he wouldn't have to bring up how Dave had been acting. Unfortunately, that didn't last long. Karkat had gotten lost in his book again while Dave was out for a walk. He read for quite a while, and soon the door opened. Dave walked in, closing it behind him.

Karkat looked up from his book. "Did you have a good walk?"

Dave just shrugged, not really answering, and sat down beside Karkat, who leaned his head against Dave's shoulder as he silently started to read again. Dave didn't really react. He just sat there, staying still and silent, staring off into space. Karkat thought that was kind of odd. He waited a few minutes, then put his book down.

"Is everything okay?" He questioned, sitting up a little.

Dave frowned "Yeah, why?"

Karkat shrugged. "I don't know, you seem quiet.... and you've been acting odd lately."

Dave stood up turning away from Karkat "I haven't been acting odd."

Karkat stood up as well. "Actually, you have. You've been getting pissed off and lashing out at me for no reason, then you disappear to John's house and come back acting like it never happened. It's not like you. Is there something wrong?" Karkat placed a hand on Dave's shoulder.

"No," Dave said, pulling away.

"It doesn't seem like that to me." Karkat took a step towards him.

Dave turned around and smacked Karkat across the face. "There is nothing wrong!" Anger burned in his voice, crystal clear.

Karkat stumbled back a bit in surprise and fear.

"Why can't you fucking listen!? There's nothing wrong so could you just drop it?!" Dave yelled, storming over to the door and leaving, slamming it behind him.

Karkat stood there in shock for a few moments, then slowly made his way upstairs to the washroom. He looked in the mirror, and could see a faint red mark on his cheek from where Dave had hit him. He turned around and went to their room. After a while, his phone buzzed. He pulled it out. There was a text message from John.

"Hey karkat this is Dave from Egberts phone just wanted to let you know I'll be home in about an hour and John's gonna come with me I'll see you soon <3"
Karkat read the message, but didn't respond. He was very confused. He shut his phone off grabbed a sweater, deciding to go for a walk himself. He left the house, walking in the direction opposite to where Dave had gone. He wandered around aimlessly, lost in thought, trying to figure out what to do. He walked to a park and sat down on one of the benches. For half and hour, all he did was sit there, thinking about what he should do about Dave. But nothing seemed right.

Eventually, his phone started ringing. He answered it.

"Hello?"

John's voice came cheerfully through the phone. "Hey Karkat, Dave was wondering where you went?"

Karkat sighed a little. "I went for a walk. I'm heading home now."

"Alright see you" John said, hanging up.

Karkat rolled his eyes and put his phone in his pocket, starting to make his way home.

A while later, Karkat was approaching the house. Dave and John were standing outside the door. John leaned up and gave Dave a hug. Dave hugged him back smiling and then pulled John into a kiss. Karkat stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide, feeling a million things at once. None of them were good feelings.

Chapter Text

        Karkat was blocked by a tree, so Dave and John couldn’t see him. But he could see them clearly. He stood there, staring, as the two kissed for a while. Eventually, John pulled away and left, heading down the street. Karkat felt frozen on the spot as he watched Dave turn and go inside. Anger slowly flared up in Karkat's chest as he quickly made his way over to the house he opened the door, heading inside. Dave wasn’t in the living room or in the kitchen. Karkat stormed upstairs and went to their room and Dave was sitting on the bed with headphones on, drawing in his note book. How had he gotten upstairs so fast? It didn't matter.

Dave looked up from his drawing when Karkat entered the room and smiled. “Hey Karkat,” he said taking his headphones off.

Karkat was trying to stay calm. “So, did you have fun with John?” His voice came out strained as he tried not to start yelling.

Dave shrugged. “I guess so he didn’t really stay for that long."

“Oh really?” Karkat said through gritted teeth.

“Um yeah… are you okay Karkat?” Dave asked, noticing Karkat seemed upset.

Karkat shook his head and just snapped. “Fuck you! Just... fuck you!!”

“What did I do?"

"Dave, I saw you and John!” Karkat shouted, his anger boiling inside him.

Dave just gave a confused look. “Karkat what are you talking about?” He got up and stepped towards Karkat.

“Stop! Just stop it! You are not getting out of this by playing dumb! I fucking saw you kiss him!!” Karkat growled.

Dave still looked very confused “Karkat, I didn-“

Karkat didn’t let Dave finish. “Shut up! I saw you kiss him! There’s no way you can say that it wasn’t you, because I saw it! Is this why you’ve been lashing out and hitting me?! Because you were cheating on me with fucking John?! That’s low Strider! Why didn’t you just fucking tell me you don’t want to be together anymore?!” Karkat fumed, tearing up.

Dave shook his head “Hit you? Karkat I’ve never hit you, or lashed out at you… and I didn’t kiss John! I’m not cheating on you with him either!”

Tears started running down Karkat's face. “Stop lying to me!” Dave went forward and tried to wipe away Karkat's tears, but Karkat jerked away. “Don’t fucking touch me... just get out.” Karkat sobbed, moving away from Dave.

“Karkat, please! I didn’t… I-I’d never… I love you!” Dave said, about to move over to Karkat again.

Karkat backed away, clenching his fingers into fists. “Stop it! Stop messing with my head!” He growled in frustration, tears running down his face. “I hate you!”

Dave stepped back, looking hurt. “Karkat…” Dave sounded like he was about to cry, but Karkat didn’t care by this point.

“I said the get hell out!!” Karkat screamed, his voice cracking from crying.

“Alright then… if that's what you want... I'll go...” Dave said softly, turning and leaving the room. He stopped at the door and turned back. "I love you...." His voice cracked slightly. Then, he left, heading out into the hallway.

Karkat didn't respond. He stood there, silently trembling, tears running down his face. He listened and heard Dave slowly walk down stairs. He heard the door open and close, and then silence. All the anger had drained away and all Karkat felt was pain. He fell to the floor, sobbing.

Chapter Text

        Karkat spent the rest of the night trying to calm down. He eventually found enough willpower to move from the floor to the bed, and eventually he cried him self to sleep.

The next morning Karkat rolled over in bed, expecting Dave to be there. But he wasn't, and all of the memories from the previous day came flooding in. Tears pricked Karkats eyes, but he held them in.

Karkat spent most of the day in bed, not having the energy or will to get up. He was still wearing the same clothes from the previous night. He didn't care.

By the time it was staring to get dark out, there was a knock on the door. Karkat tried to ignore it, but who ever it was, wasn't giving up. They kept banging on the door. Karkat sighed, slowly getting out of bed and making his way downstairs. He opened the door, and Dave was standing there.

"What the fuck do you want Strider?" Karkat growled. "I'm really not in the mood to talk to you." He was about to shut the door.

"Karkat come on, please. I need to talk to you." Dave said, holding the door open so Karkat couldn't close it.

"Why? So you can make up some bullshit excuse?" Karkat turned away and walked back into the house.

Dave followed Karkat into the house and slammed the door shut behind him. Karkat jumped when he heard the door slam shut.

"I didn't come to make excuses" Dave said, slowly walking towards Karkat.

"Then why are you here?" Karkat snapped.

"Because I'm not done with you." Dave said with a cruel smirk.

Karkat crossed his arms. "Well I'm done with you right now, so could you just fuck off?!"

Dave moved closer and placed his hand on Karkat's shoulder, digging his fingers in. "Well, you see, the thing is, I don't care."

Karkat shrugged Dave's hand off and turned away, about to leave, when Dave grabbed Karkat's arm before he could go further.

"Dave, let go!" Karkat said, trying to pull away.

"Oh no, your not going anywhere." Dave's voice was suddenly cold and harsh. He started to twist Karkat's arm.

"Dave stop!" Karkat yelled.

Dave just continued twisting Karkat's arm, saying nothing.

Karkat managed to rip himself out of Dave's grip. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

Dave didn't respond. He just grabbed Karkat and threw him to the ground, kicking him in the stomach.

Karkat cried out in pain. He felt winded, but got back up.

Dave shoved Karkat against the wall, pinning him there. Karkat squirmed, managing to get one of his hands free, and slapped Dave across the face. Dave's glasses flew off his face. Karkat continued struggling trying to get free, then suddenly froze when he noticed a dark scar across one of Dave's eyes that had never been there before.

"What happened to your eye...?" Karkat wondered, frozen in place.

"Oh no." Dave smiled creepily. "Looks like I've been outed."

Karkat was very confused. "What are you talking about"

Dave laughed. "Let me keep it simple, so your dumb ass can keep up. I'm not Dave. Well, I am, but not your Dave. I'm not from this timeline."

Chapter Text

        "I hate you!"

The words echoed in Dave's mind as he slowly walked away from the house. He didn't know what had happened. He was confused, and didn't understand anything Karkat had said. None of those things had happened. He didn't know where to go. He figured it'd probably be a bad idea at this point to go ask John of he could stay with him, so he walked around aimlessly for a while.

After some time, Dave finally decided to go to his old house that he used to share with his bro. He walked up to the house and looked in the mail box. The spare key he always left was still there. Sighing, he unlocked the door and went inside, closing it behind him. He dropped the key on the table. The entire house was eerily quiet. That wasn't unusual. His brother wasn't home often.

Dave went to his old room and sat on the bed. He had been holding tears back this entire time, and now he let them flow. He broke down crying.

What happened? He wondered. Everything was fine...

Dave was aware that Karkat had been acting a little different towards him, but this week was better. Or so it had seemed. True, he had been spending a lot of time at John's house, but it was for a good reason. Dave had no idea were Karkat had gotten the idea that he saw him and John kissing. Nothing like that ever happened, and never would happen.

Dave was still sobbing. He felt numb. He wished he was back at home with Karkat, but he knew Karkat didn’t want them there.

Dave stayed there and eventually fell asleep, but he didn’t sleep peacefully. He kept tossing and turning and waking up. Something didn’t feel right, but he somehow managed to get some sleep.

He stayed at his house for most of the next day, but the odd feeling that something was wrong was still there. It was bugging him. He was worried, and he didn’t know why.

Dave decided he would try and go talk to Karkat. Maybe that was what was bugging him so much. He started walking in the direction of the house. He got there quickly considering how slow he walked. Taking a deep breath, he went up to the door and paused, staring at it. Something still felt wrong. He hesitantly knocked on the door.

Chapter Text

Dave mumbled something incoherently right after that, but Karkat didn’t care. His head was spinning. All he could think was he needed to get away. He started struggling, trying to get away, but Dave pressed something sharp against his neck. Karkat glanced down and saw a knife pressed there. He started to tremble.

"Its been too long. I can finally see you now. I guess I’m sorry for messing with your head, even though I have to say it was pretty fun." Dave laughed.

Karkat tried to keep his voice steady. "What do you mean messing with me?"

Dave grinned. "Did you really think that all the bullshit that's been happening was just how things were? Every single thing that's gone wrong was because of me!" Dave laughed again. "Your 'dreams' weren't dreams. I was the one you kept seeing. And you and other me must be blind, because I walked right past you two and easily took something so small, but made you start not trusting him."

Karkat thought for a moment. "You're the person that bumped into Dave at the farmers market... and you stole his phone."

Dave smiled. "Ah, the idiot is finally catching on! I was also the one who pushed you off the roof, and I was the one kissing John. Which, I have to say, I was pretty proud of." Dave said, as if he was recalling a fond memory.

"Why the hell are you here?"

"I'm trying to fix my timeline, I guess you could say.” Dave replied. He was staring blankly, but had a smile plastered on his face. It was creepy.

"You're insane!" Karkat shouted, trying to think of a way to get away.

Dave tilted his head slightly "Well, who wouldn't be at least a little insane, living by them self for nine years after watching everyone they cared about die, not being able to save them." He pushed the knife a bit harder again Karkat's neck.

Karkat winced from the sudden pressure. "How is that even possible?"

"My timeline got fucked up. It's doomed, but hasn't disappeared. I was stuck there waiting for it to be over with, but it never happened." He paused and moved the knife away from Karkat's throat.

Karkat was slightly relieved, but that didn't last long. Dave had moved the knife to his face, slowly running it's cold blade down his cheek.

"I waited and waited," he continued, "but nothing happened. So I started to form a plan to go to random other timelines and get back some players, then bring them to this time line this will be our new home."

Karkat notice Dave had lessened his grip. "That's not going to happen!" Karkat kicked Dave’s leg and tried to push him away.

Dave scowled. "Look who's getting brave." He brought up the knife and slashed Karkat's cheek. Karkat gasped in pain as Dave tightened his grip again. “It’s not a smart idea to struggle, no one will come." Dave's voice was low and cold.

Karkat trembled even more, tears threatening to spill down his face. "What about Dave from my timeline?" He said desperately as doomed Dave put the knife back to his throat.

Dave shook his head and laughed. "You really are stupid, aren't you?" He pressed harder. "You kicked him out, remember? He thinks you hate him! You're all alone!” Dave pushed the knife just hard enough to draw blood and then pulled the knife away replacing it with one of his hands.

Red tears started to roll down Karkat's face.

"So tell me..." he growled as he started to squeeze, "who’s gonna save you now?!"

Karkat was gasping, trying to breathe, but it was almost impossible. "Please... don't kill me..." He managed to choke out.

Dave stopped, loosening his grip slightly. "Kill you?” He laughed. “I'm not gonna kill you anymore. I was going to, but then I decided not to, because I love you. Remember? We're supposed to be together forever." He leaned close to Karkat's face. "But I can't have you running off to warn anyone," he whispered, pressing his lips to Karkat's, who immediately started struggling against him, trying to pull away. Dave didn't move, he just kept Karkat in place. He moved his hand with the knife downwards and stabbed Karkats leg. If Dave hadn't been there, Karkat would have fallen to the ground.

He screamed in pain as Dave finally pulled away. “Stop! Please!”

“Shhh… everything will be okay,” Dave whispered softly, pressing his lips to Karkat's again.

Karkat thrashed around, trying to move his head away, wincing slightly at the pain in his leg. Out of desperation, he bit down on Dave’s lip harshly. Dave didn’t show any sign of pain, but he did pull away with blood dripping from his lip.

“Oh, come on now Karkat. Th-“ He stopped when there was a knock on the door. Someone called Karkat's name from outside. It sounded like Dave. His Dave. A sense of relief washed over Karkat. “DA-“

He got cut off as doomed Dave clamped his hand over Karkat's mouth and smirked, leaning down to Karkat's ear. “Oh, I’ve got a great idea….” He whispered creepily.

Chapter Text

       (TW Warning this chapter has mentions of suicide please read at your own risk thank you)

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Dave waited a few minutes, but no one answered. He knocked once again and waited another few minutes. There was still no answer. He considered leaving, but something was still making him feel unsettled. He reached for the door handle and slowly turned it. Surprisingly, the door was unlocked. Dave carefully opened the door, stepping inside.
"Karkat?" He looked around and quietly, shutting the door behind him. Dave looked around the living room. It was empty. He peered into the kitchen as well, but there was no one. Something definitely didn't feel right.
Dave walked over to the stairs and quietly made his way upstairs. The house was unsettlingly quiet. He walked over to the bed room, somewhat hesitantly, and carefully peeked inside. He saw Karkat laying on the bed. From a distance, it looked like he was sleeping. Dave was about to leave when he noticed something. He stepped into the room, getting a better look at Karkat, and then he saw it. Blood, and lots of it. He quickly rushed over to the bed.
"Karkat!?"
There was no response. Dave noticed long cuts down Karkat's arms and slashes across his wrists. Dave's stomach dropped, and he quickly he noticed there was something in Karkat's hand. A bloodstained slip of paper. He grabbed it and quickly read through it.
It was a note that read; "I'm sorry I wasn't good enough. I'm probably better off gone. -Karkat"
Dave dropped the note. "Oh shit... Shit..." He quickly checked Karkat's neck for a pulse, but there was none. "Karkat... Fuck, no no no!" Dave backed away from the bed, choking up. "No!" Tears started running down his face as he sat on the ground and curled up, trembling slightly. His mind was racing.
He's dead... He's gone... But why do I still have the feeling something isn't right?

Chapter Text

Dave pulled Karkat upstairs, keeping his mouth covered so he couldn't call out. Karkat struggled against him as Dave dragged him to the bedroom. He shoved Karkat into the closet and shut the door, then placed a chair in front of the door so it wouldn't open. The closet was dark. Karkat shakily stood up, a bit wobbly from the wound in his leg. He noticed a flash, and then there was silence. He tried to open the door, but he couldn't. A few seconds later, there was another flash and the sound of two people struggling. Somthing hit the floor with the horrible sound that everyone can recognize, but no one can describe without saying what it is. The sound of a body hitting the floor.

Karkat peeked through a crack in the door. He saw Dave standing over another version of Karkat, probably from a different timeline. Except this one was very clearly dead. Dave was smirking, holding a piece of pipe that he hadn't had before. A bloodless death.

Dave picked up the dead body and placed it on the bed, taking his knife and started cutting up the arms. Karkat felt sick. He backed away from the door and started and started banging on it. A few moments later, the door swung open and Dave grabbed him, thrusting a piece of paper and a pen at him.

"Write; I'm sorry. I wasn't good enough. I'm probably better off gone. Then sign it." Dave demanded.

Karkat shook his head as he heard another knock on the door downstairs. "Fuck no!" he growled, attempting to push past Dave. But Dave grabbed him and shoved him to the ground aggressively. "Write it! Now!" he hissed, bringing the knife up against Karkat's throat.

Karkats eyes widened and he hesitantly started writing.

Dave kicked him. "Hurry up!"

Karkat could hear the door open downstairs as he finished writing. He was about to yell for help, when Dave grabbed the paper and covered Karkat's mouth once again. He dragged Karkat up and slipped the paper into the dead Karkat's hand, and then dragged the living Karkat over to the closet once more. Karkat tried biting Dave's hand, but that only seemed to make him tighten his grip. He brought them into the closet and closed the door enough to hide them, but not all the way. It was open just enough so they could see the room. Karkat was still struggling against Dave, who rolled his eyes and brought the knife up to his throat again.

"Don't make any noise" he hissed in Karkat's ear quietly.

Karkat stopped struggling, letting himself go limp in Dave's arms. The two of them stood there as they heard foot steps coming up the stairs. Karkat saw the real Dave standing in the doorway. He closed his eyes, praying that Dave would think the dead boy was just asleep and leave. He heard Dave step Into the room and call his name. Karkat somehow found the will to open his eyes, and saw Dave rush over to the bed looking panicked. Dave picked up and read the note. Karkat whimpered quietly, feeling guilty as Dave dropped the note and checked the dead Karkat's pulse, then back away in horror. Dave had started to cry, and all Karkat wanted to do was go to him and assure him he was alive. He wished he could explain this madness. He started struggling against doomed Dave, wanting desperately to get to his Dave, not caring by this point if he got hurt.

Chapter Text

        Dave was still sitting, curled up, when he heard rustling coming from the closet. He wiped his tears away and stood, turning to towards the closet.

“Is someone in there?” He asked, bracing himself as he stepped towards the door a little bit.

Karkat, from in the closet, was struggling against Dave, desperately trying to make as much noise as he could. He saw Dave stand up and turn to them. Dave growled quietly in frustration as Dave started slowly walking towards the closet. Doomed Dave shoved Karkat to the back of the closet and swung the door open, lunging forward at Dave, who shouted in surprise as doomed Dave knocked him to the ground and started viciously attacking him. Dave didn't even have a chance to fight back. Doomed Dave grabbed onto Dave’s neck.

Karkat had managed to regain his balance and get out of the closet. He saw that doomed Dave's hands were on real Dave's neck, and he already knew what was going to happen.

"Dave!" Karkat screamed. He was about to rush forwards, when Dave gave a harsh twist and there was a loud snap. Dave went limp. “No!”

~

Everything was dark at first. Dave looked around. There was nothing. Until he noticed something in the distance. He started moving towards it. As he got closer, he realized it was a large purple and gold clock. But it didn’t have any numbers. Instead, it bore only two words. “Justified” and “Heroic”. Dave then realized what happened. He was technically dead right now. He also remembered what had happened to put him here. He was attacked by an alternate version of himself, and he could have sworn he heard Karkat's voice before he died, but that was impossible. Karkat was dead.

The arrow hand was slowly spinning and the pendulum began to swing. Dave watched the clock tick. He was conflicted. If Karkat was dead, then he wouldn’t care witch one it ended up on. But he could swear he heard Karkat's voice. Could he still be alive somehow? Dave didn't want to die if that was the case. He began to feel nervous as the clock ticked on.

Tick.

Heroic.

Tock.

Justified.

Tick.

Heroic.

Tock.

Justified...

~

Karkat was horrified. He watched Dave stand up and turn to him.

“Sorry about that,” he said casually.

Anger boiled in Karkat's chest. He ignored the pain in his leg as he charged forward, punching and kicking at Dave, who didn’t really react other then the fact that he looked annoyed. He grabbed on to Karkat's arms to get him to stop moving.

“Karkat, stop,” he said calmly.

“No! You fucking killed him and now I’m going to kill you!” Karkat growled, still trying to kick him.

Dave rolled his eyes and sighed before kicking Karkat's injured leg. Karkat gasped in pain and fell to the ground.

Dave pulled out some rope. “He’s not dead. Well... at least, I don’t think so. We'll have a wait a few minuets to see. God Tier deaths can take a while to decide.” He tied Karkat's hands behind his back tightly, and then tied up his legs as well before moving over to the unmoving body of Dave and doing the same to him.

Karkat started struggling against the rope. “Untie me!”

“I'm sorry Karkat, but I can't do that right now,” Dave purred, crouching down in front of Karkat and lifting his chin so they were face to face. “I cant have you trying to get away from me. Just relax. It will be over soon. Pretend it's a dream.” He leaned in and kissed Karkat, who made a muffled noise and pulled his face away quickly.

“Fuck you!”

Dave sighed and let go, pushing Karkat down as he stood and walked towards the door. “Don’t worry, I'll be back soon. I just need to go get the others.” Dave smiled as he shut the door behind him and locked it.

Karkat watched him leave, then turned and looked at Dave, his Dave, on the floor. He managed to awkwardly crawl over to him. Dave's neck was at an odd angle, and he wasn’t breathing. Karkat teared up, hoping desperately that Dave would revive.

Chapter Text

        A few minutes passed and nothing happened. Dave was still completely still. Karkat was starting to loose hope. He had ended up resting his head on Dave’s chest, but he couldn’t hear his heartbeat. Karkat let tears slip down his face as he looked at Dave’s face. He looked almost peaceful. Karkat continued to cry, closing his eyes and wishing that none of this had ever happened. He wasn’t paying attention, but Dave's heart had very slowly started beating and a few seconds later his eyes fluttered open. Dave let out a gasp and started coughing. Karkat lifted his head quickly and looked at him.

“Dave?!” He exclaimed, going wide eyed.

Dave coughed a few more times. “K-Karkat... you're alive!” He looked relived. He was about to try and put his arms around Karkat, when he noticed the rope. “What the fuck happened?”

“There’s an alternate version of your, and he's gone insane. He keeps talking about taking over this timeline because his timeline got messed up...? I'm not entirely sure what he wants, but its creepy.” Karkat explained.

“Well I kind of knew about the other version of myself considering he attacked me... I meant what happened to you? I thought you were dead?” Dave said quietly.

Karkat shook his head. “That was a different version of me that the other you killed and then cut the arms...” Karkat shuddered, nauseous at the memory, and was glad that from were they laid, the corpse on the bed wasn't visible. “I was stuck in the closet with the other you and I kept struggling against him and... well, you know what happened….” Karkat said, trailing off.

Dave nodded his head as he listened, wishing his hands weren't tied up so he could hug Karkat. “Thank god getting ambushed by a different version of myself and getting my neck snapped by them isn’t considered Justified or Heroic…” Dave said, trying to smile.

Karkat just sighed and rested his head back on Dave's chest. “What the hell are we going to do?” He asked softly. His leg really hurt now.

“Now we try and find a away to get this fucking rope off,” Dave said, looking around the room. He sounded determined. “I think I have an idea."

Chapter Text

        A few minutes passed and nothing happened. Dave was still completely still. Karkat was starting to loose hope. He had ended up resting his head on Dave’s chest, but he couldn’t hear his heartbeat. Karkat let tears slip down his face as he looked at Dave’s face. He looked almost peaceful. Karkat continued to cry, closing his eyes and wishing that none of this had ever happened. He wasn’t paying attention, but Dave's heart had very slowly started beating and a few seconds later his eyes fluttered open. Dave let out a gasp and started coughing. Karkat lifted his head quickly and looked at him.

“Dave?!” He exclaimed, going wide eyed.

Dave coughed a few more times. “K-Karkat... you're alive!” He looked relived. He was about to try and put his arms around Karkat, when he noticed the rope. “What the fuck happened?”

“There’s an alternate version of your, and he's gone insane. He keeps talking about taking over this timeline because his timeline got messed up...? I'm not entirely sure what he wants, but its creepy.” Karkat explained.

“Well I kind of knew about the other version of myself considering he attacked me... I meant what happened to you? I thought you were dead?” Dave said quietly.

Karkat shook his head. “That was a different version of me that the other you killed and then cut the arms...” Karkat shuddered, nauseous at the memory, and was glad that from were they laid, the corpse on the bed wasn't visible. “I was stuck in the closet with the other you and I kept struggling against him and... well, you know what happened….” Karkat said, trailing off.

Dave nodded his head as he listened, wishing his hands weren't tied up so he could hug Karkat. “Thank god getting ambushed by a different version of myself and getting my neck snapped by them isn’t considered Justified or Heroic…” Dave said, trying to smile.

Karkat just sighed and rested his head back on Dave's chest. “What the hell are we going to do?” He asked softly. His leg really hurt now.

“Now we try and find a away to get this fucking rope off,” Dave said, looking around the room. He sounded determined. “I think I have an idea."

Chapter Text

        They all went downstairs. Karkat had a bit of trouble because of his leg, but managed to make it down the stairs. Dave lead them to the door and opened it. Waiting outside were all of their friends, but it seemed off. There were slight differences that could be made out. Dave looked around at all the people he noticed there was a version of Rose that was still grimdark and a Jade had was grimbark. He also noticed John, who looked the same, but his clothing was covered in blood and he had a dark look in his eyes. Dave could tell they weren't supposed to be here, and that they were not from this timeline.

Karkat looked around at his friends as well. They all looked like themselves, but there were a few things that were off. Karkat also noticed there wasn't another version of himself, and was puzzled by this. "I'm not here...."

Dave smiled and turned to Karkat. "Well, I didn't need to get another version of yourself because I already have you~" He said, smiling and looking almost happy.

Dave frowned, balling his hands into fists. "Shut up!"

Dave turned to him, any hint of happiness gone. "Shut up yourself," he said harshly. He punched him, knocking him to the ground. Dave hissed in pain as doomed Dave turned back to the group and walked forwards starting to talk.

Karkat crouched down beside Dave. He winced and wobbled as he leaned close to him. "Dave, you need to run," he whispered, keeping an eye out to make sure no one was watching them.

"What about you?" Dave asked quietly.

"Leave me here. I can't run and I'll just slow you down."

Dave shook his head. "No. There is no way in hell I'm leaving you with psycho me."

Karkat sighed. "Dave, we need to warn people, and you can get away."

Dave shook his head again. "Karkat, I'm not going to leave you," he said softly.

"Dave, please. We have a chance, we need to take it. Please go. I..." Karkat stopped for a second. "I won't get killed. He wants me alive... so please, go get help while he's not paying attention. You can run right now," Karkat said, hoping Dave would listen to him.

Dave was silent for a moment while he thought, and then sighed. "Alright... I'll go... but I am going to come back for you as soon as I warn people," Dave promised, carefully standing up. Karkat stood up as well and nodded. Dave quickly looked. No one was paying any attention to them. He took a breath and ran. People noticed immediately and it looked like they were about to go after him, but Dave spoke up.

"Let him go! We'll kill him later! It will make things interesting!" Dave laughed as he turned to Karkat, smirking. "On the other hand, you, my love, are not going anywhere."

Dave continued running as fast as he could down the street. He didn't stop until he was back at his old house. Now all he had to do was get the rope off and warn people, and then he was going to get Karkat back no matter what.

Chapter Text

        Once Dave got home, he immediately looked around for something to cut the rope with. He grabbed a knife and started cutting the rope. Once he got it off, he tossed the rope away. He decided to hold onto the knife to use as a weapon, just incase. But how was he going to warn everyone by himself?
Suddenly, he got an idea. He ran to his room and sat at his computer, turning it on. He hoped people would be online. If not, he'd have to run around and do it the hard way. He logged on and pulled up pester chumand started a memo.

~

turntechGodhead [TG] RIGHT NOW opened a memo on board PUBLIC

TG: GUYS LISTEN UP SOME BAD SHIT IS GOING DOWN!

ectoBiologist [EB] responded to memo.

EB: Really, Dave? Karkat has you doing memos now?

TG: what no hes not making me do this

TG: that's not the point somthings happening

tenticleTherapist [TT] responded to memo.

TT: Since when do you do you do memos? I thought you hated them.

TT: Is Karkat with you?

TG: no he's not and that's the problem! now if you would all kindly shut up I can explain what's happening!

gardenGnostic [GG] responded to memo.

GG: daves making memos now?? did karkat convince you to do this??

TG: OH MY FUCKING GOD NOT HE DIDN'T!!

TG: WILL YOU GUYS SHUT UP FOR ONE MINUTE??

EB: Woah Dave chill out. I think Karkats rubbing off on you.

TG: hes not rubbing off on me I just need to tell you guys somthing and this was the fastest way I could think of!!

TT: Well what are you waiting for? Do tell.

TG: alright so... somthings happing and it's bad

EB: Wait, did you guys hear that loud noise?

GG: yeah I did! it made my house shake

TT: What on earth was that?

~

Dave looked away from his computer when he heard the loud noise. It made his house shake. He quickly got up, heading over to his window, and looked outside. He could see smoke rising from a few blocks away. Dave's eyes went wide in panic. It looked like it was near or at where Karkat was! He quickly turned back to his computer.

~

TG: THAT'S WHAT I WAS TRYING TO EXPLAIN

TG: so there's apparently a doomed version of myself that traveled here and is now trying to take over he also has other versions of you guys from other doomed timelines and the trolls as well you guys need to tell everyone one else and get here right now the doomed versions all have something that makes them look different try not to get fooled I need to go save Karkat now please hurry

turntechGodhead [TG] closed memo.

Chapter Text

        Karkat watched as Dave ran away. He was worried for a second when everyone turned to look at Dave as he ran, and then was relived when Dave told them not to go after him. The relived feeling disappeared quickly when Dave tuned to him.

"On the other hand, you, my love, are not going anywhere."

Karkat backed up, scared. He hoped Dave would hurry, and it wouldn’t take him to long to get back.

“Oh come on now Karkat don’t be scared~” Dave said, smiling, grabbing Karkat's arm and pulling him over.

Karkat tried to pull away from him, but it was hard to do with his leg being in pain.

“Karkat I don’t think you want to stay near the house,” Dave teased.

“Why not?” Karkat asked, confused.“

"You’ll see~” Dave said, smirking.

Karkat hesitantly let Dave pull him away. Dave lead him further away from the house Karkat looked back, feeling nervous as Dave turned and looked at John.

“Alright Egbert, go ahead.”

John smiled and walked towards the house.

“What the fuck is he doing….?” Karkat wondered out loud, watching John walk towards the house and go inside.

Dave smirked. “Just watch.”

Karkat looked around and noticed everyone else was backing away from the house too now. He stared feeling more nervous. A few minuets later, John come running out of the house, grinning. He ran over to the group. Everyone was on the other side of the street. Karkat was still looking at the house, wondering what he had done in there. A few seconds went by and nothing was happening.

“What did he-“ Karkat got cut off as there was a large explosion. He watched as the entire house went up in flames and caved in on itself. Karkat's hands were still tied, so he couldn’t cover his ears. He could only stare in horror. He wanted to look away, but couldn’t. He felt tears come to his eyes as he watched it burn. Everything was gone. A few more small explosions went off, making the house cave in even more. He looked around at the others. Half of them looked happy watching the house burn. The rest looked bored. Karkat felt scared. He was surrounded by psychos. He slowly started backing away, hoping  no one would notice. He kept slowly backing up. Unfortunately, Dave noticed Karkat wasn’t near him quickly turned to him. Karkat froze for a moment before turning and running, trying to ignore the searing pain in his leg. Unfortunately, he didn’t get too far, as Dave caught up to him easily and grabbed onto him.

“Karkat, why are you trying to run away? You're not allowed, to remember?” Dave said harshly, pulling him over. “You're staying with me you’ve got that?!” Dave snarled.

Karkat struggled against him. “Let me go!”

Dave sighed, grabbed his knife, and slammed the hard handle against Karkat's head. Karkat gasped at the hit and stopped struggling, his vision wavering and then going black as he went limp in Dave's arms.

Chapter Text

        As soon as Dave closed the memo, he stood and grabbed the knife. He quickly left the house, not bothering to turn anything off, and headed to were he saw the smoke. He practically ran. Once he got closer, he slowed down slightly. being cautious of his soundings he approached the street. He walked over to the house at the end of the street, so he was hidden, and glanced around the corner. His eyes widened when he saw the group of people on the opposite side of the street. He realized the she smoke was coming from their house. Dave felt slightly saddened by this, but he quickly pushed it away, looking back at the crowd of people and searching for Karkat. Dave started to feel worried when he couldn’t find Karkat right away, but soon he caught sight of him. Karkat was with the other version of himself, but he could see there was something wrong. Karkat was on the ground, and alternate him was standing right behind him. Dave suddenly felt very worried. He hoped Karkat was okay. He didn’t know how to get over there with out being noticed. He looked around, but no matter what he would be seen. He sighed and sat down, watching everyone closely. Every few minutes, he would glance at Karkat. Dave felt annoyed he have to wait until everyone else got there before he could do anything. He waited anxiously.

Ten minutes went by, and he was starting to feel worried. It seemed like no one was coming. Then suddenly, Dave felt the wind pick up considerably. He looked around curiously and stood up. The crowd noticed what was happening as well. Dave could see another crowd of people coming down the street. A sense of relief washed over him when he realized it was his friends. The real ones. As soon as the crowd of doomed people noticed them, their attention was drawn away from the house. The opposing groups got closer to each other, everyone staring at each other. Everything was silent with tension, until the silence was broken by Dave.

“What are you idiots waiting for?! Fight!”

As soon as he spoke, chaos broke out. Everyone started fighting one another. This was the distraction Dave needed. He looked to were Karkat was. He saw doomed Dave pick up Karkat and take him away from all the people fighting. Dave watched himself take Karkat into a house across the street, and then come out a few minuets later. He was walking over to all the people fighting.

As soon as doomed Dave wasn’t looking, Dave bolted across the street towards the house. He managed to get over there without being seen, and quickly slipped into the house, shutting the door behind him. He quickly looked around the house for Karkat. Dave turned a corner into what he could see was the living room, and saw Karkat lying on the couch. Dave quickly went over to him. He could now see there was a gash on Karkat's head and he was tied back up. Had he been knocked out? Dave took his knife and cut the ropes off, and started looking around the house for a first aid kit.

Chapter Text

        When Karkat woke, he felt a stinging on his head. He groaned slightly and opened his eyes. He saw Dave standing over him, cleaning his head, it seemed and tensed up immediately.

Dave looked down at him, noticing he was awake. He smiled, but it faltered when he noticed Karkat was tensed up and seemed scared.

“What’s wrong…?” he asked worriedly.

Karkat could hear the worry in his voice and calmed a little, but was still tensed. “You're… normal Dave, right…?” He asked quietly.

“Oh… yeah, I’m normal Dave” he said reassuringly. He reached up and slipped his glasses off to show that there was no scar.

Karkat relaxed instantly. Dave smiled a little and resumed cleaning his head, more carefully now that Karkat was awake. He could feel it more he winced slightly.

“Sorry,” Dave said quickly, trying to do it a bit more gently.

“Its alright,” Karkat mumbled, shifting. He noticed that his leg didn’t hurt as much as before. It still hurt, just less. He look and noticed it was bandaged up. He smiled a little.

“How did I get in here…?”

Dave had now started to bandage his head. “Well I think the other me knocked you out… and when I got here, everyone was just standing there, and you were on the ground. When our friends got here, everyone started fighting and other me brought you in here. When he went to fight, I snuck in here,” Dave explained as he finished up with the bandages.

Karkat tried to sit up but it made him feel lightheaded. “Fuck…” He winced

“Hey just relax for a bit,” Dave said softly. He gently pushed Karkats shoulder to get him to lay back down.

“But shouldn’t we go out there and help everyone else…?” Karkat asked, letting Dave push him down.

Dave shook his head. “You need to rest for a bit. I’m sure everything is under control…” Dave hesitated. “...we can go in a bit…” He sat down on the edge of the couch. “Alright…” Karkat muttered, looking up at him.

It looked like Dave was about to say something else, when the sound of the door opening could be heard. Dave quickly got up, grabbing the knife, and held it up defensively. Karkat sat up quickly, wincing as a wave of lightheadedness hit him. There were slow foot steps heading towards were they were, and then Dave slowly walked into the room, not looking surprised. He was covered in blood, and not just one color. It looked like a rainbow threw up on him. Green, teal, blue, purple, yellow, and rust red literally dripped off of him, leaving a trail of splatters where he walked. His knife hung at his side, and had teal blood dripping from it. He had a wide grin plastered on his face.

“Hello boys~”

Chapter Text

        Dave stared at his alternate self, looking at all the blood. The glasses were off, and there was a crazed look in Dave's eyes. He looked almost gleeful as he stood there, soaked in rainbow blood. All was silent for a moment, before Karkat spoke up.

"You don't seem surprised at what's happening here," he said from were he sat on the couch.

Dave turned and looked at him. His smile seemed to grow. "Oh, Karkat, it looks like your feeling better!" He said happily. "I apologize about hitting your head, but I didn't want you getting away~" he giggled, completely ignoring what Karkat had said.

Dave was glaring at him, still holding the knife up. "I thought you were fighting with everyone?"

Dave turned and looked at him "Oh I did and I had a blast!" He exclaimed happily. "You know, that was waaaay to easy! I would have thought you'd plan something bigger, or more challenging, but that was nothing!" He laughed, looking at them. "Oh, and by the way, everyone is dead if you already didn't know that~"

Karkat's eyes winded when he said that. The fight had just started not too long ago, and everyone was already dead. Karkat was speechless as he stood up carefully, but Dave just kept glaring at Dave.

"He's lying," Dave growled.

Dave tilted his head. "What makes you so sure about that?~"

Dave continued to glare at him "Because I know," he said lowly, slowly grabbing Karkat's hand.

Karkat held onto his hand tightly.

"Oh because you know? Maybe you're wrong, ever considered that?" Dave asked with a grin.

Dave kept the knife up and very slowly started moving towards the kitchen. Karkat slowly moved with him.

"Because I can tell when I'm lying to myself."

"Do you think your going somewhere?" Dave suddenly threw his knife at Dave, who reacted quickly and ducked. The knife stuck in the wall behind him. Dave straightened back up and ran, pulling Karkat along with him.

They headed into the kitchen. Throwing the back door open, both of them rushed outside and around to the front of the house. Dave saw the crowd of people. Everyone was still fighting, but the people from this timeline were struggling against the doomed people.

"I knew he was lying. Come on, let's go help."  Dave said, looking at Karkat, who nodded and let go of Dave's hand.

"I need a weapon...." he said, looking at him.

Dave thought for a moment, before pressing the knife into Karkat's hand. "Ill run into a house and grab a different one," he said, looking around.

Karkat nodded and turned to the crowd of people.

"Be carful," Dave called, watching Karkat.

"Don't worry, I will," Karkat replied, heading into the crowd.

Dave watched him worriedly for a moment before running into a random house. Looking around quickly, he managed to find a knife. It looked familiar for some reason. He grabbed it and ran out of the house, towards the crowd of people fighting. He looked around for Dave, but didn't see him anywhere. He also looked to see if he could find Karkat, but he didn't see him.

Suddenly, he felt a gust of wind rush past him and he was almost knocked over. He quickly regained his balance and spun around. He saw the alternate John, who had a cruel smirk on his face as he was getting ready to attack again. Dave lunged forwards and started attacking. The two fought with each other. Dave was struggling, because John kept throwing bursts of wind to try and knock him over, but he kept fighting against it. John threw another burst of wind. Dave hadn't been expecting it, and he was knocked to the ground. He fell backwards. John moved to stand above him, holding his hammer, about to bring it down on Dave, who shut his eyes waiting for the impact.

Seemingly from nowhere, there was the sound of a chainsaw, and Dave felt something spatter on his face. Something hit the ground. Dave's eyes opened. John was standing there, looking pissed of and mildly surprised. One of his arms was missing, and he was bleeding heavily. Kanaya was standing behind him with her chainsaw. There was a visible stab wound on one of her shoulders. John had turned to Kanaya and attempted to attack her. Dave scrambled to his feet and backed away, bumping into someone. He quickly spun around, coming face to face with himself.

Chapter Text

        Dave tensed up and took a half step back, gripping the knife tightly, staring at his doomed self. This was it. They where facing each other. No one else was paying attention to them.
Dave chuckled, watching him. "Why so tense, hm?" He asked, bearing his bloodstained teeth in a sickening grin. "You scared? I thought you wanted to fight me. I mean, I did put you through hell."
Dave took a menacing step forwards, and Dave brought his knife up threateningly.
"I'm not scared, you asshole!" He growled, tightening his grip on the knife.
Dave just laughed. "Yes you are. You can't beat me. I'm gonna win. People from this time line are already failing, and soon everyone will be dead. Well, except for Karkat. Karkat belongs to me. We're going to be together forever~!" He cackled.
Dave growled and lunged forwards, attacking Dave suddenly. At first, trying to punch him. But his doomed self was fast, and moved out of the way, tripping Dave who fell to the ground and then quickly got back up. He attacked again this, but time his doomed self brought his leg up and kicked Dave in the gut. He gasped, getting winded by the impact. When stood up properly, he moved forwards again, this time using the knife. He managed to stab his doomed self in the shoulder, which sadly seemed to do nothing. Dave had a very high tolerance for pain.
His doomed self looked at the knife, then shoved Dave back. He casually ripped the knife from his shoulder and tossed aside, then slowly started advancing on Dave, who was now slowly backing up.
"You are not going to beat me. I know everything you're going to do before you do it, so why don't you just give up already?" He hissed lowly. The doomed Dave lunged forwards, staring to viscously attack Dave, who let out a shout of surprise and pain. The two struggled against each other but doomed Dave obviously had the upper hand. Soon, he had Dave pinned to the ground, with the knife pointed right at his chest. He slowly brought the knife up. Dave shut his eyes, waiting for the pain, but then Dave stopped, a cruel smile spreading across his face.
"You know what, I think I've got a better idea for you~" he said, flipping the knife around and slamming the handle into Dave's head knocking him out cold.
~

Dave groaned as he woke up. He looked around. Everything was almost completely silent, except for one voice that sounded angry. He was practically screeching.
"I told you idiots not to hurt him!!! Can't you follow any simple rules??!"
Dave was confused he slowly sat up wincing feeling a stab of pain in his head. He looked around, and was horrified. The ground looked like it was drenched in paint. He could see people on the ground. Everyone from this timeline was on the ground, dead. Everyone was gone. Dave felt sick, then suddenly a thought struck him. Karkat. He looked around and saw him. Dave's eyes winded.
Karkat was on the ground a few feet away from doomed Dave, who was yelling at the group of doomed people. Karkat was on his back, covered in blood, and was barely moving. He looked... dead.
Slowly, Dave moved to his hands and knees. He cautiously started to inch towards him, fighting the urge to assume the worst. His doomed self wasn't attention to him, too busy yelling. Slowly, he managed to get to Karkat. He reached a shaking hand to his neck and pressed his fingers to it. He waited a moment. There was a very, very faint pulse. Karkat was still alive. Dave felt somewhat relieved.
He managed to carefully pick Karkat up. He stayed low to the ground, and started moving away from the crowd. He made it to someone's lawn, then stood and ran in to the house. Quickly, he slipped inside, breathing heavy. He waited to make sure no one had seen him. Then, once he was sure, he moved further into the house and placed Karkat down checking him over.

Chapter Text

        Dave was trying to stay calm as he looked over Karkat who was bleeding excessively.
"K-Karkat?" Dave's voice shook.
Karkat was completely still. Dave reached over and pressed two fingers to Karkat's neck once again. There was still a very faint beat. Dave felt a little bit relieved, but it was growing weaker. Karkat shifted slightly, looking up at Dave.
"D-Dave... I... I'm s-sorry..." Karkat said weakly. "I d-don't hate you..."
Dave ripped off part of his cape and pressed it to one of Karkat's larger wounds, trying to slow the blood flow.
"Don't apologize. None of this was your fault you... you were tricked.." Dave said, holding back tears his voice shaking.
"D-Dave... I'm s-so glad I m-met you... you're the most wonderful... and a-amazing person I've ever m-met... you made me f-feel so h-happy..." Karkat shuddered. Talking wad hard.
A few tears rolled down Dave's face. "Don't talk like that! You're not gonna die!" Dave cried. "you can't.." Dave grabbed Karkat's hand, and Karkat squeezed lightly.
"The other you... t-told me something..." Karkat, coughed and a bit of blood dripped out of his mouth. "He said you... w-were going to give me-" Karkat coughed again and took a deep shuddering breath. "A ring...?"
Dave nodded, more tears rolling down his face. He reached a shaking hand in to his pocket and pulled out a small box.
"What is it for...?" Karkat asked weakly.
Dave opened the small box, revealing a gold ring. "I... I was gonna ask you to m-marry me... which is a human thing... it means to be t-together forever..." Dave said, choking back a sob.
Karkat smiled lightly. "That... sounds n-nice... I wish that was possible..."
Dave took the ring out of the box and slipped it on to Karkat's finger. "I-it still is. W-we can get out of here. We can f-fix everything. You're not going to die," Dave rambled on more tears spilling down his face.
"Dave..." Karkat mumbled.
"You can't die! You just can't!"
"Dave." Karkat managed to get the attention of the panicking human.
Dave stopped talking as Karkat reached a shaking hand up and took Dave's shades off. He smiled.
"I... love you..." Karkat breathed, and then went still.
"K-Karkat...?!" Dave stuttered. He waited, but there was no response. "No..." Dave shook Karkat but nothing happened. "No!" Dave yelled. Ke felt something inside him break he sobbed, clinging to Karkat's lifeless body. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Karkat's lips, which where already going cold. Dave's body shook with sobs. He didn't even hear the door opening and a voice calling out.
"I found them!"
The only time Dave noticed anything was when he felt hands grab onto him, trying to pull him away from Karkat. He struggled against them. "Let me go!!" he screamed, still crying and trying to hold on to Karkat tighter, but who ever it was forced his arms apart, making him let go. Dave was struggling violently against the person, trying to kick them, trying to get away, but he couldn't. He was dragged away from Karkat's body, and his head swarmed with anger and grief. He was alone. Everyone was dead. Karkat was dead. They had lost.

~End?~