Chapter Text

Xefros Tritoh stands at the window of his room, staring out across Outglut. From his small, humble hive, he can’t see much, but that doesn’t really matter to him. Across the street is his moirail’s hive, Dammek. The lights are on in his living room, and occasionally Xefros can see what almost looks like someone moving around in there, but he hasn’t heard from Dammek in a week.

Xefros sat at his husktop and sighed. He didn’t want to check his messages. He knew what would be on the screen. Maybe he could just go to his recuperacoon and sleep some more. Well, sure, he was tired, but he wasn’t sleepy.

[ risingSlammer began trolling tetragonMartyr ]

(One week ago)RS: hey X:) want to do something today
(Six days ago)RS: what about today X:)
(Five days ago)RS: are you busy with something you can tell me about it
(Four days ago)RS: hello
(Three days ago)RS: dammek are you ok X:/
(Two days ago)RS: why are you ignoring me
(Yesterday)RS: Xplain please did i do something X:(
RS: ok you can reply to me when you please sorry for yesterday

[ risingSlammer stopped trolling tetragonMartyr ]

Sigh. Again. He must have been up to something really important over there, Xefros reasoned. That was the only thing that could have made sense. I mean, why would he have any other reason to ignore me, Xefros thought.

Beyond the hive was the rest of Outglut. It sprawled on and on into the distance, an urban jungle of life. And there, the end of the street down at the road, was the jungle line. Separating that wonderful, terrifying, vibrant, blood-spilling place from the little corner of subgrub that Xefros was nestled into.

His introspective wondering towards the nature of the city was quickly dissipated by his severe hunger. His digestion bladder rumbled incessantly, reminding Xefros it had been a day since he had eaten.

Despite knowing that there was, in fact, no food to be found whatsoever in his mealblock, Xefros dashed out into the squeaky clean hallway, nearly slipping on the meticulously polished floor, only managing to save himself with the power of flailing his arms fast enough that his center of gravity managed to bring him to his feet. This did not, however, solve the problem of his momentum and Xefros quickly found himself slamming into his scourdray and sending both himself and the slightly dirty water across the floor with one dramatic crash.

Xefros slid to a stop a moment later and blinked. “Damn it!” He shouted. “I’m all wet now and I’ll have to scrub the floor again!” Downstairs he could hear his lusus stir from the sound of the crashing. “I’m ok!” Xefros called down as he staggered to his feet. Ow, he thought as he rubbed his back. But he was a sturdy Burgundyblood. He knew that. He’d be able to shake it off. After all, he used to play arena stickball. He took far more worse hits then. Still, even at the age of only 8 sweeps, he felt like his torso pillar couldn’t take very much more.

There was a lingering anxiety in Xefros’ heart when his age crossed his think pan. Normally he kept it out of his pan but every so often it creeped back in. He stood there for a moment, just a second, but it felt like a whole eternity. His vision diffused, his hands sweated as he gripped the railing just a little bit tighter. Even though he stared blankly at the shiny, clean walls, he couldn’t see it. He could only see the future.

It was just a flash in the pan but it left him with a feeling he had become far too familiar with. That sinking, cold feeling like a trickle of water running out of your face and down your hands before leaving your body. Within the tick of the clock hanging on the wall, he was back to reality and had already shaken the feeling off of himself. But deep down it remained inside of him: that impending doom because it was just a sweep now that he’d be going off planet. Just a sweep. Barely any time at all.

“Sorry about that crash! I’m ok!” Xefros called down the stairs. There was a faint grunt in reply. Xefros laughed for a second about the situation before he remembered just how hungry he was and picked up the pace heading downstairs again, skipping two steps at a time.

Much to Xefros’ disappointment, no magical food appeared inside to satiate his burning hunger. It had been two days since he had eaten the last bag of chips. Oh, how much torture can a poor troll take? No snacks; no nothing! Xefros lamented on the food to eat, his lusus popped in through the doorway. It was more like a very slow head poke considering that it was a sloth and giving it any more credit felt like a stretch.

Nevertheless, Xefros was happy to see them. “Heya buddy, how are you?” Xefros asked, scruffing the lusus’ face. The lusus gave a happy huff before poking his head towards the thermal hull. “Yeah, no food. Don’t worry though, I won’t eat your treats! Unless…” Xefros thought for a moment but he could feel the eyes of his lusus staring him down. “No, no, you’re right. I won’t eat your treats.” Xefros laughed. “They’d probably make me sick and then I’d be hungrier! Still, I don’t really have a solution to this problem. I’m afraid if I go outside I might get bombed. I’m sure you’ve heard all the noises from the last few days.”

The bombings had reached a new level of intensity over the past couple days in the neighborhood. Turns out that the heiress needed a burning subgrub as the backdrop to a movie she was making. These were very much more “impractical effects” than anything else. Still, there was nothing left to eat, and Xefros couldn’t get out.

His options were either to make a run for it, or try to ignore the hunger for another day and hope the bombing stopped. Maybe he could pester a different friend online. Xefros had met multiple people online in the last year who were nice. Some of them were midbloods, most were lowbloods, one was technically a highblood but he was kind of… weird. He didn’t know any of their real names. Dammek was the only person on his Trollcord account that he knew in real life. Not like it was exactly his choice. He was invited to meet a couple of them one time but Dammek assured him that it was likely a plot to draw him out as a revolutionary so Xefros stayed home. Man, Xefros thought, it was great to have a friend like Dammek who made sure he was safe.

Xefros scampered back upstairs to his room and to his husktop. It was about 10 in the morning so nobody was awake because apparently people had a problem with waking up before noon. Well, there was one person online.

[ risingSlammer began trolling pricklyMercenary ]

RS: hey what’s going on X:)
PM: oh * hey RS *| haven’t heard from you in a while *|
RS: ive been really busy recently with stuff
RS: it sux
PM: yeah *| i’ve been really busy too with work * hbu
RS: oh i dont really work X:)
RS: but i do lots of work for dammek!
PM: doesn’t he force you to act like a butler *|
RS: no >X:/
RS: well
RS: i do butlering practice with him
RS: but he doesnt force me to
PM: right *| i think you should stand up for yourself some more * RS *|
RS: stand up against what
PM: your moirail * dammek * he seems a bit controlling *|
RS: hes ok i promise X:)
PM: if you say so *| i just don’t trust a lot of bronzies *|
RS: bronzie? X:(
PM: sorry * force of habit *|
RS: i thought you didnt like highbloods
PM: i do hate them *|
RS: but you also hate lowbloods
PM: i don’t * well * it’s complicated RS *| i don’t hate you *|
RS: well i know that X:)
RS: but why do you also dislike lowbloods X:(
PM: look * it’s complicated *| i can’t offer an explanation right now *| i like you RS but i don’t know you close enough to explain it
RS: ok X:)
PM: if you want to play a game or something * i’m not actually on job right now *|
RS: oh do you have any suggestions
PM: my friend HS got a game from a friend of a friend of a friend *|
RS: oh
RS: HS is going to be there
PM: hes not that bad of a guy once you get to know him *|
RS: but he wouldnt stop flirting with me and said that lowbloods who were shy were really cute X:(
RS: and then dammek got mad at me that i let a highblood do that to me
RS: also i thought you hated highbloods
PM: are we back on this again *|
PM: i don’t like 90% of highbloods and i don’t like 90% of lowbloods but i like you RS and i like HS *| he has problems * yes * but he’s working through them * i think *|
PM: he’s just not very good about talking about it *|
RS: i think that remains to be seen
PM: it won’t just be him and me *| so are you in for some fun or not *|
RS: sure
RS: yeah ill join X:)
PM: great *|
RS: so what is the game about X:?
PM: ok so it’s called ALTERNIS PARADOXUM * looks like some kind of complicated strategy game *|
RS: sounds interesting but i dont know how good ill be at it
RS: im not very smart
PM: you’ll be fine RS *| we’ll get started on it in a few hours so be ready *|
RS: ok X:)
RS: talk to you later X:)

[ risingSlammer stopped trolling pricklyMercenary ]

Xefros pushed himself away from the keyboard. It was… not exact what he had planned on doing today but it didn’t matter. It was something, and that was enough for Xefros. He thought for a moment about if there was anyone else to talk to. There was one person he could think of. A troll that he met on a musical forum. She was really nice and he listened to a couple of her demo tracks and they were incredible. They were also slightly familiar but he couldn’t place a finger on them.

[ risingSlammer started trolling anxiousVocalist ]

RS: whats up X:)
AV: oh / hey RS
RS: want to play a game today
AV: uh / i’m not sure i have the time
AV: what kind of game is it?
RS: my friend RM said a bunch of people were gonna play it
RS: it seems rather Xperimental according to RM
AV: you know / i really could use a break for a little bit
AV: count me in
RS: great X:D
RS: ill let RM know

[ risingSlammer stopped trolling anxiousVocalist ]

Satisfied with getting someone else on board, Xefros stood up and started staring at the window again. The temporary distraction made him entirely forget about Dammek over in his hive. Just like before, Xefros thought he could almost see him in there, working.

There was a tantalizing feeling it gave him. Dammek was doing something that nobody else could. He’d free everyone! And for being his loyal moirail, he’d free him first. Right? Of, course. How could Xefros doubt his moirail like that. That’s why Dammek was a great moirail and Xefros needed improvement as Dammek put it.

Maybe Dammek could use a break and play the game as well, Xefros thought. Xefros quickly copied the game from the version RM sent him to a grub for Dammek. He enthusiastically ran back down stairs, being careful as to not slip on the water he still hadn’t cleaned up. The bombs were still occasionally dropping so Xefros wasn’t entirely keen on running across the street to deliver it, especially because there were a few scorched holes in the road that were very clearly visible from the window. Just ten feet over and his hive would’ve been history, he thought.

By the door was a cuebat that Xefros had left there in a hurry. A few days ago he had been playing with it around the hive when he heard the first explosion outside. While he had been meaning to put it back once the bombs stopped dropping, he simply never quite got around to it. Now though, it might have a good purpose.

Xefros opened the door and a gust of warm wind breezed through, gently ruffling the corners of his t-shirt. It had been just a few days but it felt like an eternity since he had breathed in the fresh air. He took a moment to pause and take in the air for a moment, closing his eyes to appreciate the second.

When he opened his eyes, without a word or flinch, he cocked his head, closed one eye, steadied his hands, and sent the grub with a swift CRACK! across the road, landing it squarely on Dammek’s doorstep. Hah, Xefros thought. I guess I still have it.

Chapter Text

A crisis of the highest order had unfolded at the training offices for a group of tealbloods. It started two days ago when a bomb accidentally landed too close to the midblood’s area for comfort and knocked out a power cable. Since then, the copying machine hasn’t functioned properly.

This problem, while not strictly an inherently dangerous one, has proven to create a hostile attitude in the office that these young trolls are forced to work at for a sweep before they go off planet to do all kinds of legislacerating duties.

Tirona Kasund has been hiding behind her desk for about a day now. At first, things weren’t so bad. Or, as Tagora Gorjek succinctly put it about an hour after the copier originally failed: “Without the ability to reproduce information, we must bide our time and sit here until some lowblood can come and fix it for us. Lest we risk ruining paper via jams, or ink not flowing properly, or any other kind of issue, and that’d surely come out of our paychecks. Yes, it is the responsible thing to save credits and merely sit here on the clock until someone fixes it.”

This solution worked for about six hours (nobody wanted to leave out of fear of being bombed so the office was turned into a makeshift camp.) until the trolls realized that:
Failure to complete work could result in getting fired or culled.
Nobody was coming to fix the copier while there were bombs dropping.
There was no place to shower in the office nor any sopor slime to avoid the nightmares.

The result was, as Tyzias Entykk put it: “A recipe for disaster of the highest order.” And disaster would prove to be an apt description of the past few days. By the second day, two factions had formed in the office. On one side was Tagora who still swore that the right thing to do was wait out the issue. He was being backed up by Tegiri Kalbur who had done nothing but binge watch his favorite animes on his pockethusk since the brief blackout started.

On the other side of the office was Tyzias and her matesprit Stelsa Sezyat who insisted that the work needed to continue despite the lack of a copying machine. The way that Tirona saw it, the only really good argument that Tagora had was that the power kept flickering and she really didn’t want to loose any of her files. On the other hand, she was also quite burned out from a crunch she had to do last week and so the idea of a brief break while on the clock was almost insatiable.

The two groups needed Tirona to be on their side to have the number advantage on the others, but Tirona sat behind her desk, cowering as the occasional pencil flew over the barrier that had been made in the middle of the room. The pencil tumbled through the air, almost in slow motion to Tirona who watched it arc across the divide.

“Ow!” Stelsa whined after the pencil ricocheted offer her head. “Oops.” Tagora replied before giggling menacingly behind cover to Tegiri who frankly seemed disinterested in Tagora’s games. Tirona pushed her head back down behind the cover of the thick wooden desk.

“Tirona, darling,” Stelsa started. “Surely you can’t be endorsing this kind of behavior in the office. Come and join our side and we’ll be able to out-vote the other side and get back to work! You don’t want to be culled, do you?”

“Uh-”
Tirona started to groan before Tegiri cut in. “The winds may blow hard but the sturdy tubeflora never bows despite how short it may be. Stay firm, Tirona.”

“Uh-”
Tirona started again. “Oh come now, Tegiri. Not more of this nonsense about tubefloras and wind or whatever.”

“Uh-”
“He’s right though, Stelsa.” Tagora butted in. Again. He was still trying to control his laughter from his successful pencil mortar campaign. “Tirona may be dissuaded from joining your side if you keep pressuring her.”

“Uh-”
“We’re merely providing a logical alternative.” Tyzias stepped in. “You’re just causing disarray in the office by refusing to work and by flinging pencils at us. We merely want to appeal to Tirona’s sensibilities to persuade her to help us resolve this conflict.”

“Uh-”
“I am not an agent of chaos as you may call me. I can sue you for slander, you know. What if a client heard that?” Tagora said, poking his head above the divide. Before he could get an answer to his question, a rubber band collided with his forehead sending him scampering back to the floor. Tirona watched as he flung himself dramatically backwards on his back and landing next to Tegiri (who still wasn’t paying full attention to him) with his eyes closed.

“Uh-”
“Heh, nice shot Stels.” Tyzias smiled.
“Oh thank you darling, he had it coming.”

“Uh-”
Tagora pushed himself up with a groan. “Where am I?” He weakly groaned. “What’s…” He stopped for a dramatic breath. “-going on?”
“Oh, please, surely you’re not pretending to have amnesia.” Stelsa was not amused.
“I might just have to sue for this,” Tagora replied, his tone still what came across to Tirona as very obviously fake. “Unless there was a third person over here to help me.”

“Uh-”
“Don’t be so pathetic, Tagora.” Tyzias shot her head above the divide. “Nobody is going to get sued and you’re going to get your spinal crevice up and go do your work!”

“Uh-”
“Stop groaning, Tirona!” Tyzias shot a look at her. Tirona immediately shut her mouth and choked out a quiet ‘sorry’ before ducking back behind the desk.

Another shockwave was felt throughout the office. “What was that?” Tagora shot up quickly. “See, I knew you weren’t really hurt.” Stelsa replied. “No, I’m serious. What was that?” Tagora said again. Stelsa paused with a surprised expression on her face. “I’m sure it was just a distant bomb, I mean those have been going off for days now.” Another shockwave came through. The light on the ceiling swung back and forth, flickering for a moment with a buzz.

Tirona could feel her blood pusher beat just a bit faster as she poked her head up to the windowsill. “Well, what do you see, Tirona?” Stelsa asked.

Outside was an imperial battleship in the sky dropping bombs one after another slowly. Concerningly, they were getting louder with each bomb.

“They’re coming straight at us!” Tirona flipped out onto her feet. Tagora also quickly drew himself up with a nervous expression, followed by Stelsa and then Tyzias. Everyone (except Tegiri) realized that the battleship was in fact headed straight at the midblood subgrub of Outglut, including their offices.

“Quick! We gotta get to the bomb shelter, now!” Tagora furiously grabbed a handful of his things and sprinted out of the office suite. Tegiri finally stood up and trudged out of the hallway, eyes firmly glued to pockethusk. Tyzias latched closed a dossier she had been working up before grabbing all of Stelsa’s work. Stelsa meanwhile collected her lipstick, bright pink coat, and husktop.

Tirona lingered on the window for one second before another bomb shook the building. She ripped open her desk, grabbed her collection of music grubs of HATCHED2DANCE and her signed poster before following the others out of the room.

Other tealbloods were standing in their offices, watching the fiasco going down both outside and in the hallway as a clearing was blazed by Tagora who shoved his way past carts, a small bronzeblood courier, and stacks of paper before reaching the elevator.

At the elevator, Tagora haphazardly punched the down button with hand. “Ow! That hurt way more than I thought it would!” Nobody paid attention to this. Tyzias and Stelsa arrived a second later. They had been more careful not to run straight into the dazed looking bronzeblood. Tegiri followed up next as the doors began to close. “Can we hold the doors? Tirona isn’t here yet.” Stelsa worriedly scanned the buttons on the elevator. “Wait for me!” Tirona shouted, hopping over a stack of fallen folders.

The elevator doors closed.

“She was nice, it’s a shame to lose her.” Tyzias dryly added. “She’s not dead yet, darling. Still, we should’ve held the door for her and set an example for all the other tealbloods that we have the best team cohesion. After all, team cohesion is part of our collective advancement in the business of legislacering and I think these last few days have shown a lack of cohesion.” Stelsa shot a look at Tagora who was still rubbing his hand. “My self-preservation instincts took over. I cleared the way for us to evacuate. I’ll bill you for the trouble, and my poor hand, later since I’m feeling generous.”

Meanwhile, Tirona was sprinting down the staircase as fast as possible. She clutched her music grubs close as she skipped down two steps at a time, nearly tripping on a few of the steps. How could only six floors feel so infinite?, she wondered. Tirona counted the floors down. Fifth floor. Another bomb. Fourth floor. Another bomb. Third floor. Two bombs. Second floor. And the power cut out.

In complete darkness, Tirona stumbled down the last set of stairs, scattering her music grubs across the floor. Tirona pushed herself up. “Ow,” She whined to herself. “That really hurt.” She could feel a drop of teal blood coming from her elbow. Another bomb rocked the building. Tirona coughed from the dust. Oh, if only they hadn’t left her behind. They were probably having a fun time in the shelter without her.

“You son of a-” Stelsa shouted.
“No, no, no! Listen to me!” Tagora shouted back.
“This was your idea to take the elevator. I never should’ve trusted your judgment!”
“It was a good idea! How was I supposed to know the elevator would lose power?”
“It should’ve been pretty obvious, Tagora.” Tyzias jumped in.

The three of them continued to shout, though none of them were even entirely sure what direction to shout in to maximize yelling potential as the elevator was pitch black and stuck between floors.

“Don’t you know not to use an elevator in the event of an emergency?” Stelsa said back to him.
“This wasn’t an emergency until just now! Seriously! How much do I have to defend myself here, you two are relentless!” Tagora stamped his foot, causing the elevator to shake a little bit.
“Don’t do that!” Stelsa hit back. “Where are you Zizi, I’m frightened!”
“I’m right here.”
“Right where?”
“Oh, please.” Tagora groaned.

For a moment, there was a break of silence as Stelsa and Tyzias tried to find each other in the cramped box.

“Who is this?” Stelsa asked, grabbing someone by the horns.
“That’s me!” Tagora yelled. “Let go, let go!”

Tagora nervously laughed before muttering something nobody could hear. After a sharp breath, he calmly asked. “Is Tegiri even still here?”

“Yes.”
“Alright, just making sure. Stelsa. I…” He paused, made a slight choking noise, before coughing himself back to being upright. “I apologize.”
“That’s new from you, Tagora.” Stelsa replied, surprised. “Thank you.”

Tagora could feel beads of sweat rolling off of his face, but thankfully nobody could see that. It was unprofessional to fight, and unprofessional to argue. It was also unprofessional to sweat. This sudden change of heart, Tagora knew, was not particularly genuine per se, but it proved to him and hopefully everyone else that he was able to recalibrate himself when needed.

Tirona, meanwhile, scrounged around on the dark ground looking for the music grubs. One, two, three, four, five. She counted in her hands. There was one left somewhere. Another bomb hit, sending two out of her hands as she flinched. “Ah!” She dropped to the ground quickly to find the two again. One, two, three, four, five, six! Aha! She had gotten all of them. Opening up the door revealed the lobby of the office basked in an eerie red light from the exit signs. Fiery orange and red flames flickered outside the office through the blinds on the window.

Tirona reached for the handle to go down to the shelter when she heard a crunch. She flipped around. This time it sounded like twisting metal coming from the elevator. “Hello?” Tirona asked. It was silent. All the other trolls from the first flood had left. Tirona slowly stepped towards the elevator and put her ear up to it as best she could without her horns getting in the way when…

Out with a crash! Tagora, Tyzias, and Stelsa spilled out onto the floor with Tegiri elegantly stepping out behind them.

“I thought you guys were already in the shelter!” Tirona exclaimed.
“Well we thought you were dead.” Tagora brushed himself off.
“Nope, I’m doing ok. I scraped my elbow though.”
“Oh you poor thing,” Stelsa grabbed Tirona’s arm, making her wince. “We’ll get you cleaned up as soon as we get to the shelter.”
“Right, about that,” Tyzias paused. Another bomb crashed outside the building. “We should probably just go there now.”

The five trolls descended one last staircase and into the concrete shelter. It was small, not particularly comfortable, but it was at least safe. Tagora, with a show of modest at best strength, turned the giant handle to seal the door shut.

“What about everyone else in the building?” Tirona asked.
“Ah, they’ll be fine.” Tagora waved his hand.

The five sat in a circle in the small room. The morale wasn’t great, but it had surprisingly improved since that morning when they were trying to flick pencils at each other.

Tirona pulled out her pockethusk. Surprisingly, there was still service in the bunker.

[ anxiousVocalist started trolling heartfulCommenter ]

AV: hey / saw your status update

HC: my status?

AV: yeah / something about you hiding in a bunker?

HC: oh my auto-updat33r must have s33t that for m33.

AV: why are you hiding in a bunker??

HC: uh w33ll you s3333, th33r33 ar33 bombs outsid33.

AV: oh my god / are those bombs outside near you

HC: mor33 lik33 on top of us

AV: well i guess you’ll be stuck in place for a while / that’s actually kinda convenient.

HC: oh?

AV: i was invited to play a game but i have no idea what i’m going to be doing / have you heard of ALTERNIS PARADOXUM?

HC: no

AV: i hadn’t either / but a bunch of us are going to be playing it / i just thought you might want to play too

HC: b33ing stuck in a bunk33r isn’t 33xactly fun.

HC: so ok!

HC: b33sid33s, it’ll b33 a good chanc33 to spr33ad th33 good word of the 33mpir33 to mor33 p33opl33

AV: right / yeah / great…

[ anxiousVocalist stopped trolling heartfulCommenter ]

An opportunity, Tirona thought, was an opportunity, though AV didn’t seem entirely thrilled about the idea of doing that.

Tirona didn’t understand a lot about AV. The two had met a while ago through sharing some funny posts together and they liked to talk about HATCHED2DANCE. AV apparently liked to make her own music. That was so cool, Tirona thought. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something off about AV. One time, AV decided to talk positively about The Mask. The Mask!

The Mask was going to get what they deserved some day, Tirona thought. The idea warmed her heart. And on that day, AV’s thinkpan would turn on and she’d realize The Mask was not all she was cracked up to being. Some day it’d happen.

Tirona turned towards the group who was still silently sitting in a circle.

“Hey, guys,” Tirona said. The group picked their heads up. “I have something for us to do until we can get out of here.”

This seemed to ease the mood.

Chapter Text

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

The troll in the recuperacoon refused to move-

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Until he absolutely had to.

Beep. Beep. Be-

“Enough!” He shouts, reaching out to slam the alarm. Flecks of sopor slime splatter on the desk. He’ll have to clean it up later because he sure as hell isn’t cleaning it up before he gets his coffee.

He pulls himself out of the slime and quickly showers it off, taking great care to get every little bit out of his long hair. Hoofbeasttails are a nightmare to form when hair is wet but it had to be done.

He squeezes as much of the water out with a towel as he can before looking in the mirror. His face is tired, more so than usual. The clock on the wall reads ‘12:30 PM’. He knows he shouldn’t go to bed so late and wake up so late, but he always has his best ideas at night. Also that seemed to be when all of his friends were around. Normally people didn’t talk to him during the day, for some reason. Oh, and the club scene. You can’t do that when the sun’s still up.

Once he changes out of his ragged, sopor slime stained t-shirt, into his proper attire, he finally feels like a highblood. And from downstairs, he can already smell the coffee.

His name is Zebruh Codakk and today should be a day like any other: A day to ignore his problems and fool around doing stuff. Those were the best kinds of days. Back in his room, he picks up his sleeping clothes and drapes them over the recuperacoon. Outside of his window, he could see the fires still glowing in the distance across town. For just a moment, Zebruh wonders about the people that he knows and if its their hives burning. Thankfully his hive is safe from the destruction. Maybe if their hives got destroyed, they’d have to come and stay at his. Wouldn’t that be fun? Like a party. A party…

The hive is massive, Zebruh reflects as he steps out into the main hallway from his room. His lusus, who is strangely absent most of the time, at least has the courtesy to make coffee before fucking off to wherever it is he goes. Now that Zebruh thinks about it, he can’t remember the last time he and his lusus had a day together. It must’ve been sweeps. Oh well.

Zebruh descended the winding staircase slowly. He learned as a young grub not to run down polished stone in socks or else you have a chance to go flying off. The small bruise on his right leg is a perfect example of that, when he thought sprinting down would go just fine. It did not.

One by one, Zebruh slowly descended the stairs and made his way to the kitchen. The coffee maker was still going. Perfect. Zebruh opened the cupboard drawer dedicated to all things mugs (even though there was only ever one person in his hive) and scanned his way downward. There was his imperially mandated mug that had the emblem of the empire emblazoned on it. And there was ones for various bands Zebruh had enjoyed over the years. And then there was the one that just said “Zebruh.” on it in plain text. He picked that one.

The bitterness shocked him awake. Zebruh wanted to spit out the horrible coffee but held it in. He quickly opened the cupboard with the coffee in it and looked at it. A small sticker was on the back that he must have missed while buying it. “Due to drought on Colony 2005, coffee for the next perigee will be supplemented with additives.” That was the nice codeword of saying they put dirt in it to make it go farther. Still, caffeine was caffeine, so he gulped it down in two quick mouthfuls (ignoring that it was burning hot) to ignore the taste. “Bleh,” Zebruh placed the mug on the counter. “Really, how hard is it just to get some good coffee? This is what I get for buying Empire brand.”

Zebruh stood and stared out the window a bit longer. His subgrub was serene and calm. Outside the window, blue and indigo trolls walked around on their pockethusks, or talked to each other. And then off in the distance, the horizon glowed a menacing red. Red like the rustbloods, Zebruh thought. Hopefully some good resistance music would come from this. But his contemplation was short lived by a buzz: An alert on his wrist.

New message from piercedCoder.

Across the slick floor, Zebruh dashed to the stairs and up towards his room again. You never miss an opportunity to talk to someone, Zebruh thought. That was just common knowledge. Above all else, he knew he was a networker.

[ piercedCoder started trolling hoovedStaker ]
PC: what = up;
HS: I just pulled myself out of my recuperacoon, thanks for asking.
PC: of course, of course;
HS: So… ♦what’s up?♦
PC: pricklyMercenary told me about a game going down;
HS: Oh, yeah. She was sent this game from a friend of a friend of a friend.
PC: i want in;
HS: Really? I mean, ♦I won’t say no.♦
PC: save it, HS;
HS: ♠You know that’s just how I talk, PC.♠
PC: yeah but it = funny;
HS: ♠Shut up!♠
PC: heh it = too easy to tick you off;
HS: Yeah… probably. Sorry, I had a rough night last night.
PC: what happened;
HS: I got into a nasty argument with Chixie Roixmr.
PC: not again, smh;
HS: It wasn’t my fault! I was at a club and she happened to be there too and I said she looked great and she said “Don’t talk to me” and I said “Well I was just complimenting you.” and she said “I don’t care, I told you last time not to talk to me.” and I said “So what are you doing here tonight.” and then she said “I’m going to ask you again to please not talk to me.” and I said “I’m just trying to make pleasantries with an elegant bronzeblood.” and then she started yelling at me.
PC: yeah uh what the fuck;
PC: why did you keep talking to her;
PC: that != make sense;
HS: I was just trying to be nice!
PC: you probably came across as a creep because what you did was really stupid;
HS: It wasn’t meant to be creepy!
PC: intentional or not, that = your mistake;
HS: So what do I do? Do I talk to her?
PC: no;
PC: do not do that;
HS: So when what should I do?
PC: just say nothing;
PC: just let things cool down;
HS: But I’m impatient…
PC: well that = your problem then;
HS: She blocked me on everything. I mean come on! Am I really that off putting?
PC: sometimes yes;
HS: ♠Hey!♠
PC: i’m just being honest with you bro;
PC: i don’t hate you but i think you got some issues;
HS: I’m doing just fine.
PC: but are you sure about that;
HS: Yes.
PC: aight then;
HS: That’s it?
PC: yea;
HS: Oh, well, right then.
PC: we got off topic from the game;
HS: Right! The game!
HS: Yeah so pricklyMercenary described it to me last night. Basically, it’s some kind of weird game where you have to progress up planets and fight each other? I’m not really clear on the details but I guess the idea of a fighting game appealed to her sensibilities.
PC: she does seem to like that kind of thing;
HS: ♥That’s cuz she’s an oliveblood and oliveblood girls are so strong.♥
PC: you’re doing that thing again, HS;
HS: Right, sorry.
PC: you really have to work on your wording, man;
HS: I’ll, uh…
HS: I’ll work on it.
PC: right then, moving on;
HS: The game seems neat but apparently it’s better the more people are in it. You want to join?
PC: yeah sure, why not;
HS: ♦Wonderful!♦
HS: Talk to you later.

[ hoovedStaker stopped trolling piercedCoder ]

Why did piercedCoder always have to call him out like that? Really, if he was there he would’ve sided with him. Obviously. Duh. Still, the thoughts of last night were stuck in his head and hadn’t been drowned out by the cheap coffee. Why did he always have to make these same stupid mistakes? Couldn’t anyone see that he was just trying to fit in?

His husktop bleeped again.

[ eruditeListener started trolling hoovedStaker ]
EL: So, I heard about the game.
HS: Did PC tell you?
EL: Yes.
HS: Figures.
EL: Anyway, I’d like to join in as well. It sounds like a fascinating experience. I don’t usually play games with people across the hemospectrum, let alone play games at all. I think this could be an interesting opportunity for me.
HS: Well if you want in, then you’re in.
EL: Perfect. And you won’t mind if I invite my friend Elwurd? She’s another blueblooded associate of me and Mallek. As I’m sure you’re aware, we all know each other.
HS: Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just get on with it.
EL: Perfect.
HS: While you’re at it, how about that jadeblood you know.
EL: Daraya? We’ve only talked once.
HS: Yeah but we should get as many as possible, right?
EL: I suppose, yes. I’ll ask her as well.
HS: Perfect, talk to you later.
EL: See you.

[ eruditeListener stopped trolling hoovedStaker ]

Well that went surprisingly well, Zebruh thought. The more the merrier after all. And hey, it might be a good opportunity to meet some more lowbloods. After all, all his quadrants were empty, and Zebruh wasn’t frankly picky.

No, in fact one might even have said he was desperate. Gah! Get those thoughts of out your head, Zebruh! He thought slamming his palm against his forehead. Bad thoughts. Bad thoughts. They don’t belong in a man of your composure. Get rid of them. Ignore them. Ignore them. A few more slams of his palm against his forehead did the trick (though it also left a slight indigo mark across his forehead. Whatever, he could just tell people he got into a really cool fight and won.)

Zebruh had to take one last peek out of the window. The fires were growing larger and larger on the horizon. The sky, once a serene ocean of dusky purple and blues, glowed like a fireball slowly encroaching on his hive. The battleship, a monolith of imperial might, hovered silhouetted against the reddened sky. Zebruh grabbed the latches of the window and pulled it open. Warm, dusty wind blew into the room past him.

Off in the distance was another rumble. They would stay far, far away. All of this was just a simple backdrop, done for fun. Sure, it wasn’t right but no fun would endanger the highbloods. Of course Zebruh felt bad for the lowbloods. He was an ally first and foremost to the plight of all the lowbloods that were being senselessly terrorized out there. But what was he supposed to do other than watch it happen from his window? He was powerless to do anything and he knew that. It didn’t really bother him though. He wasn’t the one getting blown up.

Still, there was an unsettled nature to the wind that pricked at his nerves. The fires were closer than they were a day ago, and much closer than they were a day ago. Of course, all of his plans to hit up clubs on the other side of Outglut had been canceled because it was dangerous so he just had to stay inside his hive, restlessly pacing back and forth alone through the vast halls that made up the place. From his window, every day, he checked the horizon to see if it would be clear of smoke, but it hadn’t happened yet. In fact, by his estimates it looked like the new fires were coming from midblood neighborhoods. This was never a good sign. What was the Heiress doing?

Zebruh stepped over to his room sized music player and placed a grub inside. The music slowly faded in behind him as he stepped out onto the balcony of his room. The slow, moody tones of synthesizers swelled behind him as he took in a deep breath of the burning air. He looked up at the moons that were hidden behind the plumes of smoke that continued to rise ever higher and higher into the sky when a small piece of ash landed on his forehead. Zebruh plucked it off and stared at it. This meant more was coming, he could feel it.

Chapter Text

Oh, it was over. Years of work were being poured down the drain. Vikare Ratite grabbed an old, tattered duffel bag and stuffed as many papers as he could haphazardly. He could always fix his blueprints later, if there even would be a later. Whatever happened, happened. He could rebuild any models and prototypes that couldn’t be saved. He could redraw any of his blueprints. He simply needed to leave now.

Vikare lived in a tall multihive. Large complexes of hives were stacked on top of one another, making up the more dense areas of Outglut. Sure, they were cramped, but it didn’t matter. The rent was cheaper and you could never count that out as a lowblood. Vikare moved quickly, grabbing his models, ripping his posters off the walls, putting just about anything he could in the old bag. Finally, he put on his aviator’s coat and looked in the mirror. It was time. Goggles on.

In the closet was a glider he had spent hours working on. He hadn’t actually tested it whatsoever, so who knows what was about to happen. He couldn’t leave down the bottom so it was now or never. Six stories below, he could see the fire slowly growing upwards towards him. One of Trizza’s haphazardly launched bombs hit a fuel container down on the first floor of the multihive, causing a massive explosion. Within minutes, the entire first floor was engulfed in white hot flames. Bronze and rustbloods were running everywhere in a panic. Out any door possible, hell, out the windows if they thought the jump to another building was possible or at least survivable. But Vikare had a plan.

Smoke continued to rise through the vents in the floors. It was becoming difficult to breath but he’d be in clean air soon enough. He ignored the hot air as much as possible as he lugged the glider up the stairs, pushing his way past crowds who were running down. At the top of the multihive, he was at least 10 stories up though he had never actually learned the true height. He fastened his duffel bag one last time. It was time to take a leap of faith.

Down below, he caught one last glimpse of the fires burning out of control. Just a block away, another tall multihive was engulfed in their own flames. Vikare stepped onto the ledge of the building and took a sharp breath. Now was the time for courage, not running away. It was time to fly! With his hands firmly gripped to the rusty metal bars, Vikare lept from the building.

At first, he closed his eyes. After all, if he did end up splattering on the ground, he didn’t want to see it coming. One second passed. Then another. Then another. According to his calculations, it would’ve taken about three seconds to hit the ground. And then… four seconds. Five seconds. Vikare opened his eyes. Six seconds! And the building was behind him! Lift off!

In front of him was a midblood subgrub. Single troll hives dotted the landscape. He must’ve still been at least 80 or more feet in the air. And the timing was perfect too: The hot air from the fires created a pressure system for him (or just extra powerful wind as he explained it to his friends) that pushed him along through the sky.

This was working surprisingly well, Vikare noted to himself as he breathed in the now clear air. In fact, by his original estimates, he should’ve landed already. Looking down at all the trolls below, some of them looked like ants still. One troll was standing on his balcony outside of a massive hive. The indigo troll waved briefly at him and Vikare waved back. How strange. Actually, now that Vikare thought about it, this might be working too well. Ahead of him was a vast expanse of forests that he had never been in before. Oh well, he’d just have to go and see what was out there even if it meant risking getting lost. That was the spirit of adventure.

With the city far behind him, Vikare started to brush against the tops of the tall trees that covered the forest outside of Outglut. In fact one tree seemed to be a bit taller than the rest. And oh no, he was headed straight for it. Vikare tugged on one side of the glider to try and get it to turn, but the pulley was stuck. Vikare tugged on it again but it simply refused to move. “Abort! Abort”! Vikare yelled, trying to detangle himself from the glider. “Crash landing imminent!”

The glider tumbled down the branches of the tree to the ground, throwing Vikare and his duffel bag around. Branch after branch collapsed until Vikare found himself lying on the ground underneath the glider. He was still alive, thankfully, but he had very clearly pulled his back and wouldn’t be able to either move the glider or be able to get up for a while. If he could get vertical, it’d surely heal quickly but he just couldn’t get up at the moment. The glider was probably ruined too. From his limited field of vision, he could tell that it was sharply bent down the middle. A proper damn shame.

For another minute he lay there, resting his eyes. There was nothing else to do but rest after that. The thrill of flight was still coursing through his blood pusher though. His bronze blood was radiating with a fire that he had never truly felt before. In fact, he’d do it again right now if he could. If the glider wasn’t bent, he’d climb up that massive tree and soar off across the forest again. And yeah, he’d go and crash in another tree, but who cared? It was part of the adventure. The excitement, the soaring, the crashing. He wanted all of it again. But his fantasies were quickly broken by a sound.

A branch broke in the distance. And then another. Vikare held still. He could hear what sounded like foots crunching on the ground one after another. How could there have been another troll out here? Vikare just hoped that it was someone who’d understand, and not someone working for the Empire who decided he needed to be culled for gliding away from the fire.

“Are you ok?” A low voice asked from above.

“Quite alright, my good man. Just in need of a bit of a lift.”

There was a pause.

“You know, getting this gliding contraption I devised off of me.”

“Right, I was just thinking how to do it without hurting you.”

“It’s pretty heavy to lift, I have to drag it. Also I’m not that badly hurt, sir, so you can just get it straight off.”

“Alright, I will lift.”

“Are you sure you-”

The troll heaved the glider off of Vikare, revealing both him and the forest tops above him. He was a rustblood troll which made Vikare feel a bit more at ease since they weren’t likely to try and cull him for the Empire since rustbloods were typically busy getting culled themselves. The rustblood tossed the glider to the side and extended a hand to Vikare. He was wearing gloves caked with mud and dirt. It was a bit of a shame for Vikare to get dirt on his aviator gloves but at this point, he really couldn’t be bothered.

“Thanks for that, my main man. If I may inquire, what is the name of your persons?”

“What?”

“Your name.”

Nobody entirely understood how Vikare talked, for some reason. Vikare was just trying his best to speak like the explorers of old. Surely everyone else knew about the ancient explorers, right?

“Fozzer Velyes. I run the Happy Absence Pit Park.”

“Ah, I love a good park. What kind is it? A plaza, a promenade, or a gazebo?”

“It’s a graveyard.” Fozzer replied.

“Oh, I see.”

A graveyard? Really? Vikare wasn’t sure those had existed for hundreds of sweeps. It certainly wasn’t very customary, but neither was Vikare’s ways of speaking so at least they had something in common.

“Right-o then. What now?” Vikare asked.

“If you want, you can come back to the park. Have some scalding leaf fluid and tell me why you were lying on the ground out here under… whatever that thing is.”

“That is a gliding machine!” Vikare enthusiastically replied. Fozzer stared blankly at him.

“It lets you fly in the air.” Vikare said, a bit amused. Fozzer nodded and seemed to understand at least what it did even if he didn’t understand how it worked or why anyone would want to fly.

The park was gloomy and dim but a cozy and modest hive was nestled in the corner. Vikare watched his step in between the various gravestones that marked all the different trolls that had been buried there. It was morbid, and Vikare didn’t really know how to feel about it, but it seemed to make Fozzer happy in a way that flight made him happy. And Fozzer clearly didn’t understand why Vikare wanted to fly so at least they were on even footing in this situation.

Inside the hive wasn’t much. It was just a few rooms, barely heated, but Fozzer didn’t seem to really mind it. On the stove was a small kettle that Fozzer pulled off and poured two small glasses of the scalding leaf fluid.

“Ah, how rejuvenating, my burgundy friend.” Vikare declared before taking a sip. The steam of the drink clouded his goggles slightly. Fozzer didn’t seem entirely amused by his presence.

“I must ask, why did you ‘fly’ here.” Fozzer asked. The emphasis on fly made Vikare feel as though Fozzer still didn’t really believe he had flown.

“I assure you it was a matter of life and death. You see, the heiress has been bombing Outglut recently.”

“Yes, I saw the glowing on the horizon. There will be so much more to bury soon.”

“Right, you get it then. Well you see, my multihive was engulfed in a most dangerous fire and-”

“Multihive?”

“You must never have visited the metropolis then?” Vikare looked at the gravedigger. The answer was obvious enough to Vikare but he had to make sure.

“Yes, I have never been. Why would I need to go?”

“There are the most wonderful of resources plentiful to the urban environment that-”

“Get on with it.” Fozzer grumbled.

“A multihive is a bunch of hives combined together. They can go hundreds of feet into the ether.”

“Right.”

“Well the one I resided in had a quite nasty fire due to the heiress and I would’ve surely perished in the pyre if I hadn’t escaped through most daring means.”

“You mean the glider?” Fozzer asked.

“Correct! I dragged it to the top of the multihive, about 100 feet up or so, and I leapt off the building.”

Fozzer looked at him with surprise.

“And that glider of yours. It carried you all the way here?”

“Quite so. It worked better than I ever could’ve dreamed! I soared amongst the clouds and into the forest where I had my most untimely descent. You see, my steering choked and I hit that tall tree and fell to the ground.”

“You’re lucky not to be grub food then. If you hit your head, I might’ve had to bury you.”

“Hence why I am glad that the landing was not fatal. Oh, may I trouble you for a sugar cube?”

“I can’t afford sugar.”

“Quite alright, I usually drink it bare anyway.”

“How do I know you’re not an imperial spy.”

Vikare choked on his scalding leaf fluid.

“Pardon me?”

“How do I know you’re not a spy.”

“Uh, well, I suppose there is no verifiable way to prove that I am or not, but I can personally assure you that I am not a spy. I had no guarantee that you’d spot and rescue me from where I landed. Like you said, I could’ve easily been deceased from the fall.”

This seemed to be satisfactory to the suspicious rustblood, though Vikare couldn’t exactly puzzle out why Fozzer was so suspicious of him.

“I must ask, sir, you have people out here to talk to, right? Social isolation is bad for one’s mental fortitude, you are aware of this, yes?” Vikare asked.

“I prefer to go alone.”

“As do I, but surely you have some associates, right?”

“Friends?”
“Precisely.”

“A few. One of them gave me this pockethusk to use, but I hate using the damn thing. Technology is mostly a tool of the Empire to keep lowbloods occupied and not questioning the system they are born into.

“A fascinating observation, my burgundy friend. But I am glad to hear that you do not simply talk to the ghosts.”

“But they are fun company.”

“Right…” Vikare paused. 

This troll very clearly needed to talk to more people, and that meant a lot coming out of Vikare’s mouth. Usually he was getting ragged on for being a terribly introverted fellow, but this rustblood was really taking the cake as far as he was concerned on the isolation front.

“How about you add me as a compatriot on your Trollcord?” Vikare asked.

“Sure, why not.”

The two exchanged information.

“Hey, look at that, we have one associate in common.” Vikare pointed at their respective screens. They apparently both knew users named legendaryTarget and their matesprit clawedShadow.

“So, how do you know them?” Fozzer asked.

Vikare recalled that the yellowblooded one, legendaryTarget, once inquired to him about his blueprints. Apparently the troll and his matesprit were curious if they could’ve been used to carry out their clandestine missions of varying intensity that Vikare wasn’t allowed to know the true nature of. Of course, Vikare reasoned that it meant they were killing trolls because it was pretty obvious. He didn’t frankly care. Everyone had to eat. While his blueprints weren’t useful to the pair, they became small time friends and spoke occasionally some pleasantries. Recently, before Vikare was forced to leave his hive, they invited him to play some strange game.

Vikare recounted the story to Fozzer.

“Checks out.” Fozzer replied. “They once came running through here asking if we could dispose of a body. Of course I said yes. I didn’t realize at the time that they were responsible for the troll’s death but I figured it out after the sixth time they asked me to bury a body that something was strange. The yellowblooded one gave me his spare pockethusk and set me up for Trollcord so he could tell me any time he needed to swing by and drop off a body. Of course I oppose murder, the senseless killing of lowbloods by other lowbloods is part of what keeps us oppressed, but it is my job to bury bodies regardless. All trolls deserve dignity after death.”

“An honorable mission.” Vikare replied. “I just love the thrill of flight though.”

“Why?”
“Why not? Why not explore the skies. We’ve gone so far into the stars but we’ve ignored the great purple beyond here on Alternia. I want to see it. I want to feel it.”

“I find myself much more connected to the ground of Alternia. The dirt, the soil. That is where we came from, that is what I work, that is what we will be.”

“Of course, of course. But what are we without the air we breath? But what is there to circumspice about the ground?”

“What?”

“Nevermind, don’t worry about it. Perchance you will see the skies too someday.”

“I doubt it.” Fozzer grumbled.

Vikare looked down at his pockethusk. It was post after post of trolls talking about the fires. They were really bad. In one of the videos, he could see his old multihive in the background collapsing in front of his eyes.

“My hive is officially annihilated.” Vikare sighed.

“I am sorry to hear that.” Fozzer replied, pouring more scalding leaf fluid for himself.

“I will need some kind of escape, just for a little while to recuperate my mind and body before returning to my work.”

Vikare thought for a while. “Well actually, there might be one thing. The yellowblood, what was his name again?”

“Azdaja, I think it was.”

“Righto, that chap. He invited me to play a game but I was too busy trying to flee from my impending doom to tell him it sounded interesting. Perhaps we could find some respite in the entertainment of an electronic video game product?”

“I don’t play games.” Fozzer grumbled, again. Seriously, what was it with this guy and grumbling?

“I heard you could play as a lowblood and win.”

“I’m in.”

That was surprisingly simple, Vikare thought. 

“Alright, I’ll see if they’re ready to talk on the telephone and-” Vikare started.

“What is a telephone?” Fozzer asked.

“-we can get started when they’re ready so-”

“What is a telephone?” Fozzer asked again.

“-lets just sit and talk for a bit longer, my good sir.”

Fozzer was staring blankly at him again.

“My friend, you have a penchant for a thousand yard stare, are you aware of this?”

“Sorry, Vikare. I’m just trying to understand what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t worry, my friend. I’m sure this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

“Come on! We’re going to miss it if you don’t hurry up!” Daraya Jonjet tugged on Bronya Ursama’s hand as the two waded through a sea of trolls up towards the stage. Daraya’s eyes shimmered brightly in the reflection of the multicolored lights that encircled the large stage. Bronya looked like she was about to vomit.

“This is the happiest I’ve ever seen you, Daraya.” Bronya huffed as she tried to catch up with her. “Of course I’m happy! I’m breaking the rules and fucking shit up!” Daraya finally reached the stage and placed her hands on it. It was going to begin soon and it’d be amazing.

“But why do we have to break the rules? Why couldn’t you have just listened to me when I told you not to go out?” Bronya asked, yelling over the crowd.
“You didn’t have to come.”
“But if I didn’t, you might have gotten culled. You know how it is being a jadeblood.”
“Lanque goes out all the time, why can’t I just have a night out.”
“Because-” Bronya stopped. She thought for a moment about how to phrase it without ticking Daraya’s short fuse. “Lanque doesn’t obey the rules, ok? And that’s not a good thing. I have to give him stern warnings all the time.”

Daraya scoffed off the reasoning, but that was probably the best that Bronya could’ve hoped for. Of course Bronya wanted to go out and do things too, and she did care about Daraya. It was just that Daraya had to prove that she was the bigger rebel than Lanque. At least, that’s what Bronya thought it all was about. No amount of rebellion was worth getting culled though. Why couldn’t Daraya see that?

Smoke began to trickle out from a smoke machine as a voice boomed out from the stage. “Wuz up! How’z we all doing tonight?” Marvus shouted as he strode onto the stage. Oh my gog, Daraya thought, he’s even more incredible in person! Marvus exuded an usual amount of cool even by purpleblood standards. It was no wonder that everyone wanted to see him. The crowd was jubilant, borderlining on obsessive, as the clown moved over to a microphone.

“Before we get this shiz on the road, we have a little entertainment first. Welcome to the show.” The crowd continued to cheer as two small, identical looking trolls came out. “This is Barzum and Baizli, they gonna do some cool shit, watch this.” The crowd turned their adoring gaze to the twins. Nobody in the crowd had ever likely seen twins before. Daraya certainly hadn’t.

She watched as the two of them began to perform acrobatics across the stage, lifting each other up into the air, flipping each other around. Baizli moved up a tower and leapt without a harness. The crowd gasped as he fell through the air only to be caught by Barzum who swung around to grab him with a trapeze. The crowd roared with cheering as the two flipped off the trapeze into a net.

There was juggling, tricks, and all sorts of crazy things going on as the lights continued to swirl around in every direction. Daraya felt memorized by the lights. They were so much more amazing and tantalizing than she ever thought she’d be able to see. In this moment, she wanted nothing more than to be on that stage too, being twisted into the air in front of a crowd. Was it going to happen? No. Would she even have done it if she was asked by those trolls to? Hell no. Still, in her think pan she dreamed about being able to fly.

Minutes passed slowly before the two trolls came down and walked to the front of the stage. They grabbed each other’s hands and raised them up. The crowd was loving it. Even Bronya seemed to be enjoying it, Daraya noted. Bronya was staring up at the stage, the colors of red and pink from the lights glowing off of her face. The clapping was loud and the main show hadn’t even started yet.

“Bronya, I want to go backstage when this is done.” Daraya yelled over the music.
“What?” Bronya yelled back.
“I want to go backstage when this is done!”
“No way, Daraya!”
“Yes way! C’mon!”
“Fine, but only for a minute if they even let us!”

Thankfully it was easy enough to get your way with Bronya, Daraya thought. Not that she wanted to abuse the privilege, just that it was a nice one to have in her back pocket whenever she needed to use it.

Marvus stepped forwards again, grinning widely towards the energy of the crowd. “Give it up for those two!” Marvus shouted. “And now it’s time for the main gig.” The music kicked into high gear. Daraya’s blood pusher was working overtime while Bronya looked like she was about to fall over. Daraya wondered why Bronya just couldn’t have some fun for once?

“Come on now, I want a troll to come up on stage.” Marvus yelled. The crowd went crazy, trolls reaching forwards to come up to join the purpleblood. Marvus scanned the crowd. So many boring trolls, he thought. Rustbloods, indigobloods. Peh, who cares about 90% of these people. Then his eyes locked on a troll near the front. A jadeblood? What was a jadeblood doing up here on the surface? She was dressed in some pretty neat punk clothing, a double rebellion! She’d do perfectly. Marvus extended his hand out for her. “Me?” Daraya asked. “Yuh, who else would be here? Your lusus over there?” He eyed at Bronya who was about to have a blood pusher attack.

Daraya grabbed onto Marvus’ hand and braced her foot onto the stage, getting hoisted up by the clown with one strong pull. This couldn’t be real, she thought. She had to be dreaming. This was all too amazing. Sweeps and sweeps, she thought to herself, sweeps of being stuck underground. Sweeps of silently existing in the background keeping to herself. Nobody else got ‘it’. Nobody else got her. But oh, none of them mattered now. Not Lanque, not Lynera. She was on top of the world.

“We got a jadeblood here, what’re you doing out?”
“Uhm, well,” Daraya stumbled to find her words. “I wanted to see your concert so I made an unsanctioned visit.”
“Damn, girl, that’s risky. I like it.” Marvus smiled underneath the lights. “So what’s your name?”
“Daraya. I’m Daraya Jonjet.”
“Alright, let’s have some fun tonight Daraya. Here, take this microphone.”

Daraya was an alright singer, she had plenty of experience doing it when she was alone in the caves, but she had never sung in front of a crowd before. But the high of adrenaline she was on dulled her nerves and hey, maybe it wasn’t a great performance, but Marvus seemed happy and the crowd was eating it up.

After the song ended, she hopped off stage.

“See me afterward, Daraya.” Marvus called down before continuing on with the show. Behind her, Bronya fainted.

Over at a bench, Daraya lightly poked at Bronya. Seriously, why did Bronya have to just go and fall over like that?

“Bronya? You ok?”
“What? No, of course I’m not ok!”
“But-”
“Daraya, we were not authorized to be here. If the authorities find out they might- they might cull both of us!”
“We’re not going to get culled!”
“How do you know.”
“Because Lanque parties on the surface all the time and-”
“I told you I don’t care about Lanque!”

Daraya paused. It was hard to get Bronya mad. It was really, really hard to get Bronya mad, and in this moment, she seemed quite mad, though that could’ve been the understatement of the perigee.

“Look, let’s just go backstage. The show is wrapping up and I got invited back there.”
“Oh right, that.” Bronya replied.
“Come on, please come with me Bronya. I’m going either way, I just want you to come with me.”

Bronya turned her eyes and looked at Daraya. Admittedly, even Daraya knew that this display was uncharacteristic for her. Both of them were so used to Daraya being cold and distant, Bronya recognized that this unusual warmth was perhaps once in a lifetime. “Alright,” Bronya sighed. “Let’s go back there.” Daraya smiled.

The two walked back towards the crowd that was beginning to disperse. A few olivebloods were blocking the entrance to the backstage area. “Business?” One of them asked. “Marvus wanted to see me.” Daraya replied. The trolls looked at each other before waving them through. Behind them, Bronya spotted some other trolls that looked like they were borderline drooling trying to push past the olivebloods to zero results.

The backstage was like a mirror maze, part carnival and part warehouse. There were lowbloods tiredly moving equipment around in seemingly no particular order: Lights, curtains, speakers, you name it. On the other hand there were a few mid and highbloods shuffling around, occasionally talking to each other but not seeming to be doing much work. A few of them glanced at the two out of place jadebloods moving through them without much idea of where to go, but nobody paid them any mind.

Eventually the two saw a little sign that read “Lounge” on it. “Lounge? How can there be a whole lounge back here?” Bronya asked. Daraya shrugged. In front of them was a purple door covered with stars. Daraya softly knocked on it. “Just a sec.” Marvus called from the other side. Daraya’s blood pusher surged. This was so cool. So. Cool.

Marvus, in all his imposing form, pulled open the door. “Ah, Daraya, good to see you sis. Was wondering when you’d come by. And this is?” He asked. “Bronya Ursama, my friend.” Daraya replied. Bronya extended her hand formally, almost robotically, which Marvus enthusiastically shook. “Come in, we was just hangin’ around.” Marvus waved his arm before disappearing into the lounge.

The lounge was dark, basqued in an uncomfortable shade of purple from overhead lights.

“Do you really trust purplebloods?” Bronya whispered.
“What? Come on, it’s just Marvus.” Daraya whispered back.
“Yeah but, don’t you ever just get the sense that purplebloods are up to something? I mean, even we know about the parties they have where lowbloods get sacrificed. They’re literally a cult!”
“We’re jadebloods, they won’t try anything against us. And besides, he’s just a pop star.”
“Daraya, you seem really different today. You’ve never been this trusting before. It all seems a bit out of character to me.”
“Well,” Daraya paused and thought for a moment. “Sure, maybe it is, but I just want to do something. Something cool, something daring.”
“What are you two doin’ draggin’ your feet.” Marvus called. “Come on in.”

Bronya took a deep breath and began walking again behind Daraya as the two turned a corner and approached a small area with a couch. Marvus sat down, making sure to take up at least half of it. Next to him was another older looking troll, a purpleblood with long hair. She looked rather tired behind her makeup and her hair stretched nearly all the way down to the floor. Finally, next to her were the twins, Barzum and Baizli looking depressed and excited respectively.

“Sorry if Bronya looks a little nervous, she’s afraid you’re going to sacrifice her.” Daraya laughed.

“Daraya!” Bronya yelled. Her face glowed jade with embarrassment. Marvus laughed. “Aw don’t worry about that. We don’t do that shiz. Well, maybe Chahut here, I dunno.”
“I haven’t done a sacrifice in a long time, Brother.” Chahut replied. “It’s not really that fun and frankly the church is finding it harder and harder to get new members when we keep killing all of them.”
“There you go, Bronya.” Marvus laughed.

Bronya nervously sat down around the circle with Daraya a second later.

“You did good on stage tonight.” Marvus said to Daraya across the circle.
“Thank you. That really means a lot.”
“But why’d you two come to the surface? I couldn’t really get a full answer on stage and I really am curious. You girls are taking a big risk, for real, for real.”
“Well you see, there’s this other jadeblood and he-” Daraya started.
“He?” Marvus raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah uh, his name is Lanque. He’s a total asshole.”
“Interesting. The only other male jadeblood I know is that guy Actias from that boyband whatever the fuck their name was.”
“HATCHED2DANCE.”
“Right, shit, forgot that. I don’t listen to their type of music.”
“I can’t say I blame you. Actias and Lanque do know each other though.”
“Figures, there’s probs only two of them in the universe.”
“Yeah, probably.”
“Fun connection though. So continue what you were saying.”
“Right,” Daraya thought for a moment. “Yeah, so Lanque is such an asshole and he’s always going to the surface on unsanctioned visits to party and it’s so fucking unfair because this other bitch named Lynera is always ratting every activity of mine to Bronya here like she’s trying to get me culled.”

Bronya for a second opened her mouth but closed it again before saying anything. The purplebloods all simultaneously glanced at her, not even in a hostile way but enough of a linger to shut her up. They were all curious as to the drama going on behind the scenes of the jadebloods that Bronya wanted to clear up on the spot, but she knew that this meant a lot to Daraya and starting an argument with her in front of four (er- three?) purples.

“That’s a damn shame to hear.” Marvus replied.
“God they make my life a living hell. Sorry, you probably don’t want to hear all that though.”
“Nah girl, tell us what you got. Right?” Marvus looked around the room.
“We got all the time in the world, sis.” Chahut said, kicking her feet up.
“And we love a good story-” Baizli started.
“A dramatic and tragic one!” Barzum finished. God, they were creepy, Daraya thought.

“Do you know how trapped I feel in the brooding caves? Seriously! It’s like I’m forced to take care of these stupid grubs every single day and-”

Bronya shifted in her seat.

“-and I don’t want to be there and I hate the people I have to interact with there like Lanque who never does his work and Lynera who’s just a straight up psychopath who-”

Bronya shifted a bit more.

“-who, like I said, really wants me culled. I know she does. And all I want is to be free and just allowed to leave but if I try to leave I’ll be culled. And I know that everyone else has their duties and obligations that they don’t want to do. I can’t really imagine it’s too fun to do the millionth sacrifice but honestly I’m at a point where I’d almost be willing to kill someone in the name of the fuckin’ clown church if it meant I was allowed to leave the caves forever because-”

“Enough!” Bronya shouted.

The purplebloods turned to her.

“I try so hard,” Bronya started, a jade tear forming in her eye. “So, so hard to make things nice for you but you never appreciate what I do for you. I’m sorry you don’t enjoy the work that this life has laid out for you but please, please, just don’t complain about it 24/7. You know I stay up almost all the hours of every day trying to keep the peace. It’s not like I have any free time either, you know. I do most of the work in the caves by myself and have to play moderator between you, Lynera, and Lanque. The only person who doesn’t cause me problems is Wanshi and she’s too aloof to do all the work required to keep the place working properly. Do you even know how hard I work to keep you from getting culled? I don’t think you do.”

Daraya paused. She glanced at Bronya who was about to break out into tears, and then at Marvus who looked like he was trying to judge the situation with intensity, and then at the twins who were manically grinning.

“Come here, sister.” Chahut extended her hand. Bronya took it and sat down next to Chahut, resting her head on the clown’s broad shoulders. “It’s ok, sister, we all have to work hard.”

“Wait- Bronya, I-” Daraya started.
“I suggest not right now,” Marvus interjected. “I feel bad for you, Daraya, but I also feel bad for Bronya here. You jades have it really fuckin’ hard, you know that?”
“Yeah, I guess we go.”
“Damn, that became such a bummer so quickly. Could this shit get any worse?” Marvus asked, and then his pockethusk pinged.

Marvus pulled it out and looked at it. His face began to turn, though nobody could tell under the white face paint that he had become flushed with anxiety. Anxiety to Marvus was not a feeling, but rather a fluke. Anxiety is a mistake, something that happens on accident when you’re unprepared for the gravity of a situation. Anxiety is not a state of being, but simply something to discard as soon as possible and as discretely as possible. Thanks to this mindset, Marvus hadn’t felt anxious about anything in sweeps. At least, not any serious lasting anxiety, which is why it was all the more cooling when his hands slightly trembled and his face ran cold. Chahut turned and looked at him.

“What’s wrong?”
“We’re going to die.” Marvus replied.
“What?”

Marvus turned his pockethusk and turned it so everyone could see. There was a special evacuation order sent to all trolls purpleblood and higher telling them that they needed to leave Outglut immediately. Marvus had missed the message because of the concert. For a scene in the Empress’ movie where the city gets utterly destroyed, she had decided to launch a real nuclear missile towards the city. Outglut, all of its inhabitants and buildings, had about 15 minutes before they would be annihilated.

“What the-” Daraya stared at the message.
“Oh fuck.” Chahut stared at it.
“What do we do?” Bronya asked, looking around.

Daraya pulled out her pockethusk and began to text Galekh. Maybe he had some idea what was going on.

[ broodingRocker started trolling eruditeListener ]
BR: ▼what the hell is going on??▼
EL: Ah, I see the news has just been broken to you.
BR: yeah duh, are you out of the city?
EL: No, I’m thoroughly in the blast zone and won’t have time to escape.
BR: ▼oh my god, oh my god▼
EL: This seems uncharacteristically enthusiastic for you. Are you ok?
BR: ▼i’ve already been told that i’ve been acting totally out of character today, ok?▼ also, how am i supposed to be ok with this? we’re going to die!
EL: We? Aren’t you safe in the brooding caverns.
BR: no
BR: me and bronya are on the surface right now
EL: Why?
BR: long story, anyway I have marvus here with me
EL: Marvus Xoloto? The pop star?

[ deliciousClown joined the chat ]

DC: this iz my fukin private account so dont leak this shiz
EL: Without sounding too sarcastic, I don’t think that even if I wanted to, I’d have the time to. I’m currently busy trying to think of it there’s any way to not die currently.
DC: ayy who this
EL: My name is Galekh Xigisi, pleasured to meet you. I’ve never heard your music before but many of my associates do and seem to enjoy it.
DC: dope af
BR: galekh do you have any idea how we can survive this?
EL: Hold on, I was in another chat. Eh, sure, he can join this one.

[ hoovedStaker joined the chat ]

HS: Hey uh, who’s the purpleblood?
DC: marvus
HS: ♥WHAT?!?!?!?!?♥
DC: aw shiet
HS: Oh my god, oh my god.
EL: Zebruh, we’re about to die, can you please save this.
HS: Right, sorry, it’s just that it’s-
BR: don’t care, not right now

[ piercedCoder and pricklyMercenary joined the chat ]
PC: just checked and yes it = true
PC: i have live feed of the missile
PM: so we are just fucked aren’t we *|
EL: Not necessarily, we could still find a way out of this.
BR: nah we’re probably fucked
HS: Please, I’d much rather find a solution to this.
DC: yeah i still got shit to do
HS: Exactly. He has shit to do.
PC: i can’t access the controls of the missile which = bullshit
PC: i should be able to tap into it but its controls = disabled
DC: come on hacker boi i believe in you
PC: thanks but it != not going to work out

[ risingSlammer and anxiousVocalist joined the chat ]

DC: how many more people can fuckin join
RS: oh why is there a purpleblood here X:(
AV: wait is that marvus xoloto
DC: yes
DC: honk
RS: eep
AV: well shit then
PM: hey so i still have the game running and uh * there’s something strange about it *|
EL: Not right now, PM. We’re currently thinking about how to not die.
PM: no i mean * in the game i can move stuff irl *|
EL: What?
PM: i’m not making this up * i can move like my real desk around *|
EL: I have an idea. Everyone get into the game.
DC: shiet i hope this works

[ chat paused ]

“Quick.” Marvus demanded. “Download that shit on your pockethusk, Daraya.”
“Are we even sure this will work?” Daraya asked.
“We don’t really have a choice.” Bronya replied. “We gotta try it.”
“Alright then, let’s see what happens.”

Chapter Text

Zebruh paced back and forth in his room rapidly. Beads of indigo sweat rolled down the sides of his face. Outside, trolls were running around like crazy. This really was the end, wasn’t it? Maybe not yet. He ran back over to the husktop and rejoined the chat.

[ chat unpaused ]
HC: w33’r33 h33r33 now
AV: hello HC
PM: ok so we’ve made a bit of progress * but we’re still not there yet *|
HS: Are we… going to do?
EL: Well the plan is to not.
HS: Yeah but is that… possible?
EL: Not right now with this, HS.
HS: Ok.
RS: at least i have a way to remotely clean my hive now X:)
DC: that aint gon mean shiz tho when you’re dead lil’ rusty
RS: X:(

[ chat paused ]

Zebruh stepped back and started pacing again. It really, really, really was the end. Outside the window, he stared wistfully out across the burning city. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad; the evaporation that was. So many regrets, so many tarnished memories, washed away in an instant with his life of meaningless hedonism and zero gain. The real tragedy would be the loss of all the trolls who actually did things with their lives. Zebruh knew this.

Of course he was scared. How could he not be? There was so much more for him to do. There were so many people to apologize to, so many new relationships to make on the ashes of the ones he accidentally had let burn, but all of that was a moot point. The pain that resided in his fading indigo blood pusher was to soon end, and Zebruh wouldn’t have to worry about it. He wouldn’t have to worry about what Chixie thought of him, or meeting Marvus, or his tedious friendship with people like pricklyMercenary or Galekh. Maybe he could at least find some peace there while everyone else scrounged around trying to find a way to live because none of them wasted their time on Alternia like he had.

And in this, a series of questions lodged itself in Zebruh’s thinkpan. Why was everyone else happy? Why couldn’t he ever truly express how he felt to people? Why couldn’t he salvage his relationships with people? Perhaps he was never meant to know.

Zebruh closed his eyes, placed his hands on the balcony, and took a deep breath… and then things went quiet.

When Zebruh opened his eyes, his hive was still there, but there was nothing else around. He could breathe the air, but the sky was completely clear, nothing but stars upon stars stretching out into space. This wasn’t Alternia.

Above him was a series of planets that he could see, and if he really cocked his head, he could see what looked like a blue star radiating cooly off in the distance. Maybe this was the afterlife, Zebruh thought. No, that didn’t make sense. There was still 10 minutes at least before the detonation. What the hell happened? Then he turned his head back, there were trolls, but not like any he had seen before, roaming around the barren planet. Their eyes were cloudy and blank and they wore no signs.

Zebruh panickedly ran back to the husktop. Maybe the internet at least still worked.

[ chat unpaused ]

AV: it says that our first task is to find our place / does anyone know what this means?
DC: i already got shit figured out i dunno about yall
PM: i’m going to smash this stupid husktop if it doesn’t give me the solution *|
HS: Guys, I’m on an alien planet right now.
PM: i’m sorry * what *|
HS: ♠I’m not making this up!♠
BR: what does it look like hs?
HS: Uh, it’s rocky and there’s a bunch of trolls without signs trying to break down the gate to my hive.
HC: not w33aring signs? that’s a ti33r thr3333 violation right th33r33.
PM: but you’re not in outglut anymore * is that what you’re saying *|
HS: I have no idea where the hell I am, but I can assure you that it’s not Outglut.
PC: you must have solved the riddle then
PC: what = solution?
HS: I don’t know! I was standing on my balcony thinking about my life and how I was starting to accept my inevitable evaporation and then I was here.
PC: well that = the solution then
PC: acceptance
PC: finding our place
AV: that doesn’t make much sense though
PC: maybe not, but does anyone else have any ideas?
DC: nah we gotta just go with it
RS: but how do we just force that X:(
RS: i’m terrified right now
BR: i don’t know, but we’ll have to just try

[ chat paused ]

Daraya looked around the circle at Bronya, Chahut, Marvus, and the Soleils. “Do we have any ideas?” Daraya asked. The trolls looked at each other. Marvus leaned back and closed his eyes. “Shit, I dunno. I’ve just always lived my life however I’ve pleased.” And with a flash, Marvus was gone.

“Where the hell did he go?” Daraya looked around.
“He must’ve completed the task.” Chahut replied in a serene tone. She was also trying to get inside with her own method.

[ chat unpaused ]
DC: it worked
DC: nice
HS: You’re in here too now, Marvus?
DC: ye
DC: tho different planet
DC: this shit hot
HS: ♥Well at least you’re safe.♥
PM: save it * hot shot *|
HS: Right, sorry.
HC: T33giri just disapp33ar33d!
PM: who
HC: on33 of th33 p33opl33 i’m with

[ quantumOtaku joined the chat ]

QO: i arrive
BR: ok that’s three in wherever the hell you are
PC: guess we’ll just have to keep doing this until we all get it

[ daringAviator joined the chat ]

DA: ~Right-o lads, here with my chap Fozzer.~
RS: oh good another gutterblood X:)
DC: ay no need to talk to yourself like that rusty
RS: yes sir
RS: sorry sir
DA: ~What did we miss?~
PM: we’re trying to get into the game
DA: ~Sounds the utmost tantalizing.~

[ literallyElwurd joined the chat ]

LE: finaLLy made it
PC: about time
AV: did you use your real name for your username
LE: yeah what’s it fucking to ya bronzie
EL: Not right now, please.

[ legendaryTarget and clawedShadow joined the chat ]

PC: ok this = everyone
LT: ||| Good thing we’re not too late. I started to get worried that we’d be evaporated there for a bit. |||
EL: We’re not out of the woods yet.¹

[ chat paused ]

Zebruh stepped away. It was all too incredible to really believe. Also he was terrified of the fact that the signless trolls were trying to break the gate down still. Zebruh had never had to defend himself before. Sure he had been punched in the face a couple times but those were isolated incidents and really he was just being a pacifist by running away with his tail between his legs. Duh. Obviously.

Outside, the signless trolls began to climb over the gates of the hive. This was getting, really, really bad, Zebruh thought. What would they do if they reached him? Would they kill him? Probably. They certainly weren’t here for any kind of social calling.

[ chat unpaused ]

HS: They’re getting through the gate! What do I do?
PM: do you know how to defend yourself *|
HS: Not really, no. Why?
PM: ok * do you have any weapons on you *|
HS: Obviously not!
PM: hmmmm *|
PM: hold on i think i can spectate you *|
PM: you’re the indigo troll in the nice shirt * right *|
HS: ♦Why thank you for noticing.♦
PM: are you trying to stay alive * or are you trying to flirt with me *|
HS: Can’t I do a little of both?
PM: you can’t see it but i’m rolling my eyes *|
HS: Wait I forgot that I could die here, please help me.
PM: that’s what i thought * anyway try to find something to defend yourself with *|
HS: I have some novelty playing cards that have razors on them.
PM: what the actual fuck *|
HS: They’re cool!
PM: i repeat * what the fuck *|
PM: anyway those should work *|
PM: i really need to get back to this though *|
HS: Ok, see you.

[ chat paused ]

God, she was so cool, Zebruh thought. If only he knew her name. The novelty playing cards designed for murder and poker simultaneously depending on their need at any given moment were in mint condition. Zebruh didn’t want to hurt them and also they were kind of dangerous to play around with haphazardly. In fact, the seven of diamonds had a slight indigo stain where he accidentally cut his finger when he first got them.

The pack was sitting neatly in a closet just one room over. His hive had a rather strange layout having multiple bedrooms but he never had anyone to stay in them. This was probably due to the fact that he really didn’t have any friends. What? Of course I have friends! Zebruh defensively thought against himself. He would’ve argued with himself longer if the door didn’t start getting slammed against. Zebruh oriented himself on the bottom of the stairs and took a breath. He was about to possibly take a life, something that he had never done before.

For someone who grew up in a world of murder and violence, one would assume that someone like Zebruh wouldn’t have any quips or qualms about killing, but the idea never passed his mind. He was a troubled person, yes, but he wasn’t a murderer. The doors opened and five of the zombie-like trolls flooded in. Zebruh’s hands tremored as he tried not to lock eyes on the soulless grunts coming towards him. He closed his eyes and whisked the card into the air.

From where he was standing, there was a quick swishing sound and a splattering sound. As Zebruh slowly opened his eyes, he could see that he had hit one square in the throat. The grunt bled a strange translucent white blood from its neck, spraying out violently across the marble floor towards him. It took all about three seconds for Zebruh’s nerves to kick in, both his distaste for seeing blood and his adrenaline, before he had to stop himself from vomiting. Zebruh stumbled backwards onto the staircase, dropping the cards across the stairs and ground.

The four other grunts began to move towards him slowly. Zebruh pushed himself up weakly, trying not to cough too much or he might make an even bigger mess than there already was, before he pushed himself up another step.

[ chat unpaused ]

AV: wait a second / i know him / that’s zebruh codakk
AV: what the hell is he doing here
RS: i don’t know who that is
AV: he’s / uh / a lot
BR: you can say that again
BR: from what i’m seeing, he’s going to get himself culled before we even get in there to save his ass
PM: come on * get up *|
BR: why do you care so much about him
PM: i dunno * i like underdog stories *|
AV: pff
AV: underdog
AV: i had to deal with his ass too many times on outglut
EL: Your viewpoint is sympathetic and unfortunate, Chixie, but he could very well die without our help.²
AV: of course he shouldn’t die
AV: ok / forget what i said
AV: i just
AV: i dunno
DC: ey girl iz ok not to get it
DC: dont worry about him
AV: thank you…
AV: marvus / that’s very kind actually
DC: just cuz im really fuckin famous doesn’t mean i dont spit mad truths
PM: this is blood pusher warming and all * but we should all focus on getting into the game *|
DC: honk

[ chat paused ]

“Stay back!” Zebruh yelled as he tried to carefully pick up the razor cards without accidentally cutting himself on their sharp blades. The grunts continued to get closer and closer to him as Zebruh pushed himself up another stair. “Don’t make me do it!” He shouted again, but the grunts kept coming.

Zebruh waited, and waited, but finally threw another card, hitting another squarely in the neck. A second and third one left him with only one left nearly on top of him. The dead-eyed troll thing swiped at him, slicing through the fabric of his shirt across his right forearm before Zebruh tossed one last card: The King of Spades. With the threats gone, Zebruh tried to pull himself up but his arms were like lead. He was still trying not to gag from the sight of whatever the hell those things were.

Pulling himself one step at a time, Zebruh finally got to the top on his arms and knees. Indigo blood was dripping out of the cuts on his right arm. Zebruh dropped his head and clutched at his gashed forearm as a stream of indigo tears left his eyes.

[ chat unpaused ]

PM: well * he’ll live for a little longer *|
PM: also i just entered somehow * guess i’ll start looking around *|
HC: this would b33 a r33ally good show
EL: While the entertainment value would be immense, this situation calls on us to find a way out of our current stressful situation. I suggest we all keep working on how to enter the game. PM, what is your real name so I can refer to you directly?
PM: i don’t normally do this * but here we go *|
PM: my name is polypa goezee
EL: Thank you, Polypa. Right, since Zebruh is currently incapacitated on the floor crying, could you please tell me what you are observing in your current circumstances?
PM: yeah so uh * according to the game here we’re in something called a series and we’re orbiting the frozen star *|
PM: those don’t mean much to me though *|
PC: wait a second
PC: there’s four orders of planets revolving around the star
PC: those must be the various series
DC: makes sense to me
RS: so how do we access the series
AV: we have to first find acceptance
AV: uh / i hate to do this but / sigh
AV: i accept that zebruh is having a really bad day
AV: holy shit that actually worked
PC: well then
PC: everyone start accepting really simple things
PC: i accept that the military won’t need my coding skills
PC: yep
PC: that worked
DA: ~Bingo! All the lads and gals should start that henceforth now!~
RS: what does that even mean?

[ chat paused ]

Zebruh staggered to his feet towards his room. The chat had been going on without him for the past few minutes. Zebruh quietly scrolled through it and, oh fuck. Oh fuck, oh fuck. Chixie was here!? What was she doing here? Oh no, oh no! Anxiety coursed through his body sickeningly mixing with the adrenaline leaving him feeling even more awful than before. Maybe he should’ve just been evaporated after all. This was the worst day of his life.

Outside he could see more of those grunts dotting the planet, but he could also see what looked like another hive in the distance. It was a small, modest one. There were a few of the grunts going over to it. Zebruh began to worry that they might have been in trouble. Making sure to not slip on the stairs now covered in the strange translucent blood, Zebruh quickly scooped up his razor cards and ran out of the door.

If it wasn’t for the trolls trying to kill him, the planet would be a beautiful, serene place to be, but there was very little time to worry about that. In front of him, he could see some of the grunts heading towards the small hive. As he approached, he saw someone start to come towards the window. An oliveblood wearing bandages around her arms appeared.

“What the hell are you doing down there, Zebruh?”
“What? How do you know my name?”
“I’m Polypa!”
“Huh?”
“My handle is pricklyMercenary.”
“Oh. Oh my god!” Zebruh yelled. As he looked down, he realized that the six or so grunts had turned their attention towards him. The six of them were closing in on him from all sides. Zebruh slowly backed up, holding the razor cards in front of him. He really, really didn’t want to use them again.

“Polypa, you have to save me!”
“Already? Hold on.”

Polypa jumped down and pulled a knife from a small holster attached to her leg. In the blink of an eye, she went from one grunt to another, slicing their throats before stopping right in front of Zebruh.

“Holy-”
“Cool, right?”
“So, so cool.”
“Don’t get googly eyed on me, hot shot.”

Zebruh coughed.
“What? Of course not, never.”
“Right. You ok? You seemed a bit, upset earlier.”

It clicked for Zebruh. Everyone saw him sobbing his eyes out on the floor.

“Hah, yeah it was nothing. Most of what you see here is blood, not tears.”
“Uh huh.”
“I swear!”
“Sure, sure.” Polypa laughed heading back towards the hive.
“Wait!” Zebruh called out. Polypa stopped and turned around.
“Can I please come with you? I don’t want to die. Please.”

Polypa thought for a moment. In front of her was this frankly easy prey. He was an indigo in a state of complete vulnerability. She could use it to her advantage but something about that felt wrong. She didn’t trust him, obviously. Highbloods, especially indigos aren’t trustworthy, and all that stuff that Chixie had said really didn’t help. For all she knew, he could just be playing up how desperate he was so he could stab her in the back later. But on the other hand the indigo stains running down his shirt and vest were very real and he was clearly in a state of real distress. Maybe, given enough time, they could be friends. For now though, she could only settle for ally.

“Sure. But on the one condition that you learn how to actually defend yourself and not act like a wet noodle I have to bail out all the time. If you’re dragging me down, I’m cutting you off. Understand?”
“Yes. Whatever. Please.”
“Alright then, how about we go to your hive. It has walls so it’s more defensible.”
“Good idea. Zebruh Codakk, by the way.”

Zebruh stuck his hand out. Polypa grabbed it for the shake. She noticed he winced a little from the three gashes on his forearm. They weren’t terrible looking, nothing like she’s experienced at least, but they also weren’t pretty. Maybe it was just the adrenaline in his body keeping him from screaming in pain but maybe he was just a bit tougher than he let on. It was actually somewhat admirable. His hands were warm, probably a side effect of an increased blood pusher rate.

Meanwhile, Zebruh was simply happy to have a troll that wasn’t repulsed by him. Maybe this was actually a fresh start. A terrifying, wonderful, sickening, beautiful fresh start. Maybe he could wash away the sins of his past and finally know what it was like to be a real troll who actually had purpose. The bridges of his past, now smoldering ashes, may try to come back to haunt him but in friendship he could find a way to fight it off. In the meantime though, he really needed to find a bandage for his arm that was still dripping blood.

“Come on, let’s go before more show up.” Polypa’s hand slipped away from his.
“Right, yeah, good idea.”

Footnotes:

<sup>1. As in, we are currently still under the threat of total destruction.↩
2. Given the context, I'd say we should worry about Zebruh not dying before we worry about your personal grievences with him.↩</sup>

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Son of a- Damn! Fuck! Hell! Mallek slammed his fist on his desk causing his whole husktop array to jump. Ow, shit! That hurt! Still, the internet was completely out now because of the storm and he had no idea when it’d come back. As of now, he was completely isolated and on his own.

The wind outside was far too dangerous for Mallek to brave. Would the planet always be this windy, he wondered? He could barely see a foot in front of his face outside the window. Thankfully his hive was structurally sound enough to simply not collapse.

According to the game that saved his progress before he disconnected, he was now on planet one of the diamond series, whatever the hell that meant. As of yet, it was all just jargon to him but there had to be some meaning to the madness. With his husktop, he could see what was going on in other sections of the game. Polypa and Zebruh were holding out inside of Zebruh’s walled hive from those zombie troll things. They were on planet one of the hearts series, clearly a different planet from where he was.

Marvus was on the spades series and Tegiri was on the clubs series. There had to be some kind of meaning to the madness. Chixie and Tirona were in the diamond series with him now somewhere out in the storm. As far as he recalled, Chixie was in her hive so she should be fine, but Tirona said she was in a bunker so she probably was just spat out alone into the storm.

Mallek skipped down to the first floor of the hive and readied himself. If he pushed open the door, it might be possible to spot her out there. He began to push open the door using all of his strength against the brutal wind. Mallek pushed harder and harder with his back against it before the wind finally caught it, ripping the door open in an instant nearly off of its hinges and knocking Mallek to the floor. As he looked up, he flinched backwards as Tirona tumbled haphazardly into the door.

“Ow! That hurt!” Tirona whined, pulling herself into the hive.
“At least you’re not dead.”
“Oh crap.” Tirona looked at the blueblood. “I’m sorry Mr. Blueblood, I didn’t realize that you were in this hive, it was an accident I swear.”
“Jeez, chill out. What kind of troll do you take me to be?”
“I’m sorry, uh, whoever you are. It’s just that I was taught to always respect trolls higher than me.”
“First off, I’m Mallek Adalov. Second of all, it’s fine to respect me but that doesn’t mean cowering in a corner, got it?”
“Thank you, Mallek.”

Realizing that the door could now no longer be shut, Mallek began to move a bookshelf in front of the door to act as a barrier against the harsh wind.

“Do you think that this’ll ever end?” Tirona asked.
“Probably not. We’re currently trapped inside of a digital world so I think it’s reasonable to assume that this weather is virtual and can thus be run forever.”
“Aw.”

Mallek tapped his foot for a second and looked at the small troll. Considering how he had heard of her as a ruthless propaganda minister in the making, he expected something a bit more than the small tealblood cowered on the floor in front of him. It must have been a compensation kind of thing, Mallek reasoned. Just like how he compensated for people not paying attention to him by getting piercings. He had no shame in admitting that to himself. It was only true after all. Of course, if someone else accused him of that, he’d immediately call them a few choice words and storm off. He also knew he’d do that.

“We might have to go out into the storm.” Mallek muttered.
“What?”
“You heard me. We’re probably supposed to go out there.”
“There’s no way I’m going out there!”

Sigh. How much of this would he have to endure?

[ chat unpaused ]

EL: Ok let’s take count of who we have and who we don’t have.
EL: Mallek disconnected followed by all the teals and then Chixie.
EL: There’s five minutes left before the bomb hits us as well so I suggest everyone else hurries up.
BR: i’m the last one in the clown lounge
EL: Is there anyone else?
RS: uhm
RS: me X:(
EL: Right uh, whatever your name is
RS: i’m xefros!
EL: Good to meet you, Xefros.
DC: yo xef u need to hurry ur azz up
RS: i’m trying
RS: i don’t think this was Xplained very well to me
RS: i don’t really get it
AV: you need to accept something / it seems like it can be just about anything
RS: i accept that my lusus is nice?
RS: that didn’t work!!!
AV: well / it has to be something more serious than that
AV: something personal
RS: uhm can you guys help me
DC: fo sho but we need to know shiz about u first
RS: uhhhhhh
RS: i’m xefros and i’m rustblood
DA: ~We need a bit more supplementary factoids than that, my friend.~

[ diggingSolidarity joined the chat ]

DS: This_device_finally_works
DS: There_is_large_storm_ahead
DS: It_looks_very_intimidating
DA: ~Ah, my close associate, welcome.~
EL: Let’s get back to Xefros for a minute seeing as we only have five of them left.
DA: ~As you wish my cerulean friend.~
EL: Finally, another troll who speaks proper Alternian. And a lowblood too, it’s a pleasant surprise really. You have my admiration, sir.

[ chat paused ]

“Look we have to leave eventually.” Mallek sighed. He continued to pace back and forth in the hall of his hive. Tirona still sat on the floor like a teal lump. “But I don’t wanna!” Tirona yelled back. This was the final straw for Mallek. “Alright then.” Mallek said as he began to move the bookshelf.

After a few good pushes, it was open enough to step through. Gusts of wind pushed their way in, forcing their way past him and ruffling his hoodie. “Come on. Time to go.” Mallek grinned as he turned to Tirona. “But I said I don’t want to-”

Mallek grabbed Tirona and easily hoisted her up.

“Don’t do it!”
“I’m gonna!”
“No!” Tirona squirmed under Mallek’s grip before with a simple push knocked her out the door. Mallek, taking his sweet time, then grabbed his husktop, some equipment that might be necessary, pushed it all into a backpack and tethered it to himself. With that, it was time to step out.

The winds were harsh. A few of his piercings on his horns were hitting again and again against them which was mildly annoying to say the least.

“Tirona!” Mallek tried to yell over the wind. “Tirona!”

Then he spotted her trying her best to keep upright against the gusts. Mallek reached out and grabbed her hand before the two, completely incapable of hearing each other, began to push their way through the storm.

Eventually, Mallek could see off in the near distance a light spinning around in circles. He continued to trudge against the harsh winds as the light grew nearer and nearer. Eventually he could see it: It was a tall lighthouse. At the base of it, Mallek and Tirona pushed up against the building for stability against the storm.

“Try to hold onto the railing over there!” Mallek yelled to Tirona. Tirona nodded, releasing Mallek’s hand before grabbing quickly onto the railing before the storm could pull her over. There was a large steel door in front of him and a massive wheel attached to the front. Mallek firmly planted his feet on the ground and grabbed the handles of the wheel. It was nearly impossible to turn, but as he did the door slowly but surely opened to reveal the dingy concrete basement.

Mallek turned back, grabbed Tirona one more time and hoisted her inside before he slid inside and pulled the door shut.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Mallek laughed.
“You meanie! I could’ve died out there!”
“Yeah but you didn’t so what’s the issue?”
“It’s still mean!”
“Eh. I thought it was funny.”

Tirona looked so angry, Mallek had to stifle his laughter otherwise she might get angrier, and that much anger in such a small area could cause a singularity.

“Ah, someone else is here.” A voice called down from above. Mallek turned his head upwards towards the top of the lighthouse. A few stories above was a vaguely disheveled looking rustblood troll.

“Have we met on chat?”
“Da, my name is Fozzer Velyes!”
“Ah, right, you were with Vikare, the one who talks strangely.”
“Correct.”
“Do you have any idea what’s going on here?”
“No, I’m afraid not. If I had a way out, I’d have taken it already.”
“I suppose that makes sense, Fozzer. This storm seems to be infinite so I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to wait it out and get our signal back.”
“It is not infinite. It rolled into this area just a couple minutes ago.”
“How odd.”

“Maybe,” Tirona chimed in. “We don’t have to wait for it to pass? We might be able to make like, an antenna or something? Would that even work?”
“It could, actually. In fact, that’s a great idea. Let’s get to work on it now.” Mallek clasped his hands as Fozzer began to descend the staircase.

[ chat unpaused ]

EL: I’m finally in. There’s three minutes left on the timer if anyone isn’t in yet. I sure hope nobody is still in Outglut.
LT: ||| I am safely inside the world right now. This planet appears to be dark like night, perfect for someone like me. |||
CS: unfortunately i’m on a different PLANET
CS: here it’s totally grey and there’s these stupid dead troll THINGS
EL: Moon-like would you say?
CS: sounds about right
LT: ||| How many have you killed yet? |||
CS: about 10
LT: ||| Damn, that’s good. |||
EL: You’re probably on the same planet as Zebruh and Polypa then. It also seems like Stelsa and Vikare are there from the video feed.
CS: hopefully they know how to FIGHT
CS: i wouldn’t have saved zebruh’s ass
LT: ||| As you shouldn’t. |||
EL: We’re trying to all survive here, everyone dying would seriously hamper our collective survival abilities.
LT: ||| Hey, who made you Mr. Rules. What if I want to do what I want to do? |||
EL: Because I-
LT: ||| I’m going on my own. |||
EL: Your loss then.

[ legendaryTarget and clawedShadow left the chat ]

EL: I’m not going to bail them out if they need it. Is there anyone else here or am I just talking into the void?
DC: nah dont worry ya boi is here
EL: Right, Marvus, hey there. So where are you right now?
DC: night planet with mustard boy from earlier
EL: Good luck with that then.
DC: i’m not afraid of sum cocky mustard u feel me
EL: If you say so.
DA: ~Righty, I have returned from defending myself~
DA: ~What are your circumstances like?~
EL: This planet is a verdant forest. I’d like to say it’s the most pleasant of the four we’ve seen so far but unfortunately the humidity is nearly impossible to bear in my suit.
DC: why not just strip lol
EL: Absolutely not.

[ chat paused ]

“It’s made of scrap metal and electrical tape but hey, it just might work.”

Mallek, Tirona, and Fozzer stared over the improvised antenna. It stretched about eight feet across the floor.

“But how are we supposed to get it to stay up in the storm?” Fozzer asked. “The wind will destroy it.”
“Not necessarily,” Mallek replied, poking at the antenna. “If we add more tape and anchor it at the bottom, it should hopefully stay up.”
“It’s worth a try at least.”

The three trolls grabbed onto the antenna and began to hoist it up the stairs. The staircase wound its way up the lighthouse like a corkscrew until ending at the top where the light was still spinning in circles, a beacon to everyone else out there that there was still hope out there in the storm.

“You know, I bet everyone else is having a great time right now in the chat.” Mallek huffed as the antenna was lugged up another step.
“Oh yeah,” Tirona replied. “A real great time.”

[ chat unpaused ]

EL: XEFROS YOU HAVE SIXTY SECONDS, YOU NEED TO GET IN. NOW.
RS: i’m trying!!!!! X:(

[ chat paused ]

Xefros was now running back and forth in his hive. He was the last person to not be in the game. In the distance, the sky a deeper shade of red than his burgundy blood, was lit up by the glow of the incoming missile still burning its fuel. The cameras were rolling. It was time for the perfect movie scene.

What was there to do, Xefros wondered. There had to be something, anything. Xefros ran to the other side of his hive and looked out of the balcony. The lights were still on in Dammek’s hive. What was he doing? Did he have a plan? Why wasn’t Dammek telling him if he had a plan? Dammek always had a plan. Oh my gog, Xefros thought.

Dammek has an escape plan and abandoned me.

Thirty seconds to impact.

But… but this means that…

Ten seconds to impact.

This means that Dammek…

One second to impact.

This means that Dammek doesn’t actually care about me.

And in the blink of an eye, Xefros disappeared into the game. Behind him lay an empty plot of land that, also in the blink of an eye, would be completely destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of trolls disappeared in a blink of an eye, but of them only Xefros was going into the game, the last survivor of Outglut.

When Xefros opened from the blink, he was immediately pushed back by the intense wind. This must’ve been the diamond series that Galekh was talking about and that Mallek was lost in with some of the others. Xefros shielded his eyes and stumbled backwards into the hive before slamming the doors closed.

On the floor of his hive, Xefros could feel the tears beginning to well up in his eyes. How could he have been so foolish as to believe that Dammek actually cared about him. He should’ve known it for a long time now. All the hours he spent practicing his butlering on him, all the credits he wasted. Was it really for nothing? No, it couldn’t be true. Xefros couldn’t accept it. But he already did, that’s why he was in the game. He knew it was true.

Xefros wiped away the few burgundy tears that formed and looked in the mirror. He really was a fool, wasn’t he. Just another stupid, gullible gutterblood. It was honestly even more hurtful than if he had just been manipulated by a highblood because that was at least what they were told to do, but no, he had been used by another lowblood: Someone who was only marginally above him on the totem pole. That was what really, really deflated Xefros. It made him feel so, so stupid.

[ chat unpaused ]

PM: hey * we’re back *|
PM: did we miss anything *|
DC: chahut be joinin in a sec

[ ladyPierrot joined the chat ]

DC: speak o the devil
LP: i hope i didn’T miss any of the fun.
HS: No, you’re quite in time to join us. So where did everyone go?
DC: well therez still a few peeps joining
PJ: Hi, it’s Bronya. I finally got my reception to work.
PM: so everyone has gone separate ways *|
PM: great *|
LP: noT enTirely
LP: from whaT i saw iT looks like some people are sTuck in a sTorm
PM: a storm *|
DC: wild shiz goin down on one planet
DC: coder boi said he wuz losing signal and then a bunch of people disappeared
PM: what about galekh *|
EL: I’m still here, I’m just busy.
PM: with what *|
EL: Trying to map this stupid forest from my hive.
LP: i’m also in a foresT
LP: we must be on the same planeT
EL: Then I must humbly propose a tactical alliance, with your permission of course.
LP: indigos always know Their loyalTy To The hemospecTrum
LP: iT’s good behavior
PM: if we were on alternia * i’d have nothing to do with you people *|
PM: my ability to speak freely here without watch of the empire is a privilege i intend to use to the fullest *|
DC: respect
DC: tho i have to say indigos are funny peeps
DC: iznt that right zeeb
HS: ♥He said my name!♥
HS: ♥Sir, yes sir!♥
DC: lmao
DC: too ez

[ chat paused ]

“Alright, let’s try to get this thing up!” The winds held the door open for them as the three began to try and push out onto the balcony. A wave of harsh rain sprayed in doors past their faces.
“It’s evolved from a wind storm to a whole hurricane!” Fozzer yelled from the other side of the antenna. The water rushed over the floors, dripping off the other side of the platform down towards the base of the lighthouse.

“The water’s loosening my grip.” Mallek muttered to himself before the slip came. The antenna shifted as it slipped out of Mallek’s control. Fozzer held onto it as tightly as possible with Tirona but it wasn’t enough. Mallek fell backwards, pushed against the railing by the antenna. Mallek crooked his head and could see it was hundreds of feet down below him. If the railing went, so did he.

Fozzer shook the water away from his face with his hair and firmed up his grip. With a heave, Fozzer pulled the antenna back. Mallek pushed himself up and away from the railing as the antenna nearly passed over Tirona’s head and out into the storm.

On the balcony, Fozzer and Mallek continued to twist it in the storm until it was secured into position. The two ran back inside and quickly slammed the glass door shut. The three soaked trolls looked at each other and laughed.

“Oh man, I nearly fucking died there. Thanks a million, Fozzer.”
“I must admit, I am not used to working with trolls of higher order, but you have a sense of comradery.” Fozzer replied.
“Hey, when there’s a task to be done, those gravedigging arms of yours really came in handy.”
“I’m not just some tool.”

Mallek paused.

“I didn’t say that, Fozzer.”
“Peh, bluebloods.” Fozzer scoffed as he began to descend the staircase.

Mallek looked at Tirona.

“What did I say?” Mallek asked.
“He will come into line soon enough. Dissidents don’t last.” Tirona skipped away down the stairs.
“What?”

Mallek had no idea what just happened. Fozzer didn’t seem to take too kindly to the compliment but also he just saved Mallek’s life. And what the hell was Tirona talking about? She scared him sometimes. Whatever, at least he was alive still.

At the bottom of the staircase, Fozzer was in the corner still ringing water out of his shoulder-length hair. That must’ve been fun to deal with, Mallek thought. Shorter hair was clearly the superior way to go. Maybe there just wasn’t access to like, a salon or anything from wherever Fozzer was from. He clearly wasn’t from the city wearing the rags that he was wearing. Ok, that was a bit harsh for Mallek even by his standards.

The problem with hoodies was that the material they were made up tended to soak up water. Mallek pulled off his hoodie and began to ring all the water out.

“It’s always cold when I don’t have that thing on.” Mallek said, trying to break the silence.
“It’s because you are blueblood.” Fozzer grumbled back.
“Maybe. Seems a reasonable enough assumption.”

Fozzer looked up at him with a strange expression, not a negative one, just what Mallek assumed was a confused one.

Mallek put his damp hoodie back on. “Well we should probably see if-”

An explosion rocked the foundations of the lighthouse as the light at the top shattered into a million pieces of glass raining down on the troll’s heads.

“What the fuck was that? Holy shit, that nearly made my blood pusher stop!” Mallek yelled, shaking the glass off of himself.
“Something must’ve hit the top!” Tirona said, looking up towards the top.
“Lightning hit it, look at the scorch marks.” Fozzer replied. He pointed towards the top at the barely visible streaks of charred concrete across the top.
“Damn. We could’ve been turned into fried grub by that. Let’s get the glass swept away into a corner or something and see if the antenna still works. I’ll string the cable if you two will sweep the glass.”

Without waiting for an answer, Mallek grabbed a series of cable and began up towards the top. As he rose up the spiral, it got progressively windier and windier. The only thing that Mallek hoped was that he didn’t end up turning into a piece of charcoal. At the top, Mallek bound the coil to the antenna and began to string it down the staircase.

“Well, let’s see if this works.”

[ chat unpaused ]

EL: Anyway, it was at this point that I had told Zebruh that he needed to uh, what is that clowns say?
DC: about wut
EL: The phrase for when someone needs to make sure their behavior is in line before the commit to an irresponsible action?
DC: check yo self before you wreck yo self
EL: Right, that. That’s basically what I said to him.

[ piercedCoder and diggingSolidarity and heartfulCommentator joined the chat ]

PC: we’re still alive!
EL: Oh good.
DS: We_are_currently_hiding_from_a_large_storm_in_a_lighthouse
EL: Fascinating. Well, I hope you three are managing to survive in there.
PC: we’ve almost died like at least three times
EL: Right. Great. Well, to be perfectly honest with you, we’ve just been sitting here having a chat waiting for more people to come back.
PC: do you really think that = a good use of your time?
PC: i mean, we’re all in this place and we need to get out
EL: Unless I’m under time constraint, I’m safe. I think it’s best of someone acts like a coordinator.
PC: well i won’t stop you on that front
DS: I_do_not_want_to_take_orders_from_a_highblood
EL: Neither does Polypa but I’m willing to compromise. We can work together on this.
DS: As_equals_only
PC: c’mon galekh, say yes
EL: Fine, yes, whatever. We already lost the two murderers, I don’t want to lose more.
PM: so then * what do we do next *|
EL: Find out how to get to the next planet, I guess.

[ chat paused ]

Chapter Text

“Fucking hell, you’re relentless!” Azdaja shouted over the wall.

“As are you. It’s nice to have an opponent who’s competent for once.” Elwurd peered out from behind the boulder she was hiding behind. The Spade Series’ first planet had become a mess in only a matter of a few hours. All of the trolls had encountered each other (Except Marvus, strangely enough, who was nowhere to be seen) relatively quickly before it was discovered that the center circle they had all been brought to was filled with weapons. One thing led to another, arguments about who got what, before everyone had run in separate directions into the night with their weapons of choice.

Another bullet ricocheted off the brick wall near Azdaja’s head. It came from a different angle than Elwurd was currently positioned at. It must’ve been from someone else who was lurking around. And where had those creepy twins gone? For the love of the Empire, those things terrified Azdaja. Little psychopathic bastards. At least Azdaja was a survivor first and foremost. He didn’t enjoy killing, most of the time, sometimes, but he had to do it.

“I have to run for more cover.” Azdaja peered over the wall.
“As do I.” Elwurd replied, their conversation shockingly casual considering what was going on.
“I’m really tired though, I’m going to walk it. Be fair and walk as well?”
“Sure, why not.”

Azdaja stood up and began to walk along the wall in the dim ambiance of a small fluorescent light on the building parallel to him. He could vaguely see the outline of Elwurd who was walking behind a line of trees. Just because they agreed to walk though didn’t mean either of them had the intention to not try and kill one another.

“So, what do you-” Bang! “Think the ultimate goal of-” Bang! “The game is?” Azdaja asked. Flakes of concrete sprinkled onto Azdaja’s head. Just an inch lower and his head would’ve turned into a splatter of yellow on the wall.

“I couldn’t really-” Bang! “Tell you if I’m being-” Bang! “Completely honest.” Elwurd replied, a bullet splintering the wood on the thin tree covering her position. Just an inch over and Azdaja would’ve hit her squarely in the heart, her blue blood like drops of rain on the ground.

“You know you’re more accurate if you rest your grip on your arm rather than just holding it with one hand.” Elwurd shouted from behind the second rock.
“That may be true, but I’m actually accurate enough to be flashy and deadly.”
“Well I’m not dead yet.”
“Maybe I’m just letting you live a bit longer.”
“Maybe you’re a cocky asshole.”
“Maybe. So where’d you learn to be so accurate anyway?”
“Deals go bad sometimes, you should know this.”
“Generally my deals are over before the commodity knows what hits it.”
“Is that all trolls are to you?” Elwurd asked. “Commodities?”
“Not all, but some. Like bluebloods.”
“Funny, we generally say the same about gutterbloods like you.”

Another bullet from the unknown direction hit above Azdaja. Whoever they were had a clear shot on him, was patient, but wasn’t actually a good shot. That meant the person had to be smart, sneaky, but also inexperienced. It was probably Tagora then. That guy was an absolute weasel but clearly was more experienced with the pen than the sword.

“So tell me more about your job.” Elwurd asked. She crept forwards a bit more from cover.
“What can I say? I kill trolls.”
“Well what kind of trolls do you usually kill? Highest value target? C’mon, give me something here.”
“Highest value?” Azdaja thought for a moment. He crouched down out of the way of the fluorescent light to cover himself from the mystery troll. “I killed a clown once.”
“Clown? Nice. I deal to clowns sometimes.”
“Deal what?”
“Drugs and shit,” Elwurd ran to a wall in front of her. It became visible to her that this was some kind of concrete factory building surrounded by a brick wall that had holes all over it. “Whatever makes me money.”
“We’re both survivors, that’s what sucks about this. One of us can’t walk away from this.” Azdaja leveled his sights on Elwurd. “A damn, damn, shame.”

Azdaja went to pull the trigger before another bullet came out of nowhere. The bullet, closer than before, ricocheted off the gun causing Azdaja to flip out and flatten himself onto the ground. Elwurd quickly skirted around the corner, hopping the wall and pushing a door down into the abandoned factory.

She had to guess though that the factory had always been abandoned. After all, this world wasn’t really real. Well, it was very much real, but it wasn’t real. That hurt her brain to think about so she simply chose not to. Around the corner, she heard a metal door creak open. It must’ve been Azdaja, but above her she heard a scraping sound. Was there someone else here?

Behind an old, mysterious machine that she couldn’t make out from the darkness, but could feel the rust on the metal of, she waited.

“We could always make an alliance.” Elwurd called out.
“Sure, maybe,” Azdaja replied from around the corner. “But I don’t know if you’d shoot me the second I put my gun away. That’s the problem here. I’d love to agree to peace but I’d have no choice but to shoot you before you could shoot me.” Azdaja crept along the edge of the wall.
“You love the sound of your voice, don’t you.”
“Well, having the best voice known to Alternia isn’t something everyone can say that they have. I might as well hear as much of it as possible.”
“Right… right…” Elwurd glanced around the side of the machine. Azdaja was right there, feet from her, one shot and…

The gunshot smashed against the wall. It was nearly impossible to see what happened following the flash but a few bullets skirted past Elwurd before she saw the faint outline of Azdaja running up the stairs. Elwurd pushed out, following him up the stairs into the second story.

The level was silent with a few windows along the wall, letting a few bands of moonlight into the room. There were more of those strange rusted machines scattered around the room along with some tables and chairs. Elwurd stopped and looked at one of them. It was rotten to the core.

For the first time in a long time, Elwurd felt slightly nervous. There could’ve been anything around any corner. Azdaja, someone else, who knows. She slipped behind another of the large machines and waited a moment. Just a moment… and then she’d leap.

-------

“It’s starting to get dark outside.” Polypa said from the window. She had propped herself on the windowsill with cat-like balance.
“I didn’t even know that there could be night here, but it is pretty late. The clock is reading 9 PM so I guess it has to be night at some point.” Zebruh replied.
“Let’s grab some bedding, it’ll be like a sleepover. Where do you keep spare stuff?”
“Oh, in that closet over there. But uh, how do you intend to sleep knowing that those things could break in?”
“It’s ok,” Polypa replied. “I’m a light sleeper.”
“Right.”

Inside the closet was stacks of neatly organized blankets and pillows.

“Do you never use these?” Polypa asked, flipping through the blankets like a giant stack of cards.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“There’s never anybody to use them. Other than me, that is.”

Polypa almost opened her mouth to say something before she pulled out a few blankets and pillows. She was still trying to figure out Zebruh. She had been figuring him out for a few perigees over text but now they were here, and she was trying to understand him in person.

It seemed probably pretty confusing on the outside, how someone so jaded like her could find an interest in a random indigoblood, let alone Zebruh Codakk. He had a reputation. Sure, not the worst reputation she had heard. She had to deal with a lot of scum in her line of work. On the surface, she should have more in common with Azdaja and Konyyl but she couldn’t stand them. Those pretentious asses were too busy tooting their own horns to be real survivors. Polypa didn’t really care how many bodies they had. She knew that she’d kick their ass if they were here.

Zebruh intrigued her though. Could he really be that bad? I mean, he didn’t seem so bad right now. Yeah he was full of himself some of the time, and he was terrible at talking to certain trolls like Chixie, and he was also very clearly neurotic to some degree that she couldn’t entirely place a why or how on. It couldn’t be that bad. Nothing she couldn’t handle. At worst he’d turn out to be another dime a dozen creep that she’d dropkick into the ground. For now though, she was merely standing in the presence of a troll with a crippling inferiority complex who acted as though he was better than everyone else to hide it. It was so obvious. Couldn’t everyone else tell too?

“How about we set up in the conservatory? It has a glass ceiling we could look out of.”
“Sounds great.”

The pair brought the blankets and pillows down to the first floor and into the conservatory, a small glass room filled with little plants from Alternia. In the center was an open space that the blankets and pillows were spread out on. With the lights dimmed, Polypa and Zebruh lay down near- but not too close- to each other and stared up at the stars above through the perfectly clear sky.

“Have you ever seen stars like this?” Zebruh asked.
“Once. On a job. I had to go out to a really remote area to get someone and I almost missed them crossing by me because I was so fixated on the stars.”
“Yeah, they’re really nice.”

The two sat in silence for a moment.

“Zebruh?”
“Yeah?”
“What makes you, well, you?”

There was silence for another minute.

“I don’t know if I can come up with a good answer for that.”
“Sure you can, just give me something.”
“Well, I really like music.”
“Music’s cool.”
“I really like to critique it, talk about what’s good and bad about it.”
“But isn’t that all subjective?”
“Of course, but people look at reviews to see people giving their opinions as though they were objective facts. That’s what people are looking for. Confidence.”
“I thought critics just did it because they were pretentious.”
“Hah,” Zebruh laughed. “Most are. I am.”
“You’re not that pretentious.”
“You clearly never read my blog then.”
“I guess I haven’t.”

Another pause for a moment.

“And I guess,” Zebruh started again. “There’s more to me than that.”
“Oh?”
“Nah, you probably wouldn’t want to hear about it.”
“I’d love to hear about it.”
“No, I think that-”
“Zebruh,” Polypa interrupted. “You can tell me.”

Zebruh sighed.

“As you’ve probably figured out by now, I don’t have a lot of friends. I have nobody in my quadrants and-”
“Well I don’t either, it’s really ok.” Polypa muttered.
“You see,” Zebruh continued. “I’m horribly, horribly introverted, but nobody seems to notice that I’m actually really shy because I’m able to speak with such confidence. It’s like people think I’m either lying or just confused when really that’s what I am. I’m horribly shy. Even talking to you right now has me almost shaking. I think that’s why a lot of people really hate me, I’m not good at coming across as ‘normal’ for people.”

Polypa thought for a moment.

“You know I don’t wear these bandages for show.” She started.
“Really?”
“Yeah, when I was younger my hive caught on fire and I was nearly killed by it. I had some pretty nasty scars on my arms from where some pieces of wood collapsed on me so I decided to wrap them in bandage to hide them.”
“I’m really sorry to hear that, I’m glad you’re alive.”
“Yeah, I’m glad to be alive too. I’m just happy that you haven’t had to go through anything like that.”
“I haven’t, but I know what pain is like. I’m just good at burying it inside of myself.”
“I could tell.”
“We’re two side of the same coin, I think.”
“What?” Polypa asked.

This was getting interesting, she thought. Maybe this would hold the answer that she was waiting for. How could he bring them together? A lowblood mercenary, and a highblood critic.

“We’re both people who live in the shadow of pain in their pasts. We’re both trying to move past it but we’re not entirely sure how, and we’re looking for people to explain it to who really get it but it often doesn’t seem possible.”
“Wow, Zebruh, I’m impressed.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I am actually.”
“Thanks.” Zebruh flushed indigo.
“You put it well, I’ll give you that.”
“Let me know some time and I’ll read your tarot.” Zebruh said lightly.
“Sure, not tonight though. I’m really tired. It’s been a long day of trying not to get culled.”
“Yeah, I’m very, very tired. Goodnight, Polypa.”
“Goodnight, Zebruh.”

Polypa closed her eyes while Zebruh continued to stare up at the sky. A chill passed over his heart. It was a familiar sound that said: “Don’t do it. Don’t get attached.” He wanted to bury it as quickly as possible. It was different this time, he was sure of it. But oh god, what if it wasn’t. The ghosts of his past were still around him, still grabbing at him, still needing him for whatever reason. He could almost see them, and hear them, and he could without a doubt feel them. They were here to stay a lot longer than he would’ve liked. It took an hour for his blood pusher to calm down enough to fall asleep while Polypa was completely out within five minutes.

-------

Come on, Azdaja thought. It was just one click and that’s all he’d need. Azdaja jumped up and clocked a 180. Shit. Before he even saw Elwurd, he realized it was checkmate.

Elwurd quickly popped out behind him and nestled the tip of her gun underneath his chin.

“Is this the part where you confess to having pitch feelings for me and let me go?” Azdaja stifled a small laugh.
“No, Azdaja, this is the part where you die.”

With a firm pull of the trigger, a spray of yellow blood erupted from Azdaja’s head as his corpse fell to the floor. Elwurd took a breath and looked down before hearing another click.

“And this is the part where I win the whole thing.” Tagora laughed as he stepped out from the darkness. Elwurd’s eyes locked on with him before a second loud bang echoed through the room.

Elwurd looked at Tagora and her hands began to shake. She was unable to pull the trigger. Elwurd dropped the gun and felt her stomach. Hah, blue blood coming out. So much blue blood… so fast… son of a-...

Elwurd collapsed onto the floor next to Azdaja. Tagora stepped over her. “I’ll be taking these to help recover the costs of my operation. Thanks for doing part of my job for me.”

Elwurd tried to choke out a reply as Tagora reached down and took both her and Azdaja’s pistols before calmly leaving the room. Dying, she turned her eyes up towards the ceiling as her vision began to fade. Fuck you, Tagora, she thought. He’d get his eventually. She kept repeating that until the last bit of life finally left her.

Chapter Text

The storm was unrelenting. Xefros continued to wait inside near his recuperacoon. His fingers nervously rasped on the hard outside of it as he sat in front of the window watching the streaks of water descend the glass.

The internet had been out since he arrived here making him feel more isolated than he had ever felt before in his life. But in the sky, there was a crack. A glint of light was shining through. Maybe that meant… just maybe.

Xefros sat down at the husktop.

[ risingSlammer started trolling piercedCoder ]

RS: hey you were in the storm too right
PC: that = true
RS: so what’s going on X:(
PC: the storm = starting to break up
PC: but i worry that it’s not the end
RS: i’m really worried here
PC: you can team up with us

[ chat paused ]

Xefros froze. No. No way. He couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t do it. He couldn’t team up whatsoever with a highblood. Or even midbloods! They’d probably just backstab him, or worse, outright kill him. What if they started to get thirsty and wanted to drink his blood because they were rainbowdrinkers?! Oh gog!

Get it together, Xefros, he thought to himself as he clutched at his horns for stability. Get it together, now. You’re a revolutionary, a musician, he thought. But the anxiety was trickling down his face making him shiver with fright. If only there was something, he wondered. If there was something. And then the computer blipped.

[ tetragonMartyr started trolling risingSlammer ]

TM: + Xefros, what the hell is going on here? +
RS: dammek!!! X:)
TM: + Don’t ‘Dammek’ me, Xefros. What the hell is this? +
RS: what
RS: but I was just saying hi at you being back
RS: this is good news
TM: + There is nothing ‘good’ about this situation, Xefros. We’re stuck in some kind of highblood game right now. +
RS: are you sure
TM: + Oh, absolutely. We need to be on absolute high alert. Cease contact with everyone but me. +
RS: oh
RS: isn’t that a bit Xtreme?
TM: + They will kill you Xefros. Listen to me. If you want to stay safe, follow only my leads. +
RS: right
RS: thank you for keeping me safe dammek
RS: you’re the best moirail you know
TM: + You too, Xefros. Now find the gun I left in your hive and take it. You’ll need it. +

[ chat paused ]

Xefros twitched in his seat. He had completely forgotten about the gun Dammek gave him. He desperately wanted to ignore that it existed. But maybe what Dammek had said was true. If this was all some plan, some horrible plan to torture lowbloods, maybe he’d have to show them.

He crept out of his room and walked carefully down the slick hall. At the bottom of the stairs was a loose panel and underneath it was a small opening where a box had been shoved. Xefros pulled it out, his hands shaking. Inside the box was the handgun and some spare magazines, all fully loaded. Dammek had been so generous to spare those to him. A firm click pushed the first magazine in and Xefros tucked it onto a belt holster Dammek had also given him. It felt good to be so protected, but it was also terrifying. Could he take a trolls life? He didn’t know.

-------

Dammek put his pockethusk away and continued to creep around. It was dark, so very dark. There was an abandoned factory up ahead. The signs of a struggle were still fresh. Inside the factory were two dead trolls he didn’t recognize. One was a yellowblood, which Dammek almost felt a little bad for. Almost. The other was a blueblooded girl. He spat on the ground and walked away. Frankly neither of them deserved his sympathy.

The only one that he felt vaguely sympathetic for was Xefros. Poor Xefros. Dammek knew that in the event that the revolution came (It was a matter of when, not if.) that Xefros would likely cower away in his hive.

To say that Xefros disappointed Dammek was an understatement. Without his guidance, Xefros would’ve been drifting alone in an endless sea. Sure, his methods were sometimes harsh, but without him, Xefros would be nothing. And he knew that he’d do anything he had to for Xefros. He’d train him, he’d strengthen him, and if he had to kill him then so be it. That’s what separated Dammek from the other trolls of his caliber. They couldn’t kill their moirail if they had to. Dammek knew that if he had to, he could and he would. Poor Xefros, he thought. That’d be terrible. Necessary, but terrible.

Sometimes though, trolls tried to disrupt him. They tried to convince Xefros that Dammek was using him, but Dammek didn’t have time for these collaborators ruining his moirailship. They were just jealous that he had a moirail who was willing to listen to him. They wanted Xefros to be just another slave to a highblood somewhere and not the loyal second in command to a revolutionary like him. Well, more like fifth in command. Xefros could never lead, oh no, never.

Dammek sighed as he rubbed the side of his head with his gun, carefully taking his finger off the trigger so he didn’t accidentally blast himself. Oh Xefros, Xefros, Xefros. You’d be nothing without me, so why do you always try so hard to break away?

-------

[ chat unpaused ]

RS: i have no idea what to do X:(
PC: what = the matter?
RS: my moirail dammek wants me not talk to highbloods
PC: moirail? dammek? there’s someone else in the game? i need to let everyone else know
RS: wait!

[ chat paused ]

Oh no. Everyone knew that Dammek was here now. What if someone blew his cover? Isn’t Chixie here? Does she know? Xefros began to sharply breathe. Maybe Dammek was right. Maybe he had made a terrible mistake thinking he could possibly trust Mallek. He was a blueblood after all. He totally just failed Dammek’s test, didn’t he.

Xefros looked out the window. The storm was starting to clear. Off in the distance was a mountain. There was something shiny at the top. Xefros scrounged around his room. He knew that he had binoculars somewhere around here. He opened his closet and dug around. Nope, not there. Then he checked his drawers. Xefros pulled out random pieces of clothing until he finally found it buried underneath a pile of haphazardly sorted socks. He peered out the window and towards the top of the mountain. At the top was this… glowing mass? It was unlike anything he had seen before. It was floating but he couldn’t understand how. Whatever it was, he knew he’d have to reach it.

Xefros ran outside of the hive and took a moment to appreciate the sky. The sun was out, but it wasn’t burning him up like on Alternia, and the air was clean after days of inhaling nothing but smoke. He could almost enjoy the moment if he didn’t have to go see what that thing was.

He took his first step out only to realize that his foot was slowly sinking in the ground. Ugh, Xefros thought, there was mud everywhere! All the rain had caused the ground to turn into one massive field of mud. But this couldn’t stop him. Oh no. He was free to run now. With each heavy step, he ran across the mud, his feet dragging with each step but it didn’t matter to him whatsoever. He could run as freely as he wanted to. Off in the distance on the other side of the mountain was a lighthouse. Xefros wondered what could’ve been there. No, the mountain first, he decided.

At the base of the mountain, he realized that it was pretty tall. There was a path that wound up around it though. It’d take a few hours but he’d be able to do it. As he continued to walk up the trail, he noticed the mud getting heavier. That was odd. For the time being though, he was free to explore his thoughts as he went along.

That morning, he was so ready to see what the day would bring. And that afternoon, he was beginning to worry. And that evening, he was terrified of whether or not he would even live to see another day. Now he was free to explore and think about all the possibilities that existed for him. Dammek would show him the way. He’d show everyone to freedom!

It seemed like night was starting to fall on the strange planet. Across the horizon as Xefros got higher and higher, the sky was starting to turn orange at the edge of the sky. It was beautiful, he thought as he stopped to appreciate it. Xefros looked around and spotted an area that was suitably less muddy than everywhere else and sat down. He let his feet rest off the edge of the cliff. He must’ve been walking for over an hour by now. The sunset was starting and he wanted to see all of it.

The ground rumbled slightly. That was… unusual, but Xefros shrugged it off. It could’ve been anything. Then another tremor. Something was definitely not right now. The tremors became stronger and stronger like the bombs that had been falling on Outglut as Xefros turned around and looked behind him to see a massive mudslide coming straight at him. Xefros quickly picked up the pace, trying his best to sprint in the mud but he felt so tired from all the walking. He hadn’t even slept last night.

Each step felt heavier than the last as the mud reached up to his ankles and then his knees. He glanced behind one more time before the mud came crashing down on him.

-------

One hour earlier.

“Come on, we should go see what that is.” Tirona said from the top of the lighthouse. At the bottom, Mallek and Fozzer continued to sweep away the glass. Each time they thought they were done, there was always just a little bit more left on the ground. In fact, Mallek thought, Tirona really could be helping more. Fozzer was also thinking this.

“That should hopefully be the last of it.” Mallek sighed as he scanned the concrete floor one last time.
“Da, it is done.”
“Maybe we should see what Tirona’s yelling about.”
“Maybe so.”
“Tirona!” Mallek shouted. “What did you say was out there?”
“A sparkly think on a mountain!” Tirona yelled back.

Mallek looked at Fozzer who wearily shrugged.

“Alright, let’s go!”

The three opened the heavy metal door and poked their heads out. The sky was now eerily calm after what they had just endured.

“Hey, who’s that up there?” Mallek asked, pointing at the faint speck of a troll climbing up the mountain.
“I have no way of telling from here.” Fozzer replied, squinting his eyes. The speck was continuing to walk slowly up the mountain.
“Maybe we can catch up to them if we hurry?” Tirona asked.
“Sure, let’s get moving then.” Mallek began to run. “Come on!”

Fozzer and Tirona looked at each other, shrugged, and chased after Mallek. The three ran through the mud up the side of the mountain.

“I think you’re the only one prepared for this with those boots you got there, Fozzer! My sneakers are soaked!”
“Hah, a burgundyblood is always prepared for any situation at hand!”

Tirona opened her mouth to say something about how rustbloods were just manual laborers, hence the boots, but a sharp glance from Mallek who saw it coming shut her up.

“Hey,” Tirona puffed. “I’m starting to get tired.” Tirona began to slow to a jog.
“I dunno, I’m game to keep running but sure, we can slow down.” Mallek said, coming to a stop to catch his breath.

The ground moved a little bit.

“Hey, what was that?” Mallek asked.
“It felt like an earthquake.” Fozzer replied.
“Nah, couldn’t have been. We’d feel it more if it were.”

The ground shook again, harder.

“See? Aftershock.” Fozzer said.
“I thought aftershock was meant to be weaker than the first wave?”
“Not necessarily.”
“When did you become the expert on earthquakes?” Mallek asked, placing his hands on his hips.
“I dunno, blueblood, when did you-” Fozzer started before he stopped.
“Uhm, guys?” Tirona asked as she looked up.

A flood of mud slid down the side of the mountain above them. Mallek covered his head and waited, hoping the mud wouldn’t crash down on them. The three trolls stood frozen in disbelief as it crashed down the side before coming to a halt right in front of them, slowly gooping down the sides of the mountain.

“Damn! That must’ve been what it was.” Mallek said, looking at the damage.
“What about that other troll?” Fozzer asked.
“Oh shit, you’re right!”

The three trolls began to run again as they circled around the twisting mountain path. With each step they took, the mud became slightly thicker than it was before until they were trudging in it up to their ankles.

“He has to be somewhere around here!” Mallek shouted as the three split up to search. The troll couldn’t last forever under the mud. If they didn’t find him soon, he’d be toast.

Fozzer scanned the ground quickly along the side of some rocks before he noticed a grey hand poking out from behind it.

“Hey, there is hand over here!” Fozzer shouted back. Mallek and Tirona ran over and began to scoop away at the mud with their hands while Fozzer pulled on the troll’s hand. Slowly, the troll began to be dislodged before his head finally popped up.

“He’s unconscious, check if he’s still breathing.” Mallek said as he pulled at the troll’s legs to free him.
“He’s a burgundyblood.” Fozzer said quietly, looking at the troll’s shirt.
“I don’t care what he is, we need to get him to the top, now. It’s the closest flat land and also where that glowing thing is.”

Tirona grabbed his other foot and the three began to carry him up the mountain. Mallek placed two fingers at the troll’s neck.

“Oh good, he’s still alive. There are some cuts on him but I bet he’ll be alright. He was probably knocked out from a blow to the head when the mudslide hit him.” Mallek said as they reached the top of the mountain. In front of them was the glowing object, a golden crystal hovering in the sky.

“It’s slowly descending down. At this rate, it won’t be here until morning.” Fozzer noted. Mallek looked out across the horizon. “The sun’s nearly down entirely. We’ll have to camp here for tonight. I hope it doesn’t rain again.” Mallek said as he laid his backpack out on the ground.

“Do you keep any medical supplies on you?” Fozzer asked.
“Just some bandages, nothing else.” Mallek pulled out the roll of bandages and handed them to Tirona who began to wrap them around the troll’s wounds.
“Do we have any idea who this is?” Mallek asked Fozzer as the two watched Tirona wrap the bandages around the unconscious rustblood.
“By process of elimination, there is only one other burgundy here.”
“So that means it’s Xefros.” Mallek replied.
“Da.”

The two looked at the troll. He looked almost serene where he was, like he hadn’t slept in ages. Mallek yawned. Just thinking about that made him feel tired. He closed his eyes for just a moment before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Gah!” Mallek exclaimed with a jolt.
“Relax, it is just me.”
“Sorry about that, I just didn’t think you’d do that.”
“It’s ok, I just wanted to thank you for helping save Xefros’ life.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Most bluebloods… do not think about lowbloods. Especially not burgundybloods.”
“Right. Well, I always try my best, I don’t really know what else to say.” Mallek said with a small laugh.
“That is enough for me.”

Xefros shifted a little bit. In his head, he was talking to Dammek. His dream, despite the lack of sopor slime, was a good one. In it, he was sitting on the couch with Dammek.

“Hey.” Xefros said to Dammek. Dammek turned his head. “What’s up?”
“Why do I feel hurt?”
“In what way?” Dammek asked.
“I don’t know. I just feel so uncertain. Uncertain of who I am. Of who you are. Also there’s a cut on my face that’s bleeding.”

Xefros knew he should’ve been afraid. He hated the sight of blood, but for some reason he felt perfectly serene in the moment with Dammek next to him.

“I can’t tell you the answer.” Dammek replied. “This is not what you think it is.”
“What? What do you mean?”

Dammek turned away.

“Dammek? Talk to me. Please. Talk to me just a little bit. What’s wrong? What don’t I know?”

Dammek continued to stay silent as Xefros’ bloodpusher began to beat like a drum, faster and faster before finally his eyes shot open. He threw himself up and took a deep breath. The sun was breaking over the horizon, it was morning. He felt his forehead and felt the soft cloth of the bandages. Then he looked at his hands, scraped and bruised. They didn’t hurt but he couldn’t understand. And then he turned and saw three trolls all lying asleep. They were all near each other sharing a backpack as a pillow. The first troll was a blueblood covered in piercings.

At first, the sight of a blueblood made him afraid, but then he saw that the troll to his left was a burgundyblood. A highblood and some gutterblood like him sleeping next to each other? At peace? Maybe he was still asleep. And the last troll was a small tealblood. There was a small smile on her face. Maybe they were all having good dreams.

Xefros lay back down and closed his eyes. He could get a few more hours of sleep, he thought. Maybe some more sleep would clear his thinkpan. There was certainly still a thick blanket of fear covering his blood pusher.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Elwurd rubbed her eyes. Her head throbbed like crazy. “What the fuck happened?” She muttered as she slowly opened her eyes. In front of her was a golden city made of rising spires that extended out of the ground.

She couldn’t entirely remember what she was doing here. Looking down, her shirt had changed. It was still her regular t-shirt, but her sign was gone, replaced by a yellow crescent moon. A splatter of dried cerulean blood was faintly visible across it. It was quiet and still, too quiet for her tastes. As she stood up, she noticed another troll lying on the ground.

“Hey. What’s going on here?” Elwurd asked. The troll’s eyes were still closed. His shirt had also changed to the golden crescent moon but his jacket was a mustard yellow. That must’ve been his caste.

“Hey! Wake up!”
“Huh? What?” The troll pushed himself up.

The two looked at each other, unsure of what exactly had happened to them.

“Who are you?” Elwurd asked. The other troll looked at her blankly.
“Where’s Konyyl? Where’s my matesprit?”
“What?”
“Where’s my matesprit?”

The troll leaped to his feet and took a step towards Elwurd. Elwurd stepped back.

“What? I don’t know where we are? Who are you?”
“Azdaja Knelax. Who are you?”
“Elwurd.”
“You’re familiar.” Azdaja’s posture softened.
“As are you.”
“Do you remember what happened to us?”
“I have no idea.”

Azdaja looked around at the golden spires.

“Where are we?”
“I have no idea, but I feel like something is wrong.”

She looked at his shirt. There was yellow blood dried on it too.

“Is that blood on your shirt?” Elwurd asked. Azdaja looked down.
“Yeah, I guess so. It must be mine. There’s blue blood on your shirt. It’s probably yours.”

For the first time in a long time, Elwurd felt nervous. For sweeps and sweeps she had maintained a sense of cool that surrounded her no matter what. It was who she was, after all. This though, this was all so strange and hard to believe.

“Do you think we’re…” Elwurd trailed off.
“What? Do you think we’re what?”
“Are we like, dead?” Elwurd stifled a laugh. It was all too hard to believe if it was true.
“Heh,” Azdaja closed his eyes and stretched. “It’s entirely possible. I don’t have any better ideas.”

The two looked at each other again.

“So if we’re dead, what do we do? Are we just stuck here forever?” Elwurd asked, staring at the empty city of gold. Beyond them was nothing but empty black space, a terrifying void, except for a small speck off in the sky. A little, pale blue dot.

“Wait a minute, I remember something. We were inside of a game.” Azdaja snapped his finger. “We’re dead inside the game so there has to be a way back in!”
“I remember too now. We were on a planet of darkness and uh, wait, no, that’s impossible.”
“What?”
“Do you remember how we died?”
“Not really, no. Does it matter?” Azdaja asked.
“I think it does.”
“Why?”
“I think I killed you.”

Azdaja laughed.

“Killed me? Please, my death must’ve been an accident. No offense to you but there’s no way in hell that-”
“Look.”

Elwurd stepped forwards and pointed up. Azdaja looked up and Elwurd inspected underneath his chin.

“Do you have a scar under your chin?”
“No? Why?”
“You do now. A round scar where a bullet went in. And look: the splatter of blood on your shirt is heading down like a wound was inflicted above it.”

Elwurd stepped back and Azdaja felt underneath his chin.

“Damn,” He chuckled. “Good detective skills. I guess I was shot, but are you sure you’re the one who did it?”
“For sure. It’s all coming back to me. It’s slow and hazy, but I remember putting the gun to your head and killing you… and then I was shot too.”
“By who?”
“I have no idea.”

The two stood silently for a moment.

“Hey wait-” Azdaja started. “Why the fuck did you kill me?”
“I have no idea. That’s the part that’s missing. But remember, we were trying to kill each other so the feeling was at least mutual.”
“Oh right, damn. Now I’m starting to remember it too. It was nighttime and we were at a weird abandoned factory, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Wild. Well, bygones be bygones?” Azdaja laughed.
“You’re willing to team up with me even though I killed you and you tried to kill me?”
“Sure, why not. You’ve only proven to me that you’re a strong killer. And besides, it’d only really last until we find a way out of here.”
“Fair enough. You have a deal.”

The two shook hands and looked each other in the eyes. Their eyes were glassy, faded, like they had lost blood even though they were still very much awake. Their skin was flushed and their hands were cold. It was scary, Azdaja thought. He had so much to live for, but there had to be a way out of here. They couldn’t be stuck forever. He refused to believe it.

“What if we climbed that tall spire? Maybe we’d be able to see something.” Elwurd said, pointing up at the tall tower.
“Sure, I think we’ve got all the time in the world.”

Two heavy doors made of carved wood sat underneath an entry way for the tower. Azdaja and Elwurd pushed them open, revealing and old and worn stone staircase that wound up beyond where they could see.

“How old do you think this place is?” Elwurd asked.
“I think all of this is just part of the game and isn’t actually real, but if it is then I’d have to guess hundreds, maybe thousands of years old.”

The two continued to wind up the stairs. At each window, Azdaja glanced out at the city. It was dead quiet and entirely eerie. In fact, he wagered it’d be way worse if he was here alone. Sure, it stung that the person he was stuck with was someone who apparently managed to outwit him in the game of assassination, but at least it was somebody. Still, his heart burned for Konyyl. She was out there by herself and who knows what was happening to her. If she was in danger then… well he’d have to really hurry the fuck up finding his way out of this maze.

“Do you love anyone?” Azdaja asked as the two continued on the endless seeming staircase.
“Not really, no. Not anymore at least.”
“Huh. Sorry to hear that.”
“It’s ok. Matesprit’s can just drag you down.”
“But sometimes you find the right one and they’re your number one partner in crime.”
“Sure, if you’re lucky.”
“Mine is.”
“No need to rub it in, yellowblood.”
“Hey, I was just saying.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Sorry.”
“I’m fine.”

There was another uneasy silence between them.

“Do you think there’ll be anything at the top?” Azdaja said, breaking the silence.
“There’s only one way to find out.”

The staircase continued on for what felt like forever before Azdaja could finally see what looked like a door a few levels up. At the top, the two stopped and caught their breath.

“Hah, my legs are gonna kill me for this.” Azdaja laughed.
“Maybe, but I don’t have time to worry about that. Let’s see what’s on the other side.”

The two pushed open the heavy door, revealing a small ornate bedroom. Elwurd stepped towards the window to look out across the city while Azdaja lay down in the bed. He rested his eyes for a moment, taking in the peaceful air of this strange, exotic city.

“Come on dude, don’t tell me you’re goin’ back to sleep on me.” Elwurd chuckled.
“Why not? It’s really comfortable.”
“Because we’re here to see what’s going on, not here to let you take a nap. Get your ass up before I have to kill you again.”
“I don’t think you can kill me, we’re already dead.”
“Want to find out?”

Azdaja opened one eye and looked at Elwurd. She looked back at him with a slightly amused expression.

“Ugh, fine.”

Azdaja pushed himself up and opened a drawer.

“Hey, look at this.”

Elwurd walked over and peered over Azdaja’s shoulder. Inside the desk was a small note. Quickly, Elwurd scanned what it said.

“Let’s see… if you’re reading this then welcome to Prospit 2.0. What the hell is a Prospit?”
“I don’t know, but we’re on the second version of whatever it is.”
“Right, I figured that from what it said.”
“So… does this help us at all?” Azdaja asked, setting the note down on the desk.
“Not really, no.”

Azdaja tapped his foot. This was getting annoying. Would he have to spend eternity in this horribly boring place? That’d really suck. Like really, really, suck. Or maybe he’d be stuck with just Elwurd and never get to see his matesprit ever again. That’d be worse.

“Do you think it’s possible to double die?” Azdaja asked.
“I dunno. I’d rather not find out.”
“Well to be honest, I’m kinda curious. I’m gonna jump out the window.”
“What?”
“Look, if we’re already dead then I’ll just hit the bottom and be fine. And if I double die for some reason, then I just won’t be stuck in this place forever. It’s a win-win!”
“Azdaja, I don’t think that’s a good idea, but I’m also not going to stop you.”
“Alright, it’s experimenting time!”

Azdaja leveled his eyes with the large window that was already open. One leap of faith, he thought. There’d be no other way of knowing what exactly was the nature of this place. If he was already dead, then it didn’t matter what happened. So here went nothing.

With a quick sprint, Azdaja took off across the small room, breezing past Elwurd. Within a second, he leapt out of the window only to quickly realize that his beloved trench coat had snagged on the window.

Elwurd watched as Azdaja tumbled out of the window, leaving his coat behind. She rushed to the window to look out of it only to see Azdaja floating in place.

“Hey! We can fly!” Azdaja yelled back. He slowly drifted back up to the window before landing back inside.

“That’s uh, certainly a discovery. Let me try.” Elwurd said, stepping forward to the window. “Also this is yours.” Elwurd handed the bundled up coat to Azdaja. “Hah, thanks.” He said, taking it.

Elwurd took a deep breath. She hoped it wasn’t just mustardbloods who were able to fly on Prospit 2.0. That’d be really, really bad, and also stupid, she reasoned. One foot after the other, she thought, and she took the step.

A gentle wind moved underneath her, but she was still in place. Elwurd laughed.

“Hey, what do you know. We can fly!”

Azdaja carefully stepped out of the window as the two admired the city.

“Maybe this isn’t so bad.” Elwurd said, looking across the golden spires that covered the small planet.
“Maybe, but we still need to get out of here. I have a matesprit to get back to.”
“Is that all you think about?”
“When you’re terribly romantic, as am I, yes.”
“Right. Right.”

In another spire was a small glowing light. Azdaja began to walk on the wind towards it.

“What is it?” Azdaja asked as he approached the spire.
“How the hell would I know?”

Inside was a glowing husktop bigger than they had ever seen before. Spools of wire and tape were running in and out of it. On the screen was a list of names.

“Hey look: Info on all the people in the game. See, here’s me, deceased on Prospit it says.” Azdaja pointed at the screen.

Elwurd grabbed the mouse and scrolled down. The names were a long list, but one stood out. She lingered on the name for a moment.

“Is something wrong?” Azdaja asked, looking over.
“No. Nothing’s wrong.”

She continued scrolling away from Bronya’s name.

“It says here that there’s five planets in each series. I guess that’s how they have to beat the game, right?” Azdaja said, pointing at the screen.
“Must be. Does it say how we can get back into the game?”
“It actually does.”
“How?”
“We have to get someone who’s still alive to bring us back.”
“Yeah but, how do we get someone to do that?”
“First we’d need to be able to talk to them and then figure out what needs to be done to bring us back.”
“So we need to be ghosts basically.”
“Sounds like it.”
“Shit,” Elwurd laughed. “This is going to be fun.”
“Absolutely.”

The two trolls stared at the screens and began to formulate a plan. The end is never really the end, at least on Prospit.

Chapter Text

Chahut set down the tea cup. It was tiny in her large hands, but she thought that they must’ve been small for Galekh too. All of this was very strange to her, which was really saying a lot considering that she was, of course, a prominent member of the clown church. Still, in front of her was the steely-eyed indigoblood with a serene expression on his face as he set his teacup down as well.

“It’s quite generous of you to let me stay here for the night, Galekh.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it.”
“Most trolls are afraid of clowns, especially someone like me considering my imposing physique as I’m told.”
“The dried bloodstains on your pants don’t quite help, if I may be entirely honest with you.”
“It’s actually just paint. I used to do living sacrifices but I’ve gone too soft for them. Now I just apply fresh paint in splatters to make it look like I do them still.”
“Of course. It is the natural evolution of an intellectual to see that violence is a suboptimal play, but that intimidation is a very reasonable and safe way to control that which you want to influence.”

Galekh spoke almost as slowly as she did. The two were both calm, resting easy in the velvet chairs that Galekh kept in his hive’s library. He was good at organization, she could tell that. All the books on the shelves were ordered as one would expect. Despite the serenity of the room however, she couldn’t entirely get a read on Galekh. Was he nice, or was he secretly an evil genius?

Chahut wanted to see the best in all trolls, but she had been on Alternia longer than most. In fact, it was nearly time for her to go off world before all of this happened. And she had seen the worst of the worst violence of purplebloods first hand. She knew what trolls were capable of and she knew what she was capable of. That’s why she couldn’t entirely place a finger on what Galekh could’ve exactly wanted.

“We’re trapped in this world, you know. I think I was able to get the message across before Azdaja and Konyyl decided to break ranks. And well, before we lost the others as well.” Galekh said in between sips of tea.
“Right, but how do we get out of here?”
“I’ve been doing some analysis. Let me show you something important.”

He stood up and walked over to a tall bookshelf. With a quick hoist, he pulled himself up a ladder and pushed it, rolling it with him on it to the side down the shelf. Near the end, he stopped it and picked up a book.

“This one, right here. It’s a rather strange book that I picked up under even stranger circumstances. I keep it hidden in plain sight due to its… heretical nature. You don’t mind such things, do you?”
“We’re not on Alternia, are we?” Chahut replied. Galekh smiled and sat back down in front of her with the leather-bound book.

“You see, I came into possession of this book after a rather strange event happened to me. Let me set the stage for you. It was a quiet, misty night in Outglut. Dark season, of course. Third perigee, so not hot but not cold either. I was walking through a lowblood area and rightfully slightly worried for my safety, I decided to take a shortcut into an alley to get back to my quarter of the city faster. It was risky, but I decided it was worth the risk.”

“I turned the corner and walked down the dim alley. There were a few lights illuminating the place but it was mostly entirely dark. There’s a couple rustbloods standing near a gate and so I ignore them. ‘Hey!’ one of them says. ‘What’s an indigo like you doing around here?’”

“I continued walking and the rustblood continued to heckle me before he finally ordered me to stop and turn around. Worried he might have a weapon, I did so. The rustbloods were carrying knives. ‘Credits’ he said. ‘Hand them over.’ I backed away slowly before one of them began to lunge. I went for a block but not being trained in such things, I wasn’t really confident it would work. Then a bronzeblood came out of nowhere and killed the three rustbloods in the blink of an eye. At least, it felt like the blink of an eye. It was hard to tell in the thick fog.”

“I opened my eyes and struggled to see in the fog so I cautiously stepped forwards. The bronzeblood had already killed two of the rustbloods and finally went to stab the third one before he went down. In a panic, I grabbed a knife out of the hand of one of the dead rustbloods and stabbed the last rustblood in the back. After he fell, I went to check on the bronzeblood.”

“The bronzeblood was lying on the ground bleeding out. I knelt beside him and told him that I was grateful for his help and I was sorry there wasn’t anything I could do. He looked at me and told me that there was a false brick along the eastern wall separating the Faygo factory and the waste deposit receptacle and for me to go there. I didn’t understand what he was talking about but as he died, I realized I needed to do it.”

“So what happened?” Chahut asked. Her eyes were fixed on Galekh.

“So I went there that night. I ran through the fog to the Faygo factory and felt along the east wall separating it from the waste deposit receptacle and sure enough, there was a fake brick. Two of them, actually. Behind them was this book, bound up in its leather case, and I took it back to my hive here and hid it on the shelf in plain sight. What it contains is highly fascinating.”

Galekh opened the first page of the book. On it, it read ALTERNIS PARADOXUM in delicately scribed text.

“So you knew this whole time?” Chahut asked, looking up at Galekh.
“No, actually. You see, from the moment I realized this was something wanted by law, I hid it. I’ve been too afraid to see what it says in case it might result in my premature culling. When the game started, I couldn’t understand why the name sounded so familiar but then it finally hit me. I remembered this book. Shall we look inside?”
“Is it safe?”
“Like you said, we’re not on Alternia.”

Galekh scanned the table of contents.

“Oh my god.”
“What?”
“There’s large parts of it missing, but this explains a lot of the questions I had.”
“As in?”
“Well, what the nature of the place was in many ways. We had some good assumptions as to what was going on but nothing concrete. This though, this says what I was looking for. Hard answers.”
“Like what exactly? I thought it was obvious that this was some kind of space that we were competing in.”
“Look here.”

Galekh traced his finger along the text and slid it around to Chahut. She read the page.

Four series of planets rotate the Frozen Star. Should the star awaken, the game shall end. But just remember though: The end is never the end.

“So what does this mean? We can’t awaken the star?”
“Precisely.”
“But what awakens the star?”
“That… I have no answer to. And the book is missing many pages and the text is faded. I doubt it has it too. I’ll have to spend quite some time analyzing it.”
“Is it time that you have, Galekh?”
“I don’t know. I fear that the nature of the game has begun to have adverse side effects on other players.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ask Marvus for yourself.”

Chahut looked at Galekh for a moment before taking out her pockethusk.

[ ladyPierrot started trolling deliciousClown ]

LP: marvus
LP: whaT in The name of The messiah is going on
DC: shits fucked lmao
LP: whaT happened?
DC: found two bodies lol
LP: who
LP: where
DC: this planet’s dark bro
DC: some yellowblood and blueblood were fuckin merked
DC: and i saw a tealblood running away

[ chat paused ]

“You see?” Galekh said. “The nature of trolls. Give them weapons and they will kill.”
“Yes, but-”
“But what? You yourself used to perform sacrifices.”

Chahut knew that she didn’t have to listen to someone lower than her on the hemospectrum, even if they were only one tier down. Besides, she was significantly larger than the troll in front of her who looked like he hadn’t left his library in a sweep. But, he was right. And at the very least, she could benefit from hearing the truth even if it was hard to bear.

“We must protect ourselves.” Galekh sighed. “You’ve never left that axe out of your sight and I suggest you hold onto it. Me? I keep a spare firearm just in case in my desk. Never know when you might need it.”

He stood up and walked over to his large desk and rubbed the smooth wood on the top with his hands before grabbing a small key. With a click, a small compartment opened and Galekh took out the small handgun. Chahut watched as he tucked it into his coat’s inner pocket.

“Deception is an equally powerful weapon. Make them think you’re unarmed and they’ll never see you pull the gun out.” Galekh said as he placed an extra magazine in his pocket.

Galekh sat down again and continued to flip through the book.

“Aha, and look at this. This is what will cause everyone to begin fighting each other.”

He traced his finger along a line of text that read: Should one complete the game, they win a prize of their desire, and another of their choice will get theirs.

“The ultimate prize of anything we could ever want for two. Once the other find out that’s what the point of the game is, everyone will be suspicious of one another.”
“And what about us?” Chahut asked.
“I propose an alliance. The two of us win and we get our wishes.”

Galekh put his hand out and looked at her.

“My intelligence and your strength? It’d be perfect.”
“I’m smarter than you give me credit for, Galekh.”
“Of course, I apologize for my comment.”

Chahut shook his hand, but she made sure to squeeze it just a little extra hard, enough not to hurt him but enough to make him try to stifle a wince.

“But what about all the other trolls. You don’t intend to hurt them, do you?” Chahut asked.
“Of course not, no. In fact, I intend to offer a truce to Zebruh, Polypa, Xefros, and Mallek.”
“Why them?”
“Because they’ve proven that they’re able to make friends and allies themselves. We can make a whole network of trolls that’ll not fight us as we continue to solve and progress through the game. At least, that’s the idea.”
“Right.”
“So for now, we can simply relax and take the night off. Tomorrow morning, we’ll hop online and check to see what’s going on and I guess also check and see who died. I hope you weren’t friends with any bluebloods or yellowbloods?”
“I wasn’t. Still, I feel bad for them. Marvus said he saw a teal running away. Do you think the tealblood did it?”
“It’s entirely possible but I don’t think we’ll truly know unless we went to investigate for ourselves.”
“But we’re on an entirely separate planet.”
“That’s true, but we could always switch planets.”
“Is that possible?”
“I have no idea, but I’m sure it’s in the book if it is. We have to progress up the series somehow.”

-------

Chixie and Bronya took a breath. They had been trudging through the mud for what felt like an eternity but they were finally half way up the mountain.

“Come on, they’re up there. I know that they are.” Chixie huffed as the two continued to climb the mountain. Just one day ago they didn’t even know each other but the storm meant there was plenty of time to get to know each other.

The night before, they were sitting in Chixie’s hive. Bronya had stumbled through the storm to get there. Chixie pulled the door open and the two sat down.

“What’s going on out there? Who are you?” Chixie asked in a panic as she rushed to get a towel for the soaking troll.
“Bronya Ursama, one minute I was on Alternia and then… holy shit that storm was rough.”
“Wait, I remember you from the chat. I’m Chixie Roixmr.” Chixie replied, handing Bronya the towel.
“Nice to meet you, and thanks.”
“The internet’s completely out. We’re stranded here until the storm clears.”
“Well, I guess we should get to know each other.”

The two sat across from each other at a modest table in the center of Chixie’s hive. Chixie set down two cups of coffee. She had been running low for a while and was trying to be savvy with it, but whatever, it’s not like there were any grocery hives on this world. At least, she assumed there weren’t.

The next morning, Bronya woke up on the floor of Chixie’s hive covered by a thick snuggleplane. Surprisingly, she didn’t have any nightmares the night before. In fact, she rather strangely wasn’t able to recall her dreams at all. After quickly packing up their things, they headed for the door and spotted the mountain outside. On top was something glowing. It called to them.

The mud was horrendous. Each step felt obnoxiously squishier than the last as they trudged up and around the mountain. Since the sky had cleared, they were able to check the chatlogs since the previous night.

“Looks like Mallek, Xefros, Tirona, and Fozzer are on top of the mountain. I guess we’ll meet up with them and see what the glowing thing is assuming they haven’t found out first.” Bronya said with a sigh as she flecked some of the mud off of her shoe.
“Are you sure we can trust them? One of them’s a blueblood and the other is a teal. You know what they say about bluebloods.”
“There’s two rustbloods there. We should be fine. Also I’ve learned about Tirona a bit. She’s very ideological, yes, but she also seems incredibly meek. She won’t do anything.”
“I hope you’re right.”

Near the top, the pair poked their heads over onto the plateau. Mallek, Tirona, and Fozzer were sharing a backpack as a pillow and Xefros was lying on the ground flat with a bandage wrapped around his head.

“What the hell happened here?”
“Are they alive?” Chixie asked looking at the four.

They quietly moved around them before Chixie kneeled down in front of Fozzer. He was clearly breathing.

“They’re sleeping.” Chixie whispered.
“Should we wake them up? That glowing thing is within reach but I don’t want to touch it without them.”
“Yeah let’s wake them up.” Chixie snickered. Bronya braced herself.

“Wake up!” Chixie yelled at the top of her lungs. For a troll of her size, her powerful voice echoed over the tops of the mountains. Mallek immediately threw himself up.

“What the fuck!? What the fuck!?” He panted before spotting the two girls laughing over themselves. “That’s cruel, you know.”

Fozzer and Xefros stirred, pushing themselves upright. Tirona required a bit of prodding from Chixie to finally get up.

“So, what is this thing?” Chixie asked looking at the floating crystal that was now on eye level with them.
“I have no idea,” Mallek said, pushing himself to his feet. “But there’s only one way to find out.”

Mallek reached out to touch it and with a bright flash disappeared.

“Where did he-” Tirona started to say before trailing off.
“We’ve gotta go after him.” Fozzer shrugged. He touched it and disappeared too.
“Sounds like a plan then.” Bronya said as she touched it and disappeared.

Xefros, Tirona, and Chixie looked at each other. Tirona hesitated but with a small push from Chixie, touched it and left. Then it was just Chixie and Xefros.

“W- What if they were evaporated!” Xefros laughed nervously.
“I doubt it. Come on, Xefros. We don’t want you to be left behind.”
“But Dammek told me to-”
“Who?”
“My moirail Dammek.”
“You’re…”

Chixie stared at Xefros in disbelief. No. Dammek couldn’t be here, could he. That would be terrible. And this poor, shy rustblood was his moirail? Oh no. Xefros looked at Chixie and began to sweat. He had broken Dammek’s cover just like he knew he shouldn’t have. In a panic, he reached out and touched the crystal. He kinda hoped now that it would evaporate him.

In a flash, his vision was filled with light before it faded and he could see. Tirona, Mallek, Fozzer, and Bronya were looking around with each other. This new planet was closer to the Frozen Star, but it wasn’t anything like the previous planet. It was rocky and barren, covered sporadically with concrete bases. The sky above was nonexistent and they could truly see space clearly.

A moment later, Chixie appeared behind him. Xefros didn’t have the courage to turn around and face her. Instead, he just kept walking forwards, amazed at the new planet. He had survived one storm, but he worried that there was just another coming and it was inside of him already.

Chapter Text

Zebruh stirred awake. His dreams were a hazy, foggy mess in his mind. Despite the lack of sopor slime, his dreams were not bad per se, just odd. They were odd in a way that he was unable to fully shake from his think pan.

In his dream, he was in his hive alone back on Alternia. He rose from his desk and stepped slowly down the staircase into the main hall. There was nobody there, not even his lusus, though his lusus was rarely around him anyway. His lusus was already a firm hand in his life but his grasp over Zebruh slipped over the last sweep. He suspected his lusus was disgusted with who he had become.

As he stepped through the empty halls, he began to hear a beating on the doors. He stepped forwards and paused. At first, fear shot through his blood pusher before he finally steadied himself and pulled open the door.

On the other side was the burning remnants of Outglut. No trolls, just the warm wind breezing past him as embers drifted past. Zebruh slammed the doors just as he woke up. As it replayed in his head, he struggled to find a meaning for it.

“Hey, it’s morning.” He said, turning to Polypa. She was curled up on the blanket next to a potted plant.

“Hey.” He said again. She continued to sleep.

“It’s morning, Polypa.” He said firmer. With a swift poke on her arm, she shot herself up.
“What? What is it?”
“I was just trying to tell you it was morning.”
“Oh, thank you Zebruh. I hope you slept well.”
“I guess I did. What about you?”
“You know, I can’t remember what I was dreaming about. Isn’t that odd? I was expecting some violent nightmares but was met with nothing.”
“Silence,” Zebruh sighed. “Is often more terrifying than being surrounded with threats.”

He thought about the silent halls of his hive, beckoning him, questioning him.

“You ok?” Polypa laughed, waving her hand in front of Zebruh’s face.
“Yeah,” Zebruh laughed back. “Sorry, I just spaced off.”
“You do that a lot. Especially in fights when you should be helping me.”
“You know I’m not much of a fighter.”
“Well I’m going to change that.”
“You have your work cut out for you then.”

Polypa pushed herself up and stretched before leaving into the hall. Zebruh lingered a moment and thought. A fighter, he wondered? Him? If he couldn’t even win the on-going fight against himself, how could he expect himself to win against others. He dropped his head for a moment before jumping up to follow Polypa. He thought about what she said to him. He couldn’t be a burdon. He already was though, he knew that. He just hoped he could hide the fact long enough that she wouldn’t know.

“There’s still some grub in the meal block.” Zebruh called out into the hallway.
“Already found it!” Polypa shouted back.

Zebruh jogged into the meal block.

“Hey, save some for me.” He said quickly grabbing a plate from the cupboard.

The time ticked away as the two sat at the table discussing the game and what they were going to do. At various points, they looked out of the tall windows of the room to see the grey expanse beyond them. It was rocky and barren and every so often one of those weird grunts would stumble by, never noticing them there but always giving a moment of pause to the pair.

“So did you see the new messages today?” Zebruh asked.
“What’s going on?”
“Two trolls died.”
“What?” Polypa asked, nearly choking on the cereal she had poured herself.
“They’ve been identified. Two trolls named Elwurd and Azdaja. Do you know them?”
“Yeah, I-” Polypa stopped for a moment. “Being a mercenary, I know about Azdaja. He was a bounty hunter along side his matesprit. I think they’re both in here. Fuck, what killed him?”
“No idea. Looks like they shot each other.”
“His matesprit is going to lose it.”
“Why do you say that?”
“She’s already infamously dangerous and hotheaded. She’s an oliveblood like me and even I wouldn’t want to mess with her.”
“I see. What series is she on?”
“Ours, according to Galekh.”
“Oh.” Zebruh paused. “Oh no.”
“Yeah. I’d be careful today.”

Zebruh turned his eyes back to the outside.

“Hey, there’s someone outside?”
“Is it Konyyl?”
“No, I can’t tell who it is. They’re wearing a coat or something.”
“We should go see who it is then.”
“What? I thought you just said to be careful?” Zebruh asked.
“We will. We’ll see if they’re friend or foe. If they don’t want to cooperate with us then… well…”
“No.”
“What?” Polypa asked.
“I don’t want to hurt another troll.”
“Zebruh, I get that, but at some point you’re going to have to.”
“Right. Yes. Sorry.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
“I’ll try not to.”

The two stood up and continued to watch the troll outside.

Vikare rummaged through the broken and worn parts he had stumbled across. With just a few blueprints and some determination, he knew that he’d be able to build the plane of his dreams. He stopped to wipe the sweat off of his brow before he heard a sound off in the distance.

He crouched low, hoping it wasn’t another one of those weird eyeless trolls he had to fend off.

“Come on,” a voice said. “I swear I saw something over here.”

In the crater he waited. A piece of scrap he was holding was beginning to slip. He tried to readjust before it dropped.

With a clang, the metal fell. He crouched down to grab it.

“Aha!” Polypa shouted as she poked her head above the edge of the crater. “Zebruh, he’s over here. It’s a bronzeblood!”

Zebruh ran over and stuck his head over as well.

“Friend or foe?” Zebruh asked.
“Friend.” Vikare replied defensively as he gripped his metal parts.
“Then get up here!”

Vikare pulled himself out of the crater and set down the metal parts. He rubbed off the rust and oil onto his bomber jacket.

“So what is all this?” Zebruh asked looking at the metal.
“Parts. My grand plan is almost complete.”
“Plan?” Polypa stepped forwards.
“Yes, my greatest plan to build a flying machine!”

The two trolls stared at him. They didn’t get it just like all the other trolls, but he’d show them exactly what he was talking about.

“You see, I have been slowly putting together the engine to power a two-winged aeroplane device. Let me show you.”

He began to walk and the two trolls continued to look at him. He waved his hand for them to follow. Zebruh looked at Polypa and shrugged. “Might as well.” He said.

The two trolls followed him back to where he had built the body of the plane. There were scraps littering the surface of this planet perfectly suited for building it.

“When I begin to pilot it, it will soar off into the air. I’ll be able to rapidly discover what this entire planet is about.”
“That’s a good idea, actually.” Polypa said, stepping forwards to admire the plane. “That could give us really good intel on what’s coming.”
“Precisely my oliveblooded friend! Now, you and the indigo over there, if you could help me get it going, I could soar to the heavens and begin taking note of what lays beyond.”

Zebruh and Polypa grabbed a hold of the propellers while Vikare fastened the makeshift engine into place. He jumped into the cockpit and placed on his thick goggles.

“Alright,” He said with a massive grin on his face. He was barely able to contain his excitement. “When I say go, turn the propeller clockwise as fast as you can and jump back.”

Zebruh and Polypa braced themselves. Vikare gripped the throttle. With a push of the start button, the engine roared to life. A plume of black smoke erupted out of it. Life, he thought, that he had given with just the touch of a finger.

“Go!”

Polypa yanked on the propeller as hard as she could. Zebruh, meanwhile, felt it slip out of his grasp as it began to turn rapidly. The two skidded back from the spinning blade. Not even they could believe it.

The plane began to move forwards faster and faster before the wheels lifted gently off the ground. Flight, Vikare thought, was now no longer a dream. His dreams of flight were real. They were now. He would change everything.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Dammek opened his eyes and groaned. He pulled himself out of the sopor slime and staggered to his pockethusk. It was late morning, as per usual.

Last night had been another mess. He could barely remember any of what happened, there was just a whole lot of drinking involved and partying. “To success!” He declared with drink in hand. It was premature, sure, since the order of Alternia still existed, still rotted trolls to the core second by second, was still rotting him, success wasn’t here yet. But it would be soon. Very soon.

Xefros had been around last night, but he couldn’t remember what exactly he was doing. All he remembered was the vague idea that Xefros might’ve been upset with him. Dammek rubbed his temples, his head pounding from the hangover, before he stumbled over to his deskhusk.

[ chat unpaused ]

RS: dammek X:(
RS: you need to not do that anymore
RS: if you boast about your plans you might get caught and culled
RS: also are you ok
RS: you had a lot to drink
RS: let me know when you’re awake
RS: i want to know that you’re ok

[ chat paused ]

Dammek pushed himself away from the husktop. He could reply later. There was all the time in the world to get back to Xefros. He’d be fine. Today was going to be a big day, he remembered as he blearily took a sip of his coffee. A big arms deal was going down and he was going to be there. Xefros was going to just stay at his hive, he didn’t need to know what he was about to do.

Xefros always proved a thorn in Dammek’s side. Sure, it was great to have someone with unwavering loyalty to you, really you couldn’t get enough of that in life. However, Xefros was weak. Despite Dammek’s best efforts to strengthen him, the only strength Xefros seemed to possess was his ability to resist all the work Dammek was trying to put into him.

Really, Dammek thought to himself, can you even have a moirail who wouldn’t be able to kill in your name? He didn’t exactly think so. That’s why he had been giving some pale hints towards Chixie to see if she’d respond well to them. The Mask was way more daring than Xefros who could barely level a gun towards a paper cutout of a troll.

Dammek recalled more of the night before. The haziness of his mind continued to churn as he tried to clear the night back into his memory. Chixie was there, he remembered that. Chixie and Xefros. But they didn’t see each other. They still don’t know each other.

Dammek remembered resting his arm on the edge of the bar. The bar stool was old and torn.

“So,” He said to Chixie. “How did your last performance go?”
“As well as you’d expect. It was going great until he showed up.”
“That guy again?”
“Yeah. I hate seeing him. I’m trying to be The Mask so I can preach the truth about the hemospectrum’s inequalities and all that shit, but then I have this highblood just barging in and telling me about how amazing I am. I mean really, is that what I am? Just a tool of the upper castes by making provocative music they like?”
“Eh,” Dammek shrugged and took a sip of his drink. It was his second that night but he really wasn’t counting. “Fuck em’. You’re not a tool of the upper castes. You’re a revolutionary. Use your position to infiltrate them if you have to.”
“That’s not a bad idea, actually.”
“Keep a gun close to yourself, Chixie. If an opportunity presents itself, do it.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Dammek, no.”
“Uh, yes. Don’t you see the opportunity that could open itself to you?”
“I see myself getting culled.”
“You’re already on the brink as The Mask. What’s a little more brinksmanship at this point?”

Chixie raised her drink and quickly gulped the rest of it down.

“Maybe you’re right.” Chixie sighed.
“I’m always right. That’s why I’m the head tetrarch.”

Chixie took a deep breath.

“Is your moirail here?” She asked. “You talk about him pretty often.”

Dammek looked at Xefros sitting alone on a couch. He was staring off into space hopelessly lost in whatever was going on in his thinkpan.

“No. He’s not here.”
“Damn,” Chixie replied. “I’d like to meet him some time.”
“Eh, he’s not all that.”
“Oh come on, don’t be so shy about it Dammek. You clearly care for him.”
“Yeah, I care for him alright. He’d get culled without me.”
“Isn’t he a burgundyblood?”
“Yeah.”
“Well he has a strong chance of getting culled anyway, I don’t really see a problem with-”
“Because!” Dammek interrupted. “Because he’s weak. And I’ve been trying really hard to make him stronger but he’s just not able to defend himself.”
“What’s wrong with defending someone you care about?”
“Because I watch his back all the time but nobody watches mine.”
“Yeah but he’s your-”
“Moirail, not matesprit.” Dammek cut in.
“But does that change-”
“I trust Xefros to keep my secrets. I trust Xefros to obey my every word. Xefros trusts me to liberate every troll. That’s the basis here: Trust.” Dammek cut again.
“So Xefros works for you as well?” Chixie asked.
“Of course.”
“So what I’m hearing is that you want to liberate every troll on Alternia except for Xefros.”
“What? Not that’s not what I-”

This time, Chixie interrupted. She stood up and walked away. She didn’t want to hear any more from Dammek. What a prick, she thought. The Mask was already doing far more than he was. She’d liberate all trolls, not that arrogant, talentless ass over there. As she passed towards the door, she noticed the burgundy troll sitting alone on the couch. He looked like he was on the verge of crying.

“Are you ok?” Chixie asked.
“Yeah.” The troll replied.
“What’s your name?”
“Xefros?”

Chixie nearly blew a fuse, but she knew a fight wouldn’t help anything. Instead, she simply walked out.

Dammek watched the exchange from the bar. Yeah, he had lied, but who cared. As the bartender walked past, Dammek held up two fingers. It was going to be a long night. The party was a mistake. It was true that he hadn’t won yet even though it was a matter of time. At least the other trolls, the other lowbloods like him, were having a good time. The world would be so much better after liberation.

He brought himself back to the present. The present when he had a hangover and still had to attend an arms deal going down.

It was a couple miles away, he noted as he checked his messages again. He could easily just walk down and get there. The place was a small area near an abandoned factory. Dammek thought about all the lowbloods who worked there long ago. What was worse, he wondered, the fact that they lost their means of earning credits or the conditions they were forced to work in?

The abandoned Faygo factory sat next to a river with a long stone wall running along the east side separating it from a waste deposit receptacle. That was where the deal was going to happen. Patrols never came by, it was quiet and open. Perfect.

Dammek arrived early. He checked his pockethusk. There was at least 30 minutes before the other trolls would be arriving. While he waited, he scanned the walls of the tall and imposing factory complex. The bricks were old and worn. He traced his hand along the masonry as he walked along the wall until he noticed something strange. A brick was missing. It had been left on the ground. Behind it was a carved out area where something must’ve been stashed, but whatever it was, it was gone.

He noticed a few trolls standing around near a broken section of the wall.

“Dammek.” One of them, a blueblood said.
“Yep, I’m here.”
“Wonderful, you’re always a great business partner.” The other troll, a yellowblood said.
“Of course.”

Over the course of the next hour, more and more trolls showed up until about 12 we there by Dammek’s estimate. There was even a legislacerator: A tealblood with slicked back hair that covered part of his face.

“What’s the teal here for?” Dammek asked an oliveblood.
“That’s Tagora. He’s here for some side credits.”
“And?”
“He falsifies papers for a price. What’s better than an illegitimate gun than one that’s believably legit?”
“Good point.”

The trolls continued to shuffle around as information was shared along with the unpacking of some crates.

“C’mon Dammek,” The goldblood called out to him. “Take your pick.”

Inside the crate was every kind of gun that Dammek could ever wish for.

“I have plenty of handguns,” Dammek replied, admiring the arsenal. “So I’ll take two rifles and a grenade launcher.”
“You got it. Ten thousand credits.”
“Deal.”

A few heads turned.

“Where did you get ten thousand credits to blow, bronzie?” A blueblood spat.
“None of your business.”

The blueblood nodded. They were all “terrorists” in the eyes of the corrupt empress. There was no point arguing with each other. Dammek picked up and admired his newly acquired grenade launcher. One pull of the trigger and boom, the empress would be evaporated off the face of the universe. Wouldn’t that be fun. He bit his lip in anticipation for that day so hard a droplet of bronze blood rolled down his chin.

“Are you sure nobody knows were here. I keep hearing a drone off in the distance.” A rustblood troll muttered.
“Of course not, you’re just paranoid ever since your matesprit got blown to pieces.” A bronzeblood snickered back.
“You son of a bitch-”
“What? I’m only telling the tru-”

The rustblood swiftly punched the bronzeblood sending him reeling onto the ground. He pulled himself up quickly and lunged at the rustblood. The two rolled around on the ground covering themselves in dirt as the other trolls looked on.

“Fight!” One of them shouted followed by a chorus of trolls chanting “fight” over and over again.

Dammek stepped back towards Tagora who was silently observing the crowd.

“Not a fan?” Dammek asked.
“I don’t enjoy the barbarity.” Tagora replied.
“But you’re at a bazaar for terrorists.”
“I’m not just a legislacerator. I’m a businessman. I can stand in front of His Honorably Tyranny and defend an innocent troll’s life one day and falsify ownership papers the next. I don’t care about the ‘ethics’ (Tagora airquoted). This is Alternia. I’ll make a living any damn way I want.”
“Can you falsify ownership papers for me?”
“For the rifles? Yes. Not for the grenade launcher. That’s illegal no matter how you slice it.”
“How much?”
“Seven thousand credits.”
“Seven thou- I just paid 10k for those? How rich do you think I am?”
“I don’t see blood color, I only see cold hard credits.” Tagora scoffed.
“Fine. I’ll pay it. Just be quick.”
“No problem.” Tagora smiled.

Dammek walked away from Tagora. What an eel. Though, this meant he had a problem. A big problem. Tagora was now an eye witness to the purchase of the guns. He had to make sure it stayed a secret.

A bomb fell in the distance. The two trolls broke off of each other.

“What was that?”
“Sounds like a bomb.”
“No shit, but why?”
“Look.”

The rustblood pointed at Outglut. The imperial battleship was hovering in the sky.

“Holy fuck, we need to get out of here. Everyone pack up, now!”

The trolls scurried around, grabbing weapons, grabbing credit IOUs, and running off from the site. Dammek grabbed a towel from a troll and wrapped the weapons in it. Nobody would, or at least should, question him about it. He ran down the road away from the site as fast he could back to Outglut. As he ran, the sounds of the bombs became louder and louder. Xefros was probably fine though.

At his hive, Dammek threw the weapons into the corner of his meal block and looked across the street at Xefros’ house. It looked quiet. He was probably hiding or something. This was entirely unprecedented for the heiress. But that still raised the question of Tagora. There was a loose end now.

Dammek took a breath and ran out into the street. He knew where the legislacerator-in-training offices were. It was a tall building in the midblood section. Hopefully with the bombardment going on, he reasoned, nobody would notice the bronzeblood sneaking in.

The building had an unlocked back door. Dammek quietly slipped through it and into the office. There were trolls milling around, seemingly unbothered by the bombs outside. He had to be careful though. If he was spotted, it was game over.

Dammek slipped into a stairwell and scanned a directory on the wall. Floor four- Tagora. Bingo.

He slowly crept up the staircase. His footsteps echoed off of the stone steps before he heard a creek.

“Yeah, I know, crazy right?” A tealblood said to another.
“Still, how could that happen to HATCHED2DANCE. How could their show get canceled?”
“I don’t know, Tirona. There’s a million reasons why.”
“I swear to gog, Tyzias, I’m going to sue somebody for this.”
“Right.”

The two trolls left the staircase right above Dammek. He was safe again, for now.

On the fourth floor, there were more tealbloods. Dammek crouched below the windows of the offices and slowly moved up the hallway. A tealblood stepped out of a cubical as Dammek jumped behind a copying machine. He held his breath as the troll came up.

“I swear, this copying machine is going to be the death of me. I mean, really.”
“Stelsa!” A voice called out from another room. It sounded like Tagora. “You’re not going to get that thing to work, come help me with these files.”
“Fine, whatever you say Gorgor.”
“Don’t call me that!”

The troll stepped away and Dammek choked a breath. He was nearly grub food there. There was just one more room to go though when another explosion came, rocking the building. Trolls began to finally react, scattering around. Shit, he thought. He’d get caught for sure if he moved.

Dammek waited as still as possible as footsteps walked past the copying machine.

“Tagora.” A voice said. He recalled that being Tyzias?
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“Let’s talk outside.”

Tyzias waited as Tagora pushed himself out of his seat. He indignantly puffed a sigh before fixing his hair.

“What?” He whispered.
“I found some strange files in your folder.” Tyzias whispered back.
“What do you mean?”
“Your income, there’s discrepancies. Well hid ones too, not accidents.”
“I don’t know what you-”
“Furthermore, you’ve been filing an awful lot of Forms RLA04 and GBT05 which deal with firearm ownership and acquisition respectively. What have you been up to?” Tyzias asked.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Tyzias.”
“Don’t fuck with me, Tagora. What are you doing?” Tyzias demanded.
“I said, I have no idea.”
“I’m launching an investigation on you, Tagora. It’ll take a couple weeks but I intend for you to be cooperative if you have nothing to hide.”
“And how do you think we’ll do that when the copier doesn’t work?”
“We’ll find a way.”
“I think we shouldn’t be working at all!” Tagora exclaimed.

Tagora stormed away back into the office. Tyzias sighed.

“Whatever you’re up to, Tagora. Whoever you’re dealing to. I’ll figure it out.” Tyzias muttered to herself before leaving the room. Oh fuck, Dammek thought to himself. Oh fuck. His suspicions were correct. He was going to get found out, and probably quickly.

Dammek crawled out from underneath the copier and ran to the stairs. Without any grace at all, he slammed the doors open and ran down the stairs and out of the building. He’d have to do something about it. Something fast.

One week later.

The planet was a dark place. Two trolls already dead, a box of weapons just handed out. It was a bloodbath. A matter of survival. And what was worse was that there were purplebloods on the planet. He didn’t know who they were but he knew they were here. Xefros had shown him the chatlogs. This was really, really bad.

Dammek creeped out of the factory, leaving the two bodies he had found when he heard a rustle.

“Freeze!” Dammek shouted.
“Dammek?” The troll in the shadows asked.
“Tagora?”

Tagora stepped out of the bushes and into the light.

“Hey, good to see you Dammek. I didn’t realize you were here.”
“And I didn’t realize you were here either.”
“So,” Tagora laughed. “How about an alliance.”
“An alliance?”
“Yeah.”

Dammek thought for a second.

“What does Tyzias know?” Dammek demanded.
“What?”
“I was in the office that day.”
“No, that’s impossible, you-” Tagora stammered.
“I was there, Tagora. What does Tyzias know?”
“Jack shit. She knows nothing.”
“Still…” Dammek paused for a dramatic sigh. “No loose ends.”

With a firm pull of the trigger, Tagora fell backwards onto the ground, a splatter of teal blood covering the wall behind him. Dammek looked down on him. One less loose end, he thought. Then Tyzias and he’d be free.

Tagora’s hand twitched. His hand stretched towards a pistol he had, presumably the one he used to shoot those other two trolls. Dammek kicked it away. He was a terrorist, sure, but he wasn’t an executioner. He’d leave Tagora to bleed out.

Dammek wiped the flecks of teal blood from his face onto his hoodie and turned away. Teal scum, he thought to himself, would be reduced to rubble in his new Alternia.

Chapter Text

Marvus sat down on the bench. In front of him was Barzum and Baizli. They were just about bouncing off the walls, but Marvus had kept them at bay for now at least.

“So where are we going?” Baizli asked.
“What are we doing?” Barzum followed.
“Listen,” Marvus said with a sigh. “We’z in a really tough spot, m’kay? And I’ll do my best to protect you two but I can’t guarantee shit. Aight?”
“Yes-”
“-Sir!”

Marvus stood up again. They were standing there eagerly awaiting his command.

“Chahut told me that there’s a rogue bronzeblood on the loose and that we need to be careful, m’kay?”
“Of course-”
“Mister Marvus!”

Marvus couldn’t even be entirely sure which one was talking at any given time.

“Now then,” Marvus started. “Chahut also relayed to me via that troll Galekh that our goal is to find an amulet that was left somewhere around the factory. You ready to find it?”

Baizli and Barzum stood at attention in front of him.

“Good.”

--------

A flash of light burst from Vikare’s plane, and in an instant, he was gone. Polypa and Zebruh stared up at the now empty sky.

“What happened to him?” Polypa asked.
“I have no idea, he just… What?”
“He must’ve completed the objective.”
“That means we need to hurry up.” Zebruh said, pacing. “But what are the criteria to pass to the next stage? Do we have to build a plane?”
“Probably not, I’d guess. If I were to say something more philosophical, which really isn’t my strong suit, I’d say we need to find our passion or some dumb shit like that.” Polypa said, still looking at the sky.
“You don’t think being philosophical is your strong suit?” Zebruh asked.
“Nah. I’m a fighter, not a thinker.”
“I think you’re great at thinking. Whatever’s going on in your thinkpan is amazing.”
“Zebruh, maybe that’s more an indication that you need to think more.”

Zebruh dug his foot into the dusty ground of the barren planet.

“I don’t read much,” Polypa continued. “I’m not, how would you say it?”
“Erudite?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever that means.”
“But you’re smart, Polypa. Really, I mean that.”
“Crafty? Yes. But I’m not like Galekh. Highbloods. Always going on about big words and big ideas. It’s tiring.”
“Olivebloods are smarter than most my own color give credit for.”
“The sentiment is appreciated, Zebruh, but I don’t think you worded that well.”
“Oh, sorry.”

Polypa scratched at her chin, thinking.

“Maybe I’m more emotionally intelligent.” Polypa realized.
“I’d say so. I’m an emotional trainwreck and you’re the one covered in bandages.”
“Just because my scars are more visible doesn’t mean other trolls don’t go through it. Granted, you’re an indigo so yeah, you probably don’t get it.”
“I hope I do.”
“I don’t know if you want that.”
“If you want someone to listen, I’m here.”
“And you know what, Zebruh. That’s the best thing one can be. There.”

A flash of light engulfed them. When Zebruh unshielded his eyes, he was standing on the surface of a green planet. Beautiful waves of grass extended out across in every direction sloping downwards towards crystal clear water. It was an island, but a rather large one. A few trees dotted the landscape. He clocked his surroundings in a circle before spotting Polypa by one of the trees. And Vikare, dear, strange Vikare, was bundled up in the top of it yet again. But beyond that, something that nobody seemed to have noticed yet. There were two other trolls.

--------

Marvus sat and thought for a moment. They had to figure out a way to get to the next planet. According to Chahut, for the Diamond players, that was done by reaching the apex of a mountain with the power of friendship or whatever bullshit they were on. And the Hearts players moved on by being true to themselves, or something. Seriously, was there supposed to be some kind of message behind all of this? Even his cheap hit songs were more subtle than this.

[ deliciousClown started trolling ladyPierrot ]
DC: yo
LP: we’re being lefT behind
DC: thaz what i wuz worried about
LP: galekh is sTill working Towards how To progress
DC: gud, but that dont help uz
LP: heavens blessings, give us some Time
DC: i got three dead trollz over here
LP: Then geT a weapon or someThing
DC: the weird azz twinz are my weapons
LP: if ThaTs whaT you wanT…
[ deliciousClown stopped trolling ladyPierrot ]

Well that was a bust, Marvus thought. He groaned and rubbed his temples. All of this almost made him want to be back on Alternia running concerts. Well, ok, that was a lie. He’d take any opportunity to not have to do any shows for a while. If he wasn’t being hunted by a psychopathic bronzeblood then he might’ve considered all of this a blessing.

If he wasn’t such a hardened troll, he might actually tear up some. But he was beyond that. He wasn’t the young and rising idol that he once was. He was Marvus now. Somehow a different Marvus than before, and yet all the same. It was cruel, he figured. If only there was a way to get people to see him as an artist, and not some parasocial fuckable clown bitch or whatever people called him on social media.

He raised his head and took a sharp breath.

“Alrightz, let’s figure out what to-”

They were gone. Oh gog, the twins had run off in the five seconds he had looked down. Marvus leapt to his feet and looked around. They could’ve gone anywhere in the dark. A trail of faint footsteps trailed off into the distance through. He just had to find them before the bronzeblood did.

--------

“Konyyl, my dear, we must figure out how to progress from here.” Stelsa said with a sigh.
“I haven’t heard from Azdaja in hours. That isn’t normal. I swear to god if something happened to him-”
“Settle down, darling. We will find out if something happened to him. And if he has been injured then I will sue whoever did it for you, I take a cut of only 25%. That’s 13% less than the next leading legislacerator from my office.”

Konyll blinked at Stelsa.

“Right, sorry, I forgot olives are not generally acquainted with the rules and policy of the legal system… or any lowblood for that matter.”
“I just want him to be ok.”
“Charmed to meet you two.” A voice said out of nowhere.

Konyll and Stelsa flipped around to see an indigo troll standing in front of them. There was a very fake looking smile plastered on his face.

“Pleasure to meet you too, dear. I’m Stelsa Sezyat.”
“Konyll.”

Zebruh stepped forward with some kind of unusual swooping motion, presumably an attempt to be formal, Konyyl thought to herself, but all it made her want to do was try not to laugh.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” Zebruh said.
“Uhm, yes, it is.” Stelsa stifled out while Konyll held her breath.

“Zebruh!” A voice called out from the distance.
“Yeah?” He yelled back.
“Where’d you go?”
“Over here! There’s two other trolls here.”

Konyyl and Stelsa watched as two other trolls appeared from the distance, a bronzeblood and another oliveblood.

“Nice bandages.” Konyll said, looking at the oliveblood.
“Thanks. Got em’ in combat. Yourself?” Polypa replied.
“Bounty hunter myself.”
“I style myself more as a mercenary.”
“Cool, cool.”
“I feel like I shouldn’t be hearing this.” Stelsa muttered to herself.

The chatting went on for some time between Polypa, Konyyl, Stelsa, and Vikare. Zebruh hung out on the side, as he usually found himself doing. Watching the other trolls, he found it fascinating that they were all getting along. Despite their differences in caste, it seemed like the real world just didn’t exist for a moment.

He closed his eyes and listened to them talk. If you were blind, you wouldn’t have ever known what their blood colors were, but a question had lodged itself in his mind. A question that made him uneasy. For the first time since he had met Polypa, he felt uneasy about his situation, and about himself.

The question was like a seed: It planted itself in his mind and it was continuing to grow, and for some reason he couldn’t rip it out by the roots. He wanted to get rid of it desperately. It was leeching on his thinkpan.

Will I ever be able to see past the hemospectrum? His thinkpan churned through various scenarios rapidly as the question continued to stick. He wanted to, gog, he really, really wanted to. He wanted to take a stand and say “This isn’t right.” but he couldn’t choke out the words. He could feel the heavy chains tying down his own thinkpan and he couldn’t break them. The words were stuck. They simply lodged themselves in his throat. He couldn’t get any air.

He walked away from the group. He couldn’t stand hearing them anymore. Their casual conversation that sounded at first so sweet and comfortable not felt sickly to him. He couldn’t take it.

On the edge of the island near a tree, he sat down and let his legs hover off the edge in the air. A few drops of indigo welled in the corners of his eyes. How could he be so foolish as to think that he could just ignore his problems because he was in some weird and new game-world-place-thing. And from one plant came a million seeds.

What was wrong with him? Why was he incapable of getting trolls to truly like him? Why did other trolls likely worse than him have such an easy time finding partners? Was it because he was weak, or pretentious, or cynical, or forward, or awkward, or whatever other flaws with his personality came to his thinkpan?

Or maybe that was just the issue itself. Himself, his worst enemy. How awful is it, he wondered, to be stuck with the worst person in the world inside of yourself?

“Hey, where did Zebruh go?” Polypa asked, looking around quickly.
“He must’ve partaken in a brief leave.” Vikare replied.
“Well, I’m sure he’ll be back soon.” Stelsa said.

--------

Marvus stood in front of Barzum and Baizli. Dammek paced back and forth, pistol in hand.

“What a tense stand-off.” Dammek said with a smile.
“If you hurt them, I’ll tear you limb from limb, gutterblood.” Marvus replied.
“O-ho. Is that a threat? Well then I guess you’ll just have to watch me.”

Marvus shoved Barzum and Baizli to the side before grabbing a gun of his own. Dammek leveled his sights on Marvus.

To kill a highblood celebrity, Dammek thought, that’d make me legendary. Time seemed to slow as he rested his finger on the trigger.

But he had a gun too, and he’s much bigger than he was. He could probably take a shot before dying and then he himself would be shot. In this case, the best thing to do would be to wait.

Light consumed the darkness of the battlefield, and when Dammek opened his eyes, he realized he was on a rocky planet covered by bunkers, atop a ridge. In the distance below him, he saw a group of trolls standing together, and in the middle was Xefros.

Damn it, Xefros, Dammek thought to himself. He had told them that they’d kill him, hell they were probably about to kill him now if he didn’t do something. He glanced to the left, and there was Marvus and the Soleils on another ridge like he was.

He leveled his sights once more and fired a shot down at the group of trolls surrounding Xefros. He missed them, but he had them scared. They all sprinted in different directions. Now all he had to do was follow Xefros and meet up with him.

--------

Polypa walked down the edge of the island towards the spot where Zebruh was sitting. He glanced at her and stood up.

“Hey, Zebruh, just wanted to-”
“What? Wanted to what?” Zebruh replied, aggressively.

The shift in tone stopped her. What was he doing? Did something happen? Nothing had happened to her knowledge, at least.

“Zebruh?”
“I’m sick of this fucking game! I’m sick of Alternia! I’m sick of everyone! Can’t you just leave me alone for a while with my thoughts?” Zebruh huffed.

Polypa looked at him. For a moment she felt bad before she felt that fire inside her blood pusher begin to ignite.

“All I wanted was-” Zebruh started.
“What are you doing?” Polypa asked.
“What am I doing? What are you doing? Interrupting me when I’m trying to think by myself.”
“I was just making sure you were ok.”
“Well I am, so could you kindly leave me alone? I swear, olivebloods are always-”
“Shut the fuck up, Zebruh!”

Zebruh paused immediately. His face immediately changed from anger to worry.

“Wait, Polypa, I-”
“No. Listen to me for a moment. I thought you were a highblood who actually wanted to see something in trolls but-”
“I do, I just-”
“But you’re just acting like every other indigo. You don’t see me as a worthy troll. You don’t see me as a worthy friend! You just see me as an oliveblood underling like the way you see Chixie as a bronzeblooded one.”
“No, I don’t thi-”
“Unbelievable. I can’t believe that of all the trolls that’ve gotten me to lower my guard, it was you!”
“I didn’t mean it!”
“Oh, and what, are you going to beg me to forgive you for yelling at me when all I did was check to make sure you were ok?”
“I swear, I didn’t mean it. Please, you have to-”
“I’m done. I’m leaving. Don’t follow me.”
“But-”

Polypa turned and left. She couldn’t believe it. She just couldn’t believe it.

Chapter Text

Fozzer dove and roll behind one of the many concrete bunkers that scattered across the rigid rocky landscape of the grey planet. He stuck his head over and looked around. Tirona and Mallek split left while he went right.

Another bullet came down from above, ricocheting off one of the bunkers in front of Fozzer, forcing him to dash to another one. Whoever was up there was going to get theirs eventually, but he couldn’t see from his angle who it was.

At the second bunker, he slid in and past Chixie.

“Fozzer? What’s going on?”
“We’re under attack from above. This whole rocky ravine we’re in dangerous now, we’ve got to run.”
“Bronya’s over there? Can we grab her too?”
“I think so, let’s go.”

The two trolls sprinted out from behind the bunker and over to a third one where Bronya was watching from around the corner.

“Is anyone hurt?” Bronya asked.
“Not that I know of, no.” Chixie replied.
“Quickly, before the attacker goes again.” Fozzer counted to three on his fingers before the three trolls ran out of the cover and through the ravine. It slowly began to open up and before long, they were out and running through the rocky landscape. In front of them was a large quarry. The massive open pit that went down in tiers was deep enough that none of them could see the bottom.

“Is it safe for us to go down there?” Chixie asked. Fozzer knelt down and peered over the side.
“Da, it’s probably ok.”
“We can hide there for a bit then.”

The three trolls lowered themselves into the first ring of the quarry and began to walk around the massive circle. Nearby was a small building. Fozzer kicked the door open off its hinges as the group searched for a light.

“What do you think all of this stuff is here for?” Bronya asked, looking at the stacks of papers and clipboards that littered the room.
“I think it’s here for the sake of the game.” Chixie replied, tossing another stack aside.

Fozzer blankly stared at a paper. He didn’t know exactly what he was supposed to be seeing.

“What is this?” He asked, handing the paper over to Chixie.
“Seems to be data on the quarry. It doesn’t help us though.”

Fozzer grunted and dropped the paper on the ground. He turned around and opened up a drawer.

“This’ll be more helpful to us.” He said with a smile, picking up the handgun.
“Careful where you point that!” Chixie said, dashing over to his side. Bronya didn’t want to touch them whatsoever.
“You two can have them,” Bronya sighed. “I don’t want to harm another troll.”
“I don’t want to either,” Chixie replied. “But if our lives are on the line, I’m not going to stick around and let someone take mine.”
“Don’t worry, jadeblood, we will use them responsibly.” Fozzer laughed.
“Right.” Bronya nervously laughed.

--------

“Tirona!” Mallek shouted from behind a concrete bunker.
“What?”
“When I say run to the next one, you run, ok?”
“Ok!”

Tirona could feel her legs shaking. There had been tons of danger on Alternia. This shouldn’t have been anything new, but for some reason she was terrified. It had never been this personal. She had, in her line of training, sent a few trolls to their doom but never did she think that a troll would be coming after her. She was meant to be the one sending people to their deaths, not someone sending her!

Mallek peeked over the top. It was hard to see who exactly was up there. The troll, whoever they were, was a complete enigma. It could’ve been anyone who wasn’t down on the ground with them. He took a deep breath and looked at the next bunker. It was a quick run, all he had to do was run.

“Run!”

Mallek closed his eyes and sprinted to the next bunker. He heard another booming sound from the ridge, but he ignored it and slid to the next piece of cover. When he opened his eyes, Tirona was standing in front of him.

“I told you to run!” Mallek spat.
“I was scared!”
“Well this makes things a lot harder, do you realize that?”
“Yes, sir, Mallek.”
“Stop calling me sir.”

Mallek caught his breath and brushed the dirt off of his pants.

“Ok,” He said with a deep breath. “This time, we’re running, ok? I’m not going to come back for you if you freeze. Got it?”
“Got it.”

Time waited for him. Three. Two. One.

Mallek ran out from the cover alongside another pow! when he realized Tirona had froze again. God damn it, he thought to himself. He ran back to the bunker and shoved Tirona out into the open area, before shoving her again towards the next bunker.

Tirona sprinted towards the next set of cover, Mallek trailing her.

“We’re almost there! Keep ru-”

Mallek’s voice disappeared behind her. She turned around and everything felt like it paused for just a brief moment. The scene was set. Mallek reaching for his arm. The spray of cerulean blood airborne.

When time unfroze, she was at the bunker, still staring behind her at Mallek. He pushed himself up and ran back to the bunker behind him.

“Keep going!” He shouted. Tirona, this time, didn’t stop. She kept running in the other direction. She didn’t stop to look back again.

Mallek pushed open the door of the bunker. His arm was bleeding badly. He winced at the cerulean spilling from his arm, down the side of his arm through the hoodie, before finally dripping off at the edge of his fingertips. A few tears welled in his eyes but the adrenaline kept him from completely losing it.

The bunker led down and down deeper into the ground. A series of staircases, one after another, spiraling recursively down and down deeper and deeper as the light became dimmer and dimmer.

Mallek trudged down each step for what felt like an eternity as his head and thinkpan swam in the pain. He turned and looked behind him. Drops of blue blood trailed down behind him the whole way. Damn it, he thought to himself, this was really, really bad. Eventually though, the stairs gave way to a short tunnel, and at the end, another door. Pulling it open, Mallek looked around lit up.

The place was filled with husktops chained together in sequence, a bright screen at the center of it bathing Mallek in its cold light. Along the walls were a few cabinets, inside of one Mallek found a pair of scissors. He cut off the sleeve of his beloved hoodie and wrapped it as tightly as he could around the arm. It wasn’t perfect, and it still hurt like hell, but it’d do for at least a little bit.

The screen was broken up into a bunch of segments broadcasting live video from across the game. He could see Fozzer, Chixie, and Bronya in a big, like, cave thing. Galekh and Chahut are sitting in some kind of parlor? Were they just unconcerned with the game? This was dead serious now. And a-ha, a bronzeblood with a gun. That must’ve been who was shooting down at them and who… oh man that was so much blood dripping down his arm still.

“I have you in my sights now, Dammek.” Mallek muttered to himself as he continued to watch the screens. The next one was a few trolls on a strange… golden planet? Or moon? It was entirely clear what it was supposed to be. They had blood on their shirts, but they looked fine, and they were flying? He’d have to report this to Galekh.

[ piercedCoder started trolling eruditeListener ]
PC: galekh
PC: things = complete shit over here
PC: and i might die
PC: i don’t know yet
EL: What? Ok, back up one moment.
EL: What happened? And why are you dying?
PC: it = hard to type
PC: got shot in the arm by dammek
EL: I see.
PC: are you not more concerned?
EL: I’ll see to it once my team gets farther.
PC: galekh he could kill all of us
EL: I’m aware.
PC: stop being so casual
PC: i’m fucking bleeding out over here
EL: Be patient, Mallek.
EL: Stop the bleeding if you haven’t done so already.
EL: I suggest a makeshift tourniquet of some sort.
PC: already done that
EL: Good. Try and restrict movement and take a painkiller if one is available wherever you are. You’re in a safe place, right?
PC: yes yes yes
PC: i’ve done all that
PC: there != painkillers
EL: My group is taking a more, how do I say it, scientific approach to all this while everyone else seems to be more ad hoc in their gameplay.
PC: i don’t have time for your big words
PC: just find a solution
[ piercedCoder stopped trolling eruditeListener ]

That wasn’t particularly helpful, Mallek thought. Galekh was taking his sweet ass time getting into the game. Why was he being so casual though? Mallek didn’t have time to worry about that. Whatever the reason, he could worry about that later.

[ piercedCoder started trolling pricklyMercenary ]
PM: what do you want * blueblood *|
PC: sheesh
PC: why are you so hostile right now
PM: don’t even ask *|
PC: i won’t then
PC: i have a bigger concern
PM: and that is *|
PC: i may or may not be bleeding everywhere
PM: what!? *|
PM: why *|
PC: i got shot in the arm
PC: i need your help
PM: because i wear bandages all the time * you think i know a thing or two about what to do when injured *|
PC: yes, actually
PC: so please, tell me what = the right thing to do
PM: have you made a tourniquet yet *|
PC: why does everyone keep asking me that
PM: it’s just generally good advice *|

[ risingSlammer joined the chat ]

RS: hi everyone X:)
PM: xefros * how did you even get in here *|
RS: i don’t know X:/
RS: just clicked around randomly on my pockethusk
PM: mallek set a password next time *|
PC: oh yeah
PC: i’ll remember to do that next time i’m not BLEEDING OUT
PC: apologies for my usage of capitalization
PC: that != like me
RS: you got shot?
PC: how many times will i have to go over this
PC: i’m currently, maybe, hopefully not but no guarantees, bleeding out slowly in a bunker
PC: and i was shot by your moirail, xefros
PM: wait i didn’t know that *|
RS: dammek would never hurt an innocent troll X:(
PC: mostly innocent
PM: whatever you say “hacker boi”
PC: shut up!
PM: heh heh * teasing bluebloods is fun *|
RS: maybe i should talk to him
PC: maybe you should run for your fucking life
PM: i’d go with mallek’s suggestion on this one * but that’s just me *|
RS: i’m sure i’ll be able to fix this X:)
RS: get better soon mallek

[ risingSlammer left the chat ]

PM: so his moirail * dammek * is a psychopathic killer *|
PC: if galekh was here, he’d say no
PC: psychopathy implies a lack of emotion
PC: i’d say dammek cares too much from what i know of him
PM: i can’t say i know too much *|
PC: neither do i
PC: it’s an educated guess
PM: i guess that’s all you really can do *|
PC: mhm
PC: also i have visuals on everyone
PC: probably should have mentioned that
PM: what *|
PC: yeah this bunker = crazy
PC: there = a giant mainframe husktop thing
PC: and a giant screen that = showing everyone
PM: so you can see me right now *|
PC: sure can
PC: you’re on an island with some other trolls behind you
PC: hey where’d that indigo prick go
PM: away *|

[ chat paused ]

Mallek quickly checked both Prospit and Derse. He wasn’t in either of them so he must’ve still been alive.

[ chat unpaused ]
PC: as i was saying
PC: yes i can see you
PM: can you see me doing this *|
PC: haha
PC: very funny gesture
PC: but on an actually serious note that might help you
PC: there = land not too far from the island that i’m able to see
PC: you probably want to go there
PM: thanks * i guess *|
PM: why are you being helpful though *|
PC: is a blueblood not allowed to be occasionally helpful
PM: no *|
PC: well uh
PC: i’m very loopy from the bloodloss
PC: i’ll chalk it up to that
[ piercedCoder stopped trolling pricklyMercenary ]

Mallek sat down and rested his eyes. He felt himself slowly slumping over as he drifted off into sleep. He’d wake up in a little bit, thankfully. It’d be a shame to die now. He saw Prospit and Derse though. There’s life after death, he just didn’t want to be there himself, trapped for what could be eternity.

--------

Dammek raced across the ridge, following Xefros with his eyes. He had run away by himself which was good.

“Xefros!” Dammek called from across the ridge. Xefros stopped and looked around. Dammek slid down a series of rocks. “Xefros, I’m over here!” He shouted again before Xefros finally turned to see him. When the two met at the middle, Xefros pulled Dammek into a hug. Dammek counted to ten before prying Xefros off.

“Hah, yeah, great to see you too.” Dammek said with a laugh.
“Dammek! I’ve missed you so much.”
“Of course. Who else in the world protects you like your moirail?”
“Nobody… That’s why you’re the best moirail!”
“Thank you, Xefros.”

Dammek sighed and looked around.

“They didn’t hurt you, did they?” He asked.
“What?”
“Those trolls who captured you.”
“Oh! Oh wait, I get it now! This is all just a simple mistake. Those were my friends!”

Dammek felt a fire rising in his face.

“It’s ok,” Xefros continued. “Really. They were all super nice and we were going to all beat the game together.”
“No!” Dammek shouted.

Xefros paused and looked at him. Concern spread across his face as his moirail fumed.

“Dammek, what’s wrong?” Xefros asked.
“You don’t get it! You’re just another gutterblood to them, the same as me. There are no friends in this world except the bonds you make with trolls either close to you, or quadrant with. And I would still never trust even a lowblood and a midblood in a quadrant.”
“But-”
“But nothing, Xefros. You’re lucky that I came and saved you before they sent you to your death to advance themselves here.”
“But that-”
“But there’s nothing else to discuss,” Dammek’s face was fully flushed with bronze. “Can’t you just appreciate all the times that I come to save you?”

Xefros grabbed Dammek for a hug again. This time Dammek didn’t push away.

“I’m sorry for doubting you,” Xefros said. “You’re right.”
“Thank you, Xefros. This is why we’re moirails.”

There was a point in time, Dammek recalled for a moment, when he was warmer. When between them he felt something more than just frustration. But those days were gone, and to Dammek, it frankly wasn’t his fault. The world changed, Xefros changed, the only thing that hadn’t changed, he thought, was him.

“Come on, Xefros, let’s go.” Dammek said.
“Go where?”

Dammek stopped.

“I know what direction to go, so let’s go.”
“Oh, ok.”

Dammek looked around, picked a direction, and began to walk. The rocky landscape eventually gave way, leading into a large facility. Dammek ran up to the doors.

“Someone’s been here.” He said, picking up the snapped chain that used to keep the large doors bolted shut. Xefros stepped around him and wandered into the building. Dammek took a look around at the large catwalks and metal that extended from the interior.

“There’s a box here.” He muttered under his breath. The box was old and dusty and smelled distinctly of gunpowder. There was another series of boxes nearby. Dammek cracked open a box and smiled. “Jackpot,” He laughed. “Xefros! Come here!”

Xefros ran over to Dammek and stopped. Dammek was juggling a series of grenades in his hands.

“Dammek? Where’d you find those?” Xefros asked.
“The boxes over there. Come on! Grab a few!”
“I don’t think that’s safe.”
“Of course it is. As long as you don’t pull the pin out or release the handle. Come on, grab a few and stock up, we can use em’ later.”
“On who?”
“On any troll who tries to mess with us.”

Xefros felt queasy. It was a kind of nervousness that was all to familiar for him. He took a deep breath and took a few from Dammek and clipped them to the waistband of his pants. Dammek looked at him and glowed. He patted Xefros’ shoulder proudly. To Xefros, it almost sent what felt like a wave of flushed excitement wash over him, but it was quickly suppressed back into his anxiety.

Dammek was proud, but Xefros didn’t feel so.

--------

“Hey look, Barzum.”
“What is it?”
“High grade explosives!”

The twins grinned.

“Let’s take the box and get out of here!” Baizli grabbed the box and shook the grenades out.
“Sounds good to me!”

The trolls grabbed handfuls of grenades and walked out of the building. Breaking the chain was surprisingly easy for them despite their size, but that’s what happens when you have two thinkpans and four hands.

“There’s two trolls coming! We gotta go!” Barzum said, peering out of a window.

The two trolls scurried out of the back and around the side of the building. At the front, Barzum peered back through the window from the other side.

“It’s a rustblood and a bronzeblood.” Barzum whispered. Baizli ran to the other window and looked in.

“It looks like the bronzeblood is juggling grenades.” Baizli said back.
“Can we join them?”
“Or what about blow them up?”

The two snickered before running off towards the quarry.

“What should we do if we see trolls?” Baizli asked.
“Blow them up, I guess.” Barzum replied.
“Sounds fun to me!”
“Of course it’s fun!”

The two trolls reached the edge of the quarry.

“Stop and listen.” Baizli dropped to the ground and put his ear to the rocks. “I can hear trolls talking below.”
“There’s a building.” Barzum said as she peered over the edge.
“Wanna make it go boom?”
“Yeah!”

--------

“So then,” Fozzer grumbled as he leaned against the wall. “We have a big problem, da?”
“Really big,” Chixie nervously laughed. “I don’t want to jinx things but I really can’t see how this could get worse.”

And then a grenade fell through the vent in the ceiling.

Chapter Text

“I’ll be completely honest,” Tyzias said, wiping the sweat from her forehead. “I’m really tired of this strange, humid forest.”
“The way of the wood is one of-”
“Quiet, Tegiri.”
“You haven’t let me be philosophical this whole time.” Tegiri whined.
“And I’d like to keep it that way.”
“But all you want to do is talk about law.”
“That’s because law is interesting.”
“That’s what your matesprit is for! Talk to Stelsa about law!”
“Stelsa is not here, is she?”
“No. And frankly that’s fine with me.”

Tyzias shot Tegiri a look who simply stared back cooly at her. Tyzias sighed and hopped over a few large rocks.

“There’s a hive in the distance.” She said, squinting.
“Then let’s get there as quick as possible.”
“Let’s.”

Inside the hive, Galekh poured another cup of scalding leaf fluid.

“It’s good that you made it in reasonable time, Daraya.” He said, placing the kettle down.

Daraya looked at the tea with amusement. This was rich for an indigoblood. Then she looked at Chahut who had already cleared her cup. Might as well, Daraya thought, and she took a sip. It was ok, but she was always more of a coffee person.

“Yeah, the forest was starting to get on my nerves. I’m glad I’m here.”
“Do we have any idea what trolls are alive still?” Chahut asked.

Galekh tapped a few times on his husktop.

“Nope. In fact, there’s been complete radio silence from just about everyone outside of Mallek who was shot in the arm.”
“Do we know who did that?” Daraya asked. This was clearly the first she had heard of it, Galekh realized.
“No. No leads. According to him, he’s hiding in some bunker thing, and the worlds of his Diamonds series and the Spades series have been combined.”
“What kind of sense does that make?” Chahut asked.

Galekh thought for a moment about it.
“They’re quadrant opposites. Maybe whoever or whatever is controlling this world wanted to see what would happen if spades players and diamonds players were combined?”
“It’s not going well.” Daraya muttered.
“I agree. But perhaps this is some advanced form of entertainment.”
“What?”
“Think about it. This elaborate game. A single winner. How is any of this different than Slam or Get Culled? There’s just more murder and less singing. Unless you all want a musical number to liven the mood.”
“I’m good,” Daraya sighed. “And I hate to admit that you might be right. Might. I really hope you’re wrong.”
“I hope I’m wrong too.”
“If anyone is doing this,” Chahut lifted up her axe. “They’re going to get it.”
“I thought you didn’t do sacrifices…” Daraya squeaked.
“It’ll be a gift to the world, not a waste.”

Daraya took another sip of scalding leaf fluid and scooted away from Chahut.
“What about Marvus?” Daraya asked.

Galekh cocked his brow. “Oh? Why him?”
“No reason, I was just with him before we all got brought here.”
“Right. It seems like he’s just doing his own thing.”
“As expected.”
“Quite.”

Daraya stood up and walked over to one of the large windows of Galekh’s hive. Beyond the glass was the expansive, never ending forest. It almost made her wish she was back at the brooding caverns. If she could just find Bronya, maybe they could find an escape.

She scanned the forest some more before seeing movement. A pair of orange horns were visible moving below the trees.

“Trolls!” Daraya shouted.

Chahut and Galekh peeked around Daraya down below.

“I can’t identify them from up here.” Chahut said. Galekh sighed. “I’ll go make more scalding leaf fluid.” He muttered. “You are all running me out of hive and respiteblock!” He yelled as he walked into the mealblock. “It was your idea to give everyone scalding leaf fluid!” Daraya shouted back.

In front of the two tealbloods was the large hive sitting atop a massive, green hill. To Tyzias, it was a better sight at least than a bare and rocky surface the others were describing. If the outdoors was something Tyzias cared about, it’d actually be kind of nice. Unfortunately, she was a legislacerator, and did not enjoy fresh air as much as other trolls seemed to. She much preferred the stale air of old carpets and… broken copier machines.

“Oh great,” Tyzias huffed, looking up at the hive. “It’s on top of a giant hill.”
“Guess we’d better get walking then.” Tegiri sighed. “The way of the path-”
“I swear to gog, if you talk about any more ways, I’m going to shove that katana of yours down your throat!”
“You’d like to do that, wouldn’t you Tyzias?”
“Shut up.”

The two walked silently for a minute.

“They’re waiting for us up there.” Tegiri said.

Tyzias stopped. She squinted under the bright light and tried to make out the figures.

“There’s a big one, and a smaller one.” Tyzias said.
“A clown.” Tegiri added.
“How did you know that?”
“I have good eyesight.”
“What do we do?” Tyzias asked.
“You want my advice?” Tegiri asked back.
“Only if it’s good.”
“Then I suggest we approach them calmly and peacefully.”
“An actually good idea. Thank you, Tegiri.”

Tegiri bowed.

“Don’t push it.” Tyzias muttered.

They continued on again, walking towards the entrance of the hive. Their figures became more clear as they approached. The clown was large and rather terrifying, and the jadeblood looked rather prickly.

“Hello,” Tegiri huffed. “We’ve been trudging around the forest for days. Man, am I glad to see you two.”
“Three,” The clown added. “Galekh is in the hive right now.”
“Ah, Galekh is here. I’ve been following his updates. This is good.”
“I agree,” Tyzias added. “He’s been a valuable resource on updates about the state of the game. I’m afraid we’ve all fallen behind.”
“Come on in, we have scalding leaf fluid.” The clown turned and went inside with the jadeblood trailing behind her.

The thought of drinking hot liquid now made Tyzias feel sick. It was already boiling inside. As they entered, a blast of cool air washed over their faces. A ring of seats were arranged around a central, small table in the center of the room stacked with bookshelves and windows. Tyzias sat down and watched as Chahut left into the mealblock. It was just her, Tegiri, and the jadeblood now.

“Name and caste?” Tyzias asked.
“What?” The jadeblood replied.
“Name and caste. That’s standard function for formal introductions as per-”
“Shut the fuck up, nobody cares about that. This isn’t Alternia.”

Tyzias shifted in her seat.

“Daraya, by the way.”
“Right. Tyzias.”

The three trolls sat there awkwardly.

“I’m getting real sick of playing host.” Galekh grumbled as he emerged from the mealblock with another kettle in his hands steaming.
“Well you decided to do it first.” Chahut laughed.
“Yeah, yeah. But if I don’t do it, nobody will. Somebody has to be a good host.”

Galekh set the kettle down on the table.

“Ah, good. Tyzias and Tegiri, I presume?”
“Correct assumption.” Tyzias replied.
“It’s good to finally meet physically. I trust your analytical minds will help us here.”
“Of course.”
“Good.”

The trolls sat there silently for a moment as Galekh thought of what to say, but the silence was interrupted when Galekh’s husktop beeped. He walked over to it and bent the screen so he could see it standing up.

“Daraya,” Galekh said, coldly.
“What?” Daraya looked at him.

Galekh’s facial expression solidified. He had never not been serious, Daraya noted, but the curves and lines on his face became sharp as he stared at the screen. Her bloodpusher beat a bit faster.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

Galekh took a deep breath. “You’re not going to like this.” He muttered, sliding the computer over to her.

--------

Mallek raised his head and felt his arm. The ground was cold, and so was he. His vision was starting to blur, and his hands were pale. He couldn’t even feel in the arm with the tourniquet twisted around anymore. He didn’t even know how long he had passed out. In front of him was the light of the glowing console, illuminating the room and him against the wall.

Thankfully, it was his non-dominant arm that was out of action, and he could continue to type reasonably effectively, albeit slower than he would’ve liked. Mallek began to explore the console system.

“What exactly are you?” He muttered to himself. It had a chat client, he had already logged into that after all, but there was so much more here. There was tons of data and files just waiting to be explored. He began to move bit by bit, he didn’t want to miss any detail.

Then he stopped. Another application. This one was monitoring the other players of the game. He could see them on the screens, running around and talking. He could even see himself from behind, but turning around there was no camera behind him. Ah, and this would be useful, he thought to himself. A vitals watcher. The window on the screen displayed the information about the health of each player.

First Mallek checked his. As expected, it was diminished. It flashed yellow, warning of bloodloss, and his heart rate was accelerated. Then he saw a few that were out: Tagora, Elwurd, and Azdaja were flatlines. They must’ve been the ones who died.

The screen flashed. Mallek scrolled back up. The popup said: PENDING ALERT. The screen continued to flash as warnings came up.

WARNING: Fozzer Velyes - Minor injuries sustained.
WARNING: Chixie Roixmr - Minor injuries sustained.
WARNING: Bronya Ursama - Major injuries sustained.

Mallek moved to their cameras. Fozzer was moving surprisingly quick considering Mallek had never seen him do anything particularly fast before. He was covered in jade blood as the smoke continued to clear from the room. He turned on the audio.

“There’s nothing we can do!” Fozzer shouted with a long cough. Chixie scrounged around. “There has to be something we can use somewhere!”

Fozzer continued to cough. There seemed to be no fresh air anywhere for him. “It’s over,” He said, resting his hand on Chixie’s shoulder. “It’s over.”

Chixie stepped back and felt the bronze tears welling in her eyes. Fozzer simply stood and closed his eyes.

Mallek turned the audio off. He guessed it was over. The flatline on the screen was not to be argued with. The other jadeblood was with Galekh. Telling her would be the right thing to do. He’d tell the other trolls about the other deaths later, but revealing them all at once would be maybe too much. That oliveblood, Konyyl, oh lord, what would she say if she knew that Azdaja was dead? She’d have a lot to say. It could wait for a little while.

--------

“Calm down!” Galekh shouted.
“Calm!? How do you expect me to be calm!?” Daraya shouted back. Chahut leaned over and hugged her. Daraya buried her face in Chahut’s shoulder.

Galekh sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Look,” He started. “I’m sorry. Really, I am. But level heads prevail. We’ll find whoever did this and punish them justly. We have two legislacerators right here.”
“Not right now.” Chahut whispered.

Galekh shrugged and sat down. “I’m not being insensitive. I’m merely trying to help.”

Tyzias took another sip of scalding leaf juice. “We can precisely figure out who it was, but we’d need to interview people, which is a bit hard with us being on a different planet.”

Galekh flipped through his book again. “There has to be something here on progression. A-ha. Found it. And of course it’s written in rhyme.”

Galekh slid the book over to Tyzias.

“For clubs to not fall behind like rocks with moss, all must experience a turn of loss.” Tyzias recited. “Wow, that lyric sucks.”
“Yeah,” Galekh sighed. “It does. But it’s also pretty explicit. We all need to lose something. Daraya there, uhm, already has. I’ll throw my kettle out.”

Galek opened the window of his hive and threw the kettle out, watching it tumble towards the ground far below.

“Thankfully I have more of those.”

Tyzias thought for a moment. “I’ll have to lose my pen. It’s the only thing on me remotely expendable.”

Tegiri took a button off of his shirt with some character from a cartoon nobody recognized and tossed it out. Chahut threw out her axe.

“That’s everyone,” Tyzias looked around. “So should something ha-” The room filled with light that quickly faded.

Galekh looked out the window.

“We’re not in a forest anymore.” He said, looking around. Tegiri looked out the window as well. “No, we’re on an island. And there’s other trolls.”

Tyzias ran off towards the group of other trolls.

“I’ve never seen her move that fast before.” Galekh said.
“She saw her matesprit.” Tegiri replied.
“Ah, yeah, that explains it. Guess we’ll split up and see what’s going on.”

The trolls broke apart and spread out to meet the other trolls. Galekh noticed a bit of indigo and grey from behind a tree. He walked around slowly to confirm his suspicions. Sure enough, Zebruh was sitting up against the tree with his knees up, and his face buried.

“Seen better days, huh?” Galekh whispered as he sat down next to him.
“What do you want?” Zebruh replied. He didn’t raise his head.
“Just to see what was going on. You look a little worse for wear.”
“Why do you care? You’ve never been that much of a compassionate troll.”
“No. That’s true. But also, I’m interesting in surviving, and having you act like this doesn’t help us.”
“Great. More people telling me I’m dead weight. Is that what you want to do. Rub it in?”
“No, I-”
“Do you want to rub it in!?” Zebruh raised his voice, and his head.

Galekh sighed.

“Get a grip, Zebruh. Let’s start there. No more of this erratic behavior. It won’t help anyone.”

Zebruh lowered his head again.

“I’m sorry, Galekh, I’m just… I don’t know. I can’t put it into words. It’s a feeling that’s so all encompassing, I feel like I’ve been submerged in a deep ocean. That’s the only way I can really explain what this feels like. My blood feels colder than it usually is.”
“Zebruh, the thing that’ll hurt you the most is self-loathing. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t feel bad, but also moping around like a wet grub isn’t going to do you any favors. As distinguished indigobloods, we know best to keep our heads high.”
“I know, I just feel like I’ve managed to fail all over again. This was meant to be different!”
“It’ll only be different if you make the effort to make it different. And that’s not something you can do, or something anyone else can do.”
“Of course. But I feel like this is something I should understand and know.”
“There’s some things we’re not meant to know. Just go with how you feel. Unless that feeling is self-pity. Don’t do that one.”
“Alright. Thanks, Galekh.”
“No problem.”

Zebruh looked across the endless water. He stood up and took a deep breath. Of course Galekh was right. All these sweeps he had been completely blind to the obvious truth: He was filled with self-pity and self-hatred, but it was time for him to stop that. It wasn’t becoming of any troll, let alone an indigoblood. All this time he had spent hating himself, but for what? What ends? Sure, he had fucked things up a lot, but he’d never change if he continued to wallow in his own self-doubt.

He approached the group. Polypa turned around and looked at him. Her eyes lowered. They were sharp, and he almost paused, but he had to remain calm, and just do the right thing for once. He couldn’t make a mistake now.

Zebruh tapped Polypa’s shoulder and they moved to the side.

“Listen, I’m, uhm,” Zebruh said, hushed. He scratched the back of his head. “I’m sorry. I let things get the better of me.”
“Actions speak louder than words, Zebruh. I want to see you do better.”
“I will, but don’t shut me out completely, please. I understand that I hurt your trust, but I’ll make it back however you want me to.”

Polypa sighed and rubbed her forehead.

“Alright, but it’ll take time. Don’t expect me to just instantly be all buddy-buddy with you again. I’ve already spared you more than most trolls by not kicking your ass.”
“Hah,” Zebruh lightly laughed. “That’s true! You’d be terrifying to fight.”

Polypa smiled a bit. “That’s what I’m going for, after all.” Her smile faded. No, she thought to herself, not yet. He could easily just do it again. Staying on guard isn’t wrong, it’s just a fact of life. Just because he’s easy to open up, doesn’t mean you need to reciprocate it. Just hold off for now and see what happens. He’s a completely loose canon, a highblood, and vaguely neurotic: A recipe for disaster. Observe for a bit, and then see what you can do.

Zebruh stepped back. I think it’s working, he thought to himself. I’m a new troll, in a new world. Absolutely nothing from here on out can go wrong. Nothing at all.

--------

Fozzer coughed as he threw Chixie out of the burning office.

“What the-” Chixie yelled before coughing. Her voice was filled with rasp from the smoke. “Fuck was that?”

Fozzer stumbled onto a large rock and twisted around so he sat on the ground. Chixie picked herself up and brushed off her clothes. She turned around and saw the blurry outline of two trolls running away above.

“The fucking twins.” She muttered. Fozzer stood up. “I told you we couldn’t trust the highbloods.” He growled. “We’ll need weapons. And quick.”

Chixie felt her blood run cold. “But you don’t mean-”
“And end up like the jadeblood, da?”
“Yeah, but-”
“I’m not suggesting we hunt them. But we need to defend ourselves.”
“Right. Of course.”
“Let’s get out of here.”

Chixie and Fozzer climbed out of the quarry and looked around.

“Everyone’s gone,” Chixie said. “Fozzer, everyone ran in separate directions!”

Fozzer looked around in a circle. It was dead quiet. Beyond them was just a rocky, barren landscape covered in scar-like ridges. He turned up and looked into the dead sky. It was clear, and he could see the stars and heavens above him. At the center was the icy blue haze of the frozen star, and it was beginning to melt. Farther away, barely visible, was a blue-ish planet, covered in water.

He turned back to Chixie, who was wiping a few bronze tears from her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Fozzer asked.
“This isn’t how any of this was meant to go. I mean, this morning, I was preparing for a fun gig this evening, and now we’re here. These trolls are dying! And- And we’re lowbloods. We’re the bottom of the foodchain and only two of us can win. I don’t want to die, Fozzer. I don’t want to.”

Fozzer rested a hand on her shoulder.

“We’ll protect ourselves. And we’ll survive. Maybe we won’t win the prize, but we’ll still survive. Perk up, da?”

Chixie nodded.

The two trolls began to walk along the torn landscape. Beyond them was a large, concrete building and two trolls running parallel to it.

“Hold on, who are they?” Chixie asked. The two trolls crouched down.

Fozzer squinted.

“It’s Xefros.”
“Then we’d better catch up with them.”
“Da, let’s go!”

Fozzer and Chixie broke out into a sprint, moving towards the two trolls. The trolls spotted them and stopped. Fozzer didn’t recognize the other troll, but Chixie let out a long sigh, so he knew it was someone she was on less than great terms with.

“Ah, Chixie Roixmr, how nice of you to show up.” Dammek flashed a smile.
“Hi, Chixie! Hi, Fozzer!” Xefros waved.
“Hi, Xefros.” Fozzer said, catching his breath.

Dammek raised his pistol.

“Can I trust you?” He asked.
“Of course you can.” Chixie replied. “I’m The Mask.”

Dammek lowered the pistol.

“Good. And who are you, rustblood?”
“Fozzer Velyes.”
“I can trust you, I know I can.” Dammek said cockily. “You don’t need to talk more.”

Fozzer rolled his eyes.

“We want to team up.” Fozzer said.
“O-ho. Now that’s a good idea. We lowbloods have numbers.”
“But you’ll have to spare us some weapons for defense.”

Dammek dropped a bag from the building filled with pistols on the ground.

“Take your pick.” He replied. Fozzer grabbed one without looking, while Chixie hesitated, and took a small-ish one.

“So what’s the plan?” Fozzer asked.
“Well, it’s survive. And don’t worry, we’ll survive. But you can’t be afraid to shoot. If I shoot, you shoot.”

Fozzer nodded. He didn’t intend to shoot, though. Chixie remained still.

“Yeah. We’ll do what we have to.”
“Good. Let’s familiarize you with how this works. Do you see that pile of rocks over there. Take a shot.”

Fozzer lined up the pile in his eyes and pulled the trigger. Dust near the rocks scattered.

“Not great,” Dammek scoffed. “But keep trying.”

Fozzer took another shot. More dust. And another. Even more dust. He stopped, took a deep breath, and imagined a seadweller standing there. He closed his eyes and squeezed.

“Nice going!” Dammek exclaimed. When Fozzer opened his eyes, the rocks had been scattered in all directions. “You could learn a thing or two, Xefros. Maybe Fozzer here can teach you how to be a stronger rustblood.”

“Yes, sir.” Xefros replied, dejectedly. Chixie glanced at him.
“Come now, Xefros. You know that I, as your caring and dedicated moirail, want you to be the strongest you can be, but you’ll only get there if you’re willing to learn. Right?”
“Of course, Dammek. You’re the best moirail.”
“Hah, didn’t have to tell me for me to know that.”

This time, Fozzer glanced at Chixie. She scowled.

“Come on,” Fozzer whispered to Chixie. “Let’s just roll with it for now. If he gets out of hand, we can bail.”
“I know, but, he’s abusing Xefros.”
“Every troll can see that, but there’s nothing we can do about it right now. We’ll do something when the time is right, I promise you.”
“Promise, Fozzer?”
“Promise.”

--------

Vikare sketched out on paper the shell of a boat.

“We can get off this archipelago if we make a large vessel for our transportation.”

Galekh scanned the blueprint. “Hold on, we have to tweak the front.”
“Hmm, you seem to be correct, my indigoblooded friend. Let’s get that fixed.”

Polypa looked around. She walked up to Konyyl.

“Ah, another oliveblood.” Konyyl looked at her.
“Yep. I’m just looking around right now. It seems like everyone is getting along.”
“It does seem that way. Still, I wish Azdaja was here.”
“I’m sure he’s out there somewhere.”
“This isn’t normal for him. He’s always telling me how he’s doing.”
“Well, I’m sure he’s fine. There’s a lot going on right now. C’mon, let’s go help Vikare and Galekh. Faster we get out of here, the faster you guys can reunite.”
“Hmph, alright.”

Nothing can go wrong, Polypa thought to herself.

She looked at the jadeblood sitting on the ground, quietly picking at the grass. The large purpleblood was rubbing her shoulder. From what she had heard, her best friend was blown up just a few hours ago. It was a frightening thought, Polypa admitted. But their group was peaceful. They were all working together. Once they encounter the other trolls, they’ll rise up and win.

Polypa remembered back to when she got the scars that ran up and down the length of her arms. How scared she was. How worried she was. But she was strong. For sweeps, she had gone alone, bitter at trolls for what happened to her. She thought she needed nobody. But this had her thinkpan going. Maybe opening up a bit wouldn’t be a bad thing. Maybe nobody else needed to get hurt. She had made a living for herself killing trolls, never thinking about it too hard because she never knew them, but now she was out of her element. These were no longer faceless trolls. These were people she was almost ready to call friends. The thought of hurting them ripped at her bloodpusher.

Ol’ loose cannon over there, plucking away at the petals on a flower, was still just a bit too distant for her to really say he was her friend, but he was coming back. They were all coming in. Would softness lead her to getting hurt like it had in the past? Or was she a new troll, a more mature troll, who could be friends with others? She’d have to think it through.

Things may be a bit down now, but things will get better. She thought.

Absolutely nothing from here on out can go wrong. Nothing at all.

Chapter Text

“So our job is to sit here and watch what’s going on?” Bronya asked. Azdaja shrugged and passed a suspiciously endless bag of chips over to Elwurd. “Yeah?” Azdaja replied, spitting bits of chips on the ground.

Bronya looked around dizzily.

“I can’t believe it. So you really mean I’m dead?” She said, looking at the two.
“Yeah?” Azdaja said, swallowing.
“Don’t just say ‘yeah’ to me, you mustardblood weirdo, speak!”

Azdaja rolled his eyes.

“Your royal highness, you are in the land of Prospit, a shelter for the deceased who have been unceremoniously eliminated from-”
“Ok,” Bronya interrupted, waving her hands. “Ok, I get it.”

--------

Vikare kicked the engine of his plane to life. Galekh nodded in approval, looking the machine up and down.

“It’s a wonderful device you have here.” Galekh mused.
“Thank you for your positive reinforcement. It’s my own design.”
“Fascinating. Truly fascinating. I’m Galekh, by the way. I don’t think we’ve talked in person yet.”
“Vikare Ratite, at your service.”
“Ah, Vikare. I should’ve recognized you. How have you been doing.”
“Quite wonderful, my friend. Quite wonderful.”

Polypa and Zebruh watched from a distance.

“Look at those two go. What are they even saying?” Polypa asked with a laugh.
“I’ve got no idea.”

The two trolls watched as Galekh and Vikare hopped in the plane.

“Oh gog, what is he doing?” Polypa asked, stepping forwards.
“Hold on, don’t run in front of it.” Zebruh grabbed onto Polypa’s hand.

Polypa turned, looked at Zebruh, and smiled. Zebruh’s face filled with indigo and he quickly let go. “Too easy.” Polypa laughed. “Gog, damn it!” Zebruh laughed back. Polypa ran over to the plane and peered in at Vikare.

“What are you doing?” She yelled over the roaring of the engine.
“Taking my associate here for a ride!” Vikare gave a wide grin as the plane began to lurch forwards.

The biplane began to rise above the ground and off into the sky. The other trolls stopped what they were doing to watch as the plane became a small dot off in the distance before disappearing in a flash.

“Well then, seems our objective is clear enough,” Tyzias said. “Escape the island.”
“But Vikare was building the boat. We’ll have to find some way to finish it.” Polypa said, turning back towards the unfinished pieces of wood scattered on the ground.
“Then get to it, oliveblood.”

Polypa stopped.

“Excuse me?”
“What? Did I stutter?”
“My matesprit is right,” Stelsa chimed in.
“Nobody asked you, fashion disaster.” Polypa muttered.
“What did you just say?” Stelsa yelled.

Zebruh turned to Tegiri.

“I think something bad’s about to happen.”
“I wouldn’t intervene if I were you.” Tegiri said slowly, sitting down.

“This ain’t Alternia, tealbloods.” Konyyl stepped forwards.
“But I don’t particularly care. We need order to survive and we legislacerators are the arbiters of order.”
“Then why don’t you make a nice, orderly, boat.” Polypa inched closer to Stelsa.
“Because I,” Stelsa stepped closer. “Don’t.” And closer. “Want to.”

Zebruh placed his hand on Polypa’s shoulder.

“I’ll help you, just please don’t fight the tealbloods. Maybe their expertise in organization would be helpful?”
“I’m sorry, Zebruh, but if there’s one thing about me that you need to understand, it’s that I don’t take shit from other trolls. I already spared you earlier today because I like you, but I’m not going to spare this pink covered bitch.”
“You… like me?” Zebruh replied, shocked.
“Yes, and we can discuss that later if-”
“Tegiri! Did you hear that!?”

Zebruh ran back to Tegiri. Polypa sighed. “Where was I?” She asked. “Oh, right.”

With a quick move, Polypa leaped at Stelsa who ducked out of the way, sending Polypa crashing into Tyzias. The two rolled around on the ground, ripping at each other before Stelsa tried to rip Polypa off. Konyyl pulled Stelsa back.

“Listen here, if you think you’re going to get between me and my Tyztyz, be prepared to eat it!” Stelsa yelled.
“Come on, tealblood. Just try.”

Stelsa and Konyyl grappled with each other, nearly falling over the combined ball of Tyzias and Polypa who were still grappling with each other. After a brief moment, Tyzias flipped Polypa onto her back and pinned her down.

“Chahut!” Zebruh yelled.
“Hmm?”
“Chahut, please, please, pretty please, help Polypa!”
“Sorry, Zeeb. I ain’t lookin’ for a fight right now.”
“At least break it up. Please, you’re super strong looking, you can easily do it.”
“Well, that is true. You know, I once won the clown church strength lifting competition at the church fair, oh gosh, that must’ve been a whole sweep ago and-”
“Please!”
“Oh, right, just a sec’ hun.”
Chahut stepped between the mass of trolls and shoved Konyyl and Stelsa apart, knocking them both back at least five feet. She then glared down at Tyzias. “Move.” She said lowly. Tyzias looked up and gulped. “Yes, ma’am.”

Zebruh helped lift Polypa off the ground.

“How’d you get pinned down by that scrawny legislacerator?” Zebruh whispered. Polypa coughed. “I let my guard down. That’s all. Accidents happen.” She wheezed out.

“Are you ok?” Zebruh asked, moving her towards a tree to lean against.
“Yeah, just knocked the wind out of me. I’ll be fine.”
“I know, but that looked like it really hurt.”
“That’s because it did, Zebruh. I got fuckin’ walloped by them.”

Polypa rested against the tree and Zebruh sat down next to her.

“Back there, you said you liked me.” Zebruh muttered.
“That’s because I do, just a little bit.”
“I’ll take it.”
“You’re my complete opposite, Zebruh.”
“Well yeah, you’re smart, and strong, and kind, and attractive, and-”
“What was that last one?”
“Nothing.” Zebruh blushed. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Well anyway, no, Zebruh. Don’t be so self-deprecating.”
“Sorry, force of habit. But do go on.”
“No, I’m serious, Zebruh. If you want to be a strong troll, you can’t go around telling yourself that you’re a horrible troll, despite what you may think about yourself.”
“Easier said than done, Polypa. I hate who I am.”
“At least you haven’t had to kill anyone to survive.”

Zebruh turned and looked at Polypa. Her normal cadence of confidence was softened.
“No, I haven’t,” Zebruh said. “If it’s ok, what’s it like? You know, only if you want to talk about it.”

Polypa sighed and thought for a moment.

“I remember the first time I was hired to kill a troll vividly. How could you forget? It’s hard for me not because of what happened to the troll, but because it forces me to think about my past. I don’t like that.” Polypa muttered.
“Have you told anyone this story?”
“No, but there’s no time like the present, and I trust you, so here we go. It was after my hive was destroyed. I was angry, bitter, and in a ton of pain. Mentally, physically. My lusus was gone and my arms were grotesque. This was a few sweeps ago, so I was much younger. There were fresh scars running up and down my arms as I trudged up the road while it was raining heavily. Yeah, I know, super cliche.”
“Hah, don’t worry. I know you can tell a good story.”
“Don’t flatter me, Zebruh. It’s not a fun story, just a difficult one.”
“That’s ok, you can tell me what you want to.”
“Then take breath and get ready for this.”

So I was wandering up the street, and olive tears were just streaming down my face. As I’m sure you know, there’s not really a place for scarred lowbloods in this world. With my hive and lusus gone, I was basically not long for this world. I didn’t think I could hurt even a flybeast. But I was desperate when I ran into a troll. A scruffy looking yellowblood. He smiled at me and I was kinda afraid but he flashed a handful of credits at me. “Want these?” He said. I wasn’t sure what he was going to say next but I nodded. What other options did I have? “Kill that troll over there.” And he pointed at a rustblood across the street.

Polypa raised her hand up and pointed across the endless sea. Zebruh tried to envision the scene in his mind.

Across the road was a small bar filled with older trolls getting ready to go off world. They were almost exclusively lowbloods. At one of the tables was a rustblood with an eyepatch playing cards. “What!?” I replied to the yellowblood. “I- I can’t kill anyone!” I said. I couldn’t tear my eyes from the unaware rustblood. The yellowblood scowled. “Weak trolls don’t have scars. Look at you. How’d that even happen?” He grinned. I looked at her arms. “Fire.” I said. “Fire.” He repeated back. “Well, you’ve already had your trial by fire then, and you’re still alive. What’s your name, kid?” He asked. “Poly-” I started. “Don’t answer that. That was a test to see how naive you are. Don’t worry, naive trolls are useful just as streetwise ones are.”

“Let me in on a little secret,” He whispered. “That rustblood isn’t just a disposable gutterblood, he’s also a liar, a cheater, and a whore. What difference would it make? A lot, actually. There’s good credits for you. Just wait until he leaves and steps into an alley or something. I’ll check back in a couple hours and if I see his rotting corpse, I’ll deliver you the credits. Just wait nearby. I’ll find you.”

In my hand, he placed a small dagger. I looked at it underneath the purple streetlight and followed the reflections with my eyes. It was so shiny. So sharp.

“Did, uhm, you know. Did you do it?” Zebruh asked.
“Yeah. I didn’t think at that moment that I had any choice. I was so mad. I waited until that troll left out of sight and slit his throat quickly. Can’t say I regret it. I don’t regret it now, but back then, well, it was a lot for me.”
“You wouldn’t, I dunno, kill me, would you?”
“What!? Zebruh, don’t even suggest such a thing!”
“Sorry, sorry, continue… Sorry.”

So I waited, and waited. I almost fell asleep but I kept myself awake, thinking about my lusus and my smoldering hive, and this rage started to build in me. This unimaginable hatred. I twisted the dagger around in my hands and pricked my finger on its sharp edge. Then the troll left and entered the alley. I sprinted across the road and shoved the dagger into his back. The most terrifying thing about stabbing someone in the back is that they don’t scream. They just wheeze and collapse. I stood over this stranger in the near pitch-black alley and stabbed him again, and again, and again. But as I did it, I started to feel funny.

My anger, my bitterness, began to be washed away in my blood, sweat, and tears. In the dim lights, I could see my knees and hands getting covered in that sticky, burgundyblood. And I just collapsed. I fell beside the dead troll and looked away from his face. I couldn’t do it. I just sobbed with my eyes closed. I couldn’t believe what I had done. The anger was gone and was replaced with this horrible, indescribable mixture of guilt and fear. It was like a dark and tarry liquid welling up in my body. At some point, I don’t even remember how long it was, I picked myself up and walked away. No troll on the street questioned me. They didn’t look at me. I stood near a shop and waited. Sure enough, that yellowblood came by and dropped me the credits and walked away without another word.

A week later, there was another job for me. And another job. He paid well. I never questioned how he got all those credits. I was terrified of getting caught but nothing ever happened. By the third time I killed a troll, I didn’t cry anymore. I hated gutterbloods, and I hated highbloods. Highbloods paid really well so I tended to take those despite the risk. Some of the jobs were a lot worse than others. I remember there was one job where I had to kill a purpleblood preacher for the clown church. What a waste of air. Did you know that he sacrificed a troll every single day for their gog? It’s incredible how sick clowns are. Well, most clowns. Some clowns don’t seem to really care, like Marvus, or Chahut, but other clowns, they get into it. I had to infiltrate the church to get to him.

A whole month of posing as a highblood. I wore the makeup and I used a stolen costume with a purpleblood sign. So long as I never bled or cried, they never would’ve known. That job went bad though. During a rite, I accidentally cut my hand on the ceremonial dagger. In front of the target. In front of the whole congregation. While an off-planet purpleblood was there to observe the rite. Suffice it to say, the splash of olive blood that erupted from my hand was a giveaway. For a moment, I lingered. I watched it trickle down into the bowl of holy water. Then I looked up at the shocked expressions all the purplebloods had and I ran.

I climbed up the altar and pulled out my gun, killing the target and distracting the off-planet adult with a smoke bomb I kept in my pocket just in case I needed a quick getaway. You always stay prepared, afterall. Yeah, I got away, but I had to kill two other trolls chasing me. I got docked for that and barely ate for the next week. It caused a huge mess and I had to skip the subgrub to the other side of Thrashthrust to lay low. But the makeup kept me anonymous, so they never got me. Still, I was hesitant to take another job for a while.

Those trolls chasing me were wearing clown makeup and purpleblood clothing too, but when I shot them, one of them bled rust and the other bled olive. I still wonder about that. Sometimes things go wrong, but you can’t get caught up in the details about it. I did my job and got out alive, that’s all that really mattered to me. I thought about those two trolls a lot though. Sleeping on the street, you have bad dreams every night. I dreamt about those trolls in particular for some reason. I don’t know why. I never figured out why.

The last time I cried was half a sweep later when someone paid me to kill that yellowblood who got me into this whole fuckin’ mess. I never even got his name. I wasn’t sad because he was a friend or anything. No, it was because it meant my source of credits was gone again, and I had to fend for myself again. At least, that’s what I told myself to believe. A part of me wonders if I really did care, but that was long enough ago now, that I really don’t think I’ll ever know how I truly felt. But guess what? I did it. I completed my job, just like all the previous ones. I did and I’m still doing it. That’s what being a bounty hunter is about. You can’t stop. You can’t freeze. You can’t grow attached to any clients or targets.

But you also can’t live that way forever. I’ve been waiting a long time for a true friend. It gets lonely on the street by yourself.

“I’m going to keep us safe.” Polypa said, staring a thousand miles across the water. “I’ll do whatever it takes to do it. Even if it sometimes seems confusing. I’ll do it.”
“I- I don’t think I follow?”
“Zebruh, this island, we haven’t killed each other yet, but can’t you feel something stirring in the air?”

Polypa raised herself onto her feet and opened her hand for Zebruh. He took her hand and she pulled him up. Holding hands, they looked down below the cliff at the crashing water against the worn stone.

“This isn’t going to end well.” Polypa muttered.
“But why would anyone want to kill us? I mean, we haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Did Bronya do anything wrong?”

Zebruh’s already cold hand got a bit colder.

“No. She didn’t.” Zebruh muttered.
“Remember when I said you’d learn to fight?”
“Yeah. I think I’ve done a pretty good job so far so-”
“It needs to be better. We need to make sure that we’re the last two standing.”
“Of course but- I don’t- I can’t- I don’t know.” Zebruh sighed.
“What is it, Zebruh?”
“I can’t kill another troll. I can act tough, I can play dirty, but I can’t kill. I’m just not that strong. You’re amazing, you’re talented. Can’t you do it? I’m not as strong as you are. ”

Polypa looked at Zebruh and the two lingered. Her bloodpusher twitched strangely in her chest. She was still mad about what had just happened, sad thinking about her past, determined thinking about their future, and anxious about the person she cared about standing in front of her. This mix was indescribable, there was no word for it, but she really wished there was one so she could articulate it to Zebruh.

Zebruh was the least likely person in her mind that she could begin having pale feelings for. The more she thought about it, the more it confused her, until she looked down and realized they were still holding hands, and then it clicked. They complimented each other. Zebruh was the one who brought her to the tree and made sure she was ok. Zebruh was the one who calmed her down from the exchange. And she was there for him. She was teaching him how to defend himself, and she was also an open ear for all his problems. Problems that she would have to learn later. Today was already a big enough wound-opening for her.

“Zebruh, is it stupid if I tell you something.” Polypa said.
“You can tell me anything. Just, you know, hopefully not more traumatizing things. That’d just be sad.”
“Oh there’s plenty of that, don’t worry. No, I just wanted to tell you that I have pale feelings for you, and I hope you feel the same.”

Zebruh opened his mouth to say something before leaning backwards. Polypa gripped his hand tightly, grabbing his other arm with her other hand before gently moving him onto the ground, propped up against the tree.

Seeing her, presumably new, moirail on the ground completely passed out from trying to comprehend the idea of having someone in a quadrant made her almost laugh. Of course, she was also worried, but it was funny. “Rest well, moirail.” Polypa whispered with a laugh.

Zebruh looked around. His hive looked the same as usual. Out the balcony, he could see the sugrub of Outglut in all its glory. It was a peaceful evening, the wind was slowly rustling the trees that framed his large hive, but something seemed wrong. He couldn’t place a finger on what exactly it was that was troubling him. Someone knocked on the door.

“Just a minute!” Zebruh yelled.

Another knock came, harder.

Zebruh looked at the door, puzzled. “I said, just a minute!” He yelled back, firmer. The person, or thing, at the door knocked harder.

“You’re going to break it if you keep doing that, whoever you are.” Zebruh muttered, walking over to the door. It felt more like drifting though. Nothing felt exactly right, but when did things ever feel right in the first place?

Zebruh opens the door and sees a long corridor in front of him. It’s the normal corridor of his hive, so he’s not entirely sure why that fact stood out to him. Was he expecting to see anything different there? Well, he was at least expecting to see a person. There’s nobody. His bloodpusher skips a beat.

“Hello?”

He looks down and sees a trail of tracks running along the floor. They’re hoof shaped. “Oh no,” Zebruh whispers. “Not you.” His bloodpusher begins to race. He follows then to the stairs where they get firmer, more real. “Not you!” Zebruh exclaims.

A flash of white and grey stripes flashes in his periphery and he spins around, losing his balance. Zebruh tumbles down the stairs, sliding across the slick marble floors almost a meter. His head is spinning. His vision is hazy and unclear as he tries to push himself up.

“Zebruh?” A voice calls out of nowhere.

Zebruh writhes, trying to get air into his lungs. “What?” He chokes out.

“Zebruh?”

His vision had started to clear up and he could see a familiar face standing above him: An oliveblooded face.

“Zebruh, what are you doing on the floor? Did I tell you to stand up for yourself?”
“It- I- The stairs.”
“Stairs. Pah. I had to survive my hive burning down with me inside of it. I only lived by the skin of my teeth. Look at you, lying on the ground pathetically. What are you?”
“You’re- Wait- What’s going on? Polypa? You don’t talk like that.”
“I talk any way I feel like, Zebruh. Only you are stuck in your own thinkpan. Now get up and fight or I’m out.”
“No, wait. I- I’ll fight, I just- I think my breathing sacks have collapsed, I really need help.”
“Your loss, Zebruh. Your loss.”
“No- wait!”

The hazy, oliveblood figure began to walk away. Zebruh pulled himself up to his feet, propping himself against the railing. His ponytail had unraveled; he could barely see through his hair.

“Did I say you could leave?” Zebruh demanded. The figure turned back to look at him. It was different this time. It was his lusus. That damn grey and white zebra.

“I’m talking to you.” Zebruh coughed. A droplet of indigoblood fell from the corner of his mouth onto his white shirt. His lusus said nothing.

“This time, you’ve gone too far. I’m not doing this anymore.” Zebruh used every muscle in his body to stay upright, staring at the figure in front of him. His lusus huffed and stared directly at him.

“Fuck you.” Zebruh coughed more. His chest burned.

Another flash of white and grey. Zebruh was spun around, landing face down on the stairs, sliding back down them onto the ground. A cut above his eye stung. The indigo blood streaming down his face mixed with his tears.

“Haven’t you already figured out that I’m through?” Zebruh said, weakly. He wasn’t even sure where his lusus was anymore, but he could feel them. They were here somewhere, listening, watching. “I let all the lowbloods go. I don’t want to be the troll you’re trying to make me be.”

Zebruh looked up to see one last flash before he-

Zebruh jolted awake under the tree. He felt above his eye and there was no blood. He cursed his thinkpan for trying to make him relive that night. It was meant to be out and gone. His lusus was no more. It wasn’t a problem anymore. It wasn’t anything more than a burnt memory. Polypa had millions of those. He thought about what that must’ve been like. He could barely even stomach one.

She was sitting beside him, napping under the tree. He gently nudged her shoulder.

“Hm?” Polypa groaned. “Is the boat done?”
“No, it’s, uhm, it’s me.”

Polypa quickly opened here eyes and looked at Zebruh.

“Oh my gog! Zebruh! Don’t do that again, you scared me!”
“Well uh, sorry. Heh.” Zebruh laughed awkwardly.
“Are you ok? You didn’t hit your head, did you?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Don’t worry. I just had an unpleasant dream, that’s all. You know how those are.”
“More than you could imagine sleeping on the street. Mostly about fires for obvious reasons. What about yours.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Personal?”
“Yeah. My lusus.”
“I’m sorry, Zebruh. I lost mine in the fire, I know it’s always a sore subject to discuss losing your-”
“I’m glad he’s dead.”

Polypa looked at him confused. Glad? She wondered to herself. It must’ve been serious.

“Well, I’m sorry whatever happened. I’m just glad you’re ok. Be strong, remember?”
“I will be.”
“Awesome. Now let’s get that boat done and get the hell out of here.”
“Yeah, let’s finish it.”

The two trolls stood up and walked over to Konyyl hauling pieces of wood.

“I learned a lot about you today, Polypa.” Zebruh said, taking her hand.
“Well, there’s a lot to learn. Believe me, you’ll find out a lot more now that we’re moirails.”
“I-” Zebruh stopped and blushed. “Sorry, sorry, I just, that dream was so intense that I forgot what happened before.”
“You conked out like a rock when I told you I wanted to be moirails.”
“No? Really!?”
“Yeah!” Polypa laughed.
“Oh no!” Zebruh laughed back. “Oh gog, that’s so embarrassing!”

Zebruh and Polypa nearly fell over each other laughing.

Polypa knew that something big was coming. A lot of danger. A lot of excitement. But she had a moirail she could trust and who she could help. Everything would be ok.

Chapter Text

Night settled over Thrashtrust as the two distant suns disappeared even further away than they had been before. The metro screeched into Central Outglut station.

“Last stop until morning on the violet line. Everybody off.” A bored burgundyblood droned over the scratchy intercom. Polypa stepped off the Oliveblood car and stretched. Her last job was a tough one, and it took a week undercover to do it, so she was excited to be able to rest in her hive for a while. It paid quite well, and there was no shortage of extra hives from trolls who had died for her to swoop in and pay off some highblood to let her take it over for herself.

On the wall of the old metro station was a map of Thrashthrust. She scanned over it, tracing the path she had just taken from Northern Bloodstone, a subgrub district in the far north of the city, back to her subgrub of Outglut in the southwest, with her finger. It took quite a long time for the metro to lumber across the heart of the city, but she was finally back.

Rain had come again across Thrashthrust, and she hadn’t remembered to bring an umbrella with her. That was fine though, Polypa thought. In her bag was a hoodie with a goldblood symbol she had stolen. She could just pretend to be lower for a little while longer. Eugh, yellowbloods, she thought. They were a troublesome breed. Perhaps not as much as Bronzebloods but nevertheless. They could both understand their place like the rustbloods.

She had never given a whole lot of thought to the hemospectrum or its dynamics, but she pondered the thought as she walked through the rain. Olivebloods were clearly the superior caste, but of course you couldn’t say that without getting culled. Rustbloods are basically cannon fodder, Bronzebloods are too but they’re cocky because they’re not the absolute bottom of the barrel. Yellowbloods had the gall to claim they were midbloods when they knew they weren’t.

Polypa pushed through the crowds of trolls of all types of castes as her eyes glazed over the various signs for buildings still open this late. Jades, well you never see Jadebloods. Teals have a stick shoved up their nook. Bluebloods are unnecessarily violent. Indigo’s were full of themselves and well, did she really need to explain what was wrong with anyone above Indigos? Not really, no.

Olivebloods, she returned to, are the perfect balance in the system. It wasn’t a pyramid to her, no it was a scale. The highbloods on one side, the lowbloods on the other. And the pivot in the center, the caste that kept everything from collapsing, was the olivebloods.

Beyond her was a neon sign pointing to a dive underneath another building. She was so tired, she could use a drink.

The large bronzeblood guarding the door didn’t even ask her what her caste was as she pushed her way inside the smoke-filled, hazy bar. It was filled with trolls of various castes sitting, drinking, smoking, as one would expect. Another bronzeblood, a girl, was in the corner on a stage singing. It was alright, but not really Polypa’s preferred taste in music.

She sat down at the bar next to an indigoblood. Eugh. Indigobloods.

“Sheesh, looks like someone dragged you in the rain.” The indigoblood said to her, his voice vaguely slurred.
“That’s because I was.” Polypa replied. She kept her face hidden underneath the hood as she signaled for the bartender to give her something.

“It’s harsh out there. Would you not agree?” The indigoblood said. Why was he still talking to me, Polypa thought to herself.
“Yeah. Harsh.” What did he know about it, Polypa thought.
“You see that troll on stage?” He said, pointing to the bronzeblood. Polypa turned and looked at her.
“What about her?”
“That’s Chixie Roixmr. She’s amazing, would you agree?”

Polypa wasn’t particularly impressed but what the hell.

“She’s good, yeah.” Polypa replied.
“Amazing…” The troll trailed off, taking another shot.
“Uhm, yeah.” Polypa laughed awkwardly. The bartender placed a shot in front of her and she downed it.

“I’ve done everything in my power to impress her. I’ve given her good reviews. I’ve attended her biggest and smallest shows. And what do I get? She hates my guts.” He whined, resting his head in his hands.
“If she ain’t into you, let it go. Why do you even want a bronzeblood anyway?”
“Because… I don’t know.”

Polypa took another shot.

“That’s life, ain’t it. Doing stuff and not knowing why.” Polypa sighed. She thought about her job. Her satisfaction with killing trolls was gone now. There was just a feeling of nothingness. Another shot.

“Hey, I don’t think I caught your name.” Polypa said, glancing at the troll. When she looked, his head fell on the bartop, causing the empty glasses to roll away. The bartender quickly grabbed them before the fell off the table. “Every time.” The bartender muttered to himself.

Polypa turned back to Chixie. Gog, she wondered to herself. What kind of weird mess did she accidentally stumble into. This poor troll who just wanted to sing, beset with an unstable highblood. For the first time in a very long time, she felt bad for a bronzeblood. She didn't deserve it. But if there was one thing that Polypa was well acquainted with, it was that lowbloods were surprisingly resilient. Chixie would be able to throw him off. She looked strong.

Polypa looked at the passed out Indigoblood again. But what about him, she wondered. Would he be able to find the strength to give up? An oxymoron, she thought, but an apt one. Whatever, it wasn’t her problem. She’d probably never see this troll again. He was just another indigoblood. She didn’t have to care.

On the counter, Polypa placed a few credits and walked out. It was a small blip in her thinkpan. The name Chixie vaguely stuck, but not the indigoblood. And that was fine with her.

--------

Polypa jolted awake from the firm poke in her arm.

“What? What is it?” Polypa asked, looking at Zebruh.
“I was just trying to tell you it was morning.” He said. Polypa looked around. They were sleeping on the floor of the greenhouse in his hive on that strange, rocky planet. So it wasn’t a dream after all. She’d be mistaken for thinking it was a nightmare.

“Oh, thank you Zebruh. I hope you slept well.”
“I guess I did. What about you?”
“You know, I can’t remember what I was dreaming about. Isn’t that odd? I was expecting some violent nightmares but was met with nothing.”

This was basically a lie. Not that she really had a reason to lie. That memory, a memory that had escaped her thinkpan for a long time, was far more embarrassing for Zebruh than for her. He didn’t need to know. For all she knew, he never even remembered that existed considering he blacked out at the time. Or, at best, he remembers a goldblood. Not her.

It made sense to her now, though. That’s why she didn’t immediately gut him when she saw him on the planet. The feeling she couldn’t place that she had was a distant twinge of pity mixed with intrigue.

Something about understanding what made a highblood tick was irresistible to her. To fully understand how and why a highblood could get himself willing into such messes was something she needed to know.

And who cared, she thought. He’d probably wind up dead anyway in the game, and she wouldn’t have felt too bad about it. She barely knew him, even if she felt pity for him. It just was what it was.

--------

Polypa looked at her moirail sitting underneath the tree. Oh gog, she thought to herself. What have I done?

Chapter Text

The other players’ ships arrived at the shores of grey. Beyond them, the scarred rocky landscape continued for miles and miles. Above their heads, the Frozen Star loomed ever closer, melting. Time was running out. This planet was filled with firearms scattered on the beaches for the trolls to carry. It’s like they were being beckoned, begged, to use them. If only a troll didn’t force their hand…

“Xefros,” Dammek said, as the group watched the boats from above a ridge. “Let me tell you about a dream I once had.”
“O- Ok, Dammek.”
“I imagined myself on Alternia, but it wasn’t any normal Alternia. This was sweeps ago, and the star was frozen. Cold. Distant. There was a group of trolls standing in front of me, and you were beside me. I thought I could trust that group of trolls because they came from all castes, but they attacked us. I fled, and I watched them rip you apart. We’re now here. That dream is now real. It’s time Xefros to meet them. It’s time to descend.”

Dammek grabbed a rifle and leaped over the edge of the ridge. Xefros hesitated, before jumping as well.

“What do we do?” Chixie asked.
“Follow, for now. Keep our distance.” Fozzer replied as he stepped over.
“Wait!” Chixie yelled. Fozzer stopped. “What is it?” Fozzer asked.
“What if, you know, Dammek was right?”
“Hm?”
“About the dream. What if those trolls down there really will hurt Xefros?”
“Dammek is crazy, da? Let’s just observe.”
“I know that, but, I just have the feeling that something terrible is going to happen. I can’t really describe it, but it all feels wrong. Really, really wrong.”
“That’s called common sense, Chixie. Something is extremely wrong, and we’re currently trailing behind it, but what are we supposed to do but watch for now?”
“Of course, right.”

Fozzer and Chixie jumped over and slid down the rocks.

--------

The Soleils walked away from the dying tealblood. She had tried to tell them about the glory of the Empire one too many times and they were just sick of it. But where Marvus had went, they had no idea. He had seen or understood something that they hadn’t: That being around actively was a terrible idea for survival, and that just playing the objective was the right move. But playing the objective was lame, Baizli thought, and Barzum readily agreed. Barzum added that she thought killing random trolls was far more interesting for the story. Baizli agreed on that too.

They scoured the wastelands looking for him everywhere but he had more important things to be working on. Barzum lifted Baizli up to watch over a rock and see the three way standoff that was beginning to brew between the other various trolls. That sure would be fun to watch. Then they heard a cough behind them.

A dying blueblood stood in front of them. “What did you do?” He weakly demanded. They could see a trail of blue droplets extending from one of the bunker, going to where he was standing in front of them. He had left the bunker.

Mallek had seen Tirona’s signal disappear. For some reason he didn’t really understand, it ticked him off. Maybe he had a soft spot, maybe he just really hated clowns. By the end, there were two more dead clowns with wrung necks and Mallek lay against the rocks, looking up at the frozen star. Unlike clowns, he didn’t really enjoy killing that much. Cathartic, sure, but not enjoyable.

“Guess that’s it.” He muttered quietly as he closed his eyes. His purple-stained hands rested against the rocks. “Time to let go.”

--------

“We can work this out!” Galekh shouted from behind cover.
“Like hell we can!” Dammek shouted back.
“Come now, everyone, let us work this out like civilized trolls!” Stelsa chimed in. “We’ll three meet in the middle!”

Dammek nodded, followed by Galekh. “Konyyl, you’re strong, go and be our representative.”

“On it.” Konyyl said. The three trolls stepped out from cover, their hands empty, and walked towards the center. Their teams watched them cautiously.

“What’s Fozzer doing over there?” Vikare wondered.
“And Chixie for that matter.” Zebruh added.
“Damned if I knew. This has gotten out of hand.” Polypa whispered.
“This is a proper nightmare, if I do say so,” Vikare said with a sigh. “A complete nightmare.”
“And none of us are able to wake up from it.” Polypa said, resigned.

On the other side of cover…

“Do you think he’ll actually work it out?” Chixie wondered.
“Of course! Dammek is great with other trolls!” Xefros replied.

Dammek, Stelsa, and Konyyl looked at each other.

“This has gotten out of hand. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good fight, but this is insane. Let’s all walk away from this.” Konyyl demanded.
“Why?” Dammek stayed cool and adjusted his sunglasses.
“What do you mean, why? Isn’t that your moirail over there?”
“What about Xefros?”
“You don’t want him to get hurt, do you? He could be collateral if we’re not careful.”
“Are you threatening my moirail?” Dammek shifted rigidly.
“No, darling,” Stelsa jumped in. “She was merely suggesting the possibility of harm in the event that an altercation were to break out between our various groups that are currently in a standoff.”
“Did. You. Threaten. Xefros?” Dammek dug his shoes into the ground. Konyyl was starting to glow green.
“Maybe I did.” Konyyl spat back. She wasn’t playing games.

The groups watching couldn’t hear any of the dialogue, but they heard the two swift cracks that pierced the air. Dammek was standing still, a concealed pistol in his hand, and two trolls lying in front of him. He practiced his quick draws for a reason.

All hell and pandemonium had broken loose. Tyzias and Galekh were the first to respond, pushing their heads up over their barricades, guns in hand, and firing at the quickly retreating Dammek who ran behind the rocks his team was at.

“Go. Go! See that other rock there! Polypa and Zebruh, go take it!”
“You want me to what?” Zebruh asked, nervous. Polypa grabbed his hand and ran to the next cover.

“Vikare. Do you have it still?” Galekh asked.
“If I am understanding your implication correctly, my good man, I’d say quite.”
“Then do it.”

Vikare dashed off to his plane and kicked the motor into life. Mounted on the front of it was a machine gun that Galekh had salvaged from when they arrived. The plane began to roll down the beach.

“Kill that grubfucker!” Tyzias screamed. Tegiri, ever the eccentric, raised his blade.
“It’s been an honor.” He said. Daraya and Chahut readied themselves. Daraya thought about Bronya. Yeah, she thought, it was about fuckin’ time for some cold-blooded revenge.

Fozzer and Chixie didn’t want to hurt the charging trolls, but their hands had been metaphorically tied. A maelstrom of bullets cascaded over their heads when they popped out to see what was happening. Tyzias and the rest of her team wasn’t playing around. They leveled their sights on the charging trolls and took aim.

“Fire!” Dammek shouted.
“I’m not going to.” Fozzer said, holding still.
“What!?”
“We can scare them off with warning shots, I’m not going to kill them.”
“Augh! Useless. Fucking useless!” Dammek shouted, leveling his own gun at Fozzer’s head. “Now fire!”

Fozzer stared at Dammek.
“Go ahead. I don’t fear the afterlife.”

“What the hell is happening over there?” Polypa wondered as she saw a flash behind Dammek’s cover. “Did he just shoot his ally?”
“Who knows!?” Zebruh threw his hands up. “We’re all going to die, so who knows!”
“We’re not going to die, Zebruh. We’re safe here, watching it happen. Just relax.” She placed her hands on top of his. “Relax.” All the sudden, Zebruh’s bloodpusher slowed down.

--------

Vikare’s plane circled from above the battlefield. Occasionally, the stray bullet would breeze past him, but it was by and large peaceful in the skies. As each troll fell, the frozen star got a little bit hotter. He could start to feel the heat from it glinting off the metal.

Yet, despite the chaos below, his bloodpusher was actually quite steady. For some reason, flight and freedom just settled his nerves. An indescribable wave of calm washed over him as he turned around again. It was time to strafe.

Below was a hodge podge of trolls fighting each other. It was the other two teams, Tyzias’ and Dammek’s. At least, that’s how he was breaking down right then. The thought of accidentally hitting one of Tyzias’ was slightly unnerving to him, but this was war, and he was ready for it. Acceptable casualties was just a way of life on Alternia.

And then a strange thought crossed his mind: How come all the trolls felt so much more involved and compassionate here and not on Alternia?

His first strafe was done, zero hits, but it caused some extra pandemonium. He resumed his thoughts.

All these trolls on Alternia seemed so much more self-centered. All of them didn’t really care about life or death. And now, it was so important. All of this fighting below them wasn’t just a matter in survival, it was a matter of morals. Things none of them cared about back on Alternia. And yet, being here now, Vikare couldn’t help but feel the same way. It was as though the game had given a meaning to living that these trolls had been missing.

The second strafe was done. He saw what looked like bronze blood and purple blood.

Yes, that was it: He thought. Death now meant something because life now meant something. On Alternia, it was all expendable. But here, despite the cruelty of this game, there was something that was worth fighting for. And just that simple act of fighting, winning, struggling with loss, it all made life worth living.

The third strafe was done. Vikare could now clearly see that Chahut, Chixie, and Tegiri were down. Returning fire from below was lucky. It punctured the gas tank and the engine in one go. Smoke erupted from it as his steering locked up. But this was the risk with flying. He had known the risks when he stepped in.

--------

Polypa watched the smoke erupt from the horizon. A tear welled in her eyes. Everything had gone so wrong, so quickly. The Frozen Star was beginning to grow and warp. It looked like a tumor in the sky as it writhed and changed with each troll’s death.

Dammek wiped the teal blood from his face. It was just him and Xefros now. The way it was meant to be. Just them. No trolls to stand between them. Xefros cowered behind the rocks, burgundy tears streaming down his face.

“It’ll be ok.” Dammek said, crouching in front of Xefros. “We’ve won.”
“Won what?” Xefros said, standing up.
“The game! When it’s just us two left, we’ll have won! Only two trolls can win, right? That’s what Galekh had told you? Come on, we just have to go and win and we can have anything we want.”
“Dammek… what’s happened to you?” Xefros murmured.
“What?”
“What happened to you!?” Xefros shouted.
“I don’t-”
“Why did you kill all those trolls?”
“Because they were going to kill us first! I was right! You can see that I was right!”
“No you weren’t!”
“Yes I was, Xefros. Look!”

Dammek gripped Xefros’ arm and dragged him over to the dead trolls.

“Look at them, your so-called friends. They tried to kill us!”
“They tried to kill you, maybe, but not me!”
“There is only an us, Xefros. An us!”

A red hot fire was burning inside of Xefros. He could feel it rising inside of him. Sweeps and sweeps of thoughts melded in his thinkpan as he stared at Dammek. So many perigees of lies and broken promises, so much rage he had suppressed to give Dammek the benefit of the doubt.

“Xefros?” Dammek’s tone immediately softened as he noticed Xefros’ balled up fist.

Dammek crashed against the rocks and fell over. He was still awake, and alive, but he couldn’t move. He just laid there.

Xefros walked towards Zebruh and Polypa. The two lowered their weapons.

“Xefros! What happened?” Polypa asked.
“I did what I waited a long time to do.” Xefros said, defeated.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I punched Dammek in the face. I guess I knocked him out or something.”
“Amazing…” Zebruh muttered.
“Good job, Xefros. We’ll uh, do something about him a moment. I need to catch my breath.” Polypa sighed.
“How did this happen?” Xefros asked, looking around.
“How do you think? We’re trolls. This is just what happens. Give a troll a weapon and they’ll kill.”
“There’s something eerily familiar about that.” Xefros replied.
“What do we even do now?” Zebruh asked. “There’s only, what, five of us left? How do we even win?”

Polypa stared up at the star. It was massive now, a swirling tangle of green in the sky.

“I have no idea if there’s enough left of us to win.” Polypa said. “We might be doomed.”
“Let’s not look at it that way.” Xefros said, perking up.

Dammek pushed himself up and wiped the bronze blood off of his mouth. Gog damn you, Xefros. He thought.

“We can always give it our best try!” Xefros said. Polypa and Zebruh nodded. “Yeah, let’s go get Galekh and give it a shot!” Polypa replied, starting to walk off.

“No.” Dammek sputtered. The trolls turned. “Xefros. How could you?” He coughed. His face was bruised and his sunglasses were shattered. For the first time in a very long time, Xefros could see his eyes. They were bloodshot and angry, but behind them, Xefros could see that Dammek was scared. He rarely saw this side of Dammek but it was here now.

Dammek raised his gun up. “See this fucking indigoblood? These are the types of people who enslaved us on Alternia. Step aside, Xefros.”

Xefros put himself between Dammek and Zebruh. Zebruh was frozen with fear. Polypa was stuck ten feet away.

“Xefros, move.” Dammek demanded. “That’s an order.”
“No! These are my friends, Dammek! Why can’t you just admit that you were wrong?”
“Because I’m right! I was always right! Now move!”
“No!”
“One last chance, Xefros. Move!” Dammek shouted.
“I’m not going to.”

In a flash, time seemed to pause. Polypa felt herself moving, running, but it felt out of body. Like she was watching it all from a seat in a movie theater or her hive. All of this: One terrible drama film she could stand up from and leave. But she couldn’t.

A splatter of burgundy and indigo sprayed onto the rocks as Polypa retaliated, grabbing the gun from Dammek’s hand and ramming it into his chest, sending him flying backwards with a pull of the trigger.

Everything was still slow as she turned to Xefros and Zebruh lying on the ground. First she grabbed Xefros and flipped him over. It had gone clean through. Then she ran to Zebruh and ripped open his vest. His white shirt was now blue.

“No, no, no! Zebruh it’s going to be ok, I promise!” Polypa said frantically, trying to apply pressure to the wound.
“Polypa…”
“No, not now, Zebruh! It’ll be ok! I just have to… if I could find a…”
“It’s ok…”
“No, it’s really not ok,” Polypa replied, scrounging around. Olive tears welled in her eyes. “But it will be ok! Eventually!”
“I’m fine.” He said.

Polypa couldn’t find anything. She turned back to Zebruh.

“I don’t… I don’t know what to do, Zebruh…”
“It’s alright,” He coughed. “You’ll go and win the game.”
“But I- There’s only three of us left!”
“You’ll find a way. It’s alright.”
“Zebruh, please…”
“You have to be strong. Have the strength I never could’ve had. You’re always so… so…”

Silence.

Deafening silence surrounded Polypa. She didn’t even notice Galekh running up behind her.

“Polypa.” He said, keeping his composure. “Polypa, I’ve been here before.”
“What are you talking about?” Polypa said, turning. Tears streamed down her face.
“I mean I’ve been here. On this rocky beach. Come on, I’ll explain.”
“But I-”
“There’s not much time, Polypa. The Frozen Star is about to be unleashed. And when it is, we’ll lose the game. There’s not enough of us to win, but there’s a way to get a second chance.”

Galekh climbed up the rocks and beckoned Polypa to follow him. She followed him up the rocks and on top of the plateau.

“Marvus is dead, by the way. Just before the battle, he used his time powers to see the future and realized we were in a doomed timeline. But, he saw another way around it, so he killed himself. I know it sounds strange to say that’s a good thing but it really does help us.”

Polypa didn’t understand what was going on anymore. She was shivering as Galekh led her to one of the bunkers.

“This one,” He said. “This is the one I entered.”
“Galekh, I don’t understand, what the fuck are you talking about?”
“Polypa. You have to go in. You’ll understand when you meet him. I failed this time around, but I’m sure you’ll have more luck. Now go before it’s too late.”

Polypa opened the door to the bunker and stepped inside.

Chapter Text

Intermission ?? - BROKEN

Something's not right here. Oh gog, this is a whole mess. I'll need to fix this.

INTRMISN - 404
Chapter by Aurel224 (RaSunGod)

Chapter by Galekh? Zebruh? Polypa? ERROR - MISSING REQUEST

I'm trying my best to figure out what happened, but it's pitch black here.

You’ll be ok. Just do it.

INTERMISSION ??? - TIME TRANSFIXED

Chapter 21: TIME TRANSFIXED

It's dark now.

A heavy wind crosses the empty battlefield. Something is not right.

Time begins to slow and

Chapter by (doGnuSaR)422leruA

INTERMIZZION - BROKEN

Universe contractions exceed normal limit.

Internal fusion temperatures reaching near critical.

There is nothing but darkness.

What is this place?

Polypa reaches forward and searches for a flashlight. There is one on the desk in front of her. It clicks on. It's barely serviceable. She can barely see two feet in front of her face. There is complete silence. Her hair stands up. She is frightened. It's cold.

ERROR 502: BAD GATEWAY.

Unfortunately, Archive of Our Own is unable to load your request. Please refresh the page in a few minutes.

Something is wrong. I can feel it.

Galekh waits for a new timeline to begin.

Polypa walks out into the concrete hallway. There is no light. All sound is quiet. She walks along afraid. There is something wrong with this. There's something wrong. There's something

Time has been transfixed. There must be a way to restart it. The backwards flow of particles means that the stability of the universal plane has reached a critical tearing point where the influx of negative anti-particles is exceeding creation of normal particles as per the standard laws of virtualization in particle physics. The only result of this will be the freezing of the universe gradually. All that cannot escape it will be reduced to nothing. Nothing, nowhere, neverwhere. If that makes sense. I hope I explained it well enough to you.

Chapter by ERROR

The universe is

The universe is a music video

The universe is a story on the website Archive of Our Own

Intermission: TIME TRANSFIXED

Unfortunately, this work cannot be loaded at this time. Please refresh the page, or contact Technical Support & Feedback for help.

If this does not solve your issues, please just reset the universe. Please just reset it. This has gone too far. I want to start over. I want another chance. I demand another chance. Please. I need another chance. I need it.