Knight of Doomed Blood (Homestuck)

Author: Ashynarr

Summary: Whelp. You've fucked it up again. At least you think you have, because you woke up on Skaia after being killed on what turned out to be your Quest Bed after all only to see a disappointed Aradiabot looking over you.

Disclaimer: Homestuck's not mine.

Warning: Doomed Timeline Stuff, second person POV

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Whelp. You've fucked it up again. At least you think you have, because you woke up on Skaia after being killed on what turned out to be your Quest Bed after all only to see a disappointed Aradiabot looking over you.

"This isn't how the timeline's supposed to go," She told you plainly, creepy blue eyes judging you harshly.

"I sorta figured that out on my own, thanks," You reply bitterly, knowing you were usually the cause of said fuckups in the timeline that she then had to fix. Goddamnit, you hadn't meant to have this happen, you'd just come back to your lousy planet to search for your Denizen and ended up ambushed before you could pull out your sickles to retaliate. "When are you jumping back?"

"As soon as I figure out what caused the divergence," She replied. "When did you arrive at your planet?"

"Maybe a half hour ago? How long was I dead?"

"Two minutes." And then she was gone, a flash of white-red light collapsing around her and leaving empty air where she once stood.

Great, and now you were alone. You look up at the mind boggling tangles and weaving pathways of the battlefield, for once not interested in swearing even though you knew you'd just doomed another timeline through your own shitty luck.

Maybe you should've asked Vriska for some. You laugh at the idea of her actually giving up something to benefit the rest of the party.

So, what do you do now that the world's going to end relatively soon, probably through some bizarre clean up mechanism that keeps all the timelines nice and tidy. You realize Aradia never told you exactly what that was, only that it was very effective at what it did. You think you might not want to know.

As team leader, you still feel obligated to tell someone, and to be honest there's only one person you trust to be discrete about it all. The chirp of your phone draws you out of your thoughts, and when you check it to see who's trolling you you see it's not the person you were thinking of.

TA: hey cg

TA: you know why the 2creamiing2 2tarted up again

TA: AA wont an2wer me

You consider not replying, but then figure he probably already knows the reason why anyways and answer him.

CG: YEAH WELL

CG: APPARENTLY MY GOING GOD TIER WASN'T PART OF THE 'GREAT PLAN' SKAIA HAS FOR US

CG: SO NOW WE GET TO SIT ON OUR FAT CUSHIONS AND WAIT FOR THE TIMELINE TO END WHILE ARADIA GOES BACK AND FIXES THIS

CG: AGAIN

TA: 2ound2 fun

TA: 2hould I let the other2 know

CG: NO JUST

CG: LET EVERYONE KNOW WE SHOULD TALK

CG: MAYBE DO SOMETHING TO USHER IN THE END TOGETHER

TA: fiine

TA: hold on ii hear honkiing

TA: what2 tc doiing off hiis planet

CG: WHY SHOULD I KNOW

CG: JUST LET HIM KNOW WE'RE ALL GONNA MEET UP SOON ALRIGHT?

You wait but don't get a reply back after a few minutes, and figure he's doing his job. Good. You should let Kanaya know while you're at it; you've become fairly good friends while frog hunting, so you owe it to her to break the news gently.

CG: HEY KANAYA

GA: Yes Karkat

CG: I JUST THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW

CG: THAT

CG: WELL

CG: I DON'T KNOW HOW TO PUT THIS

CG: THE TIMELINE'S DOOMED

CG: I WENT GOD TIER, WHICH WASN'T PART OF THE PLAN APPARENTLY

CG: AND SO EVERYONE'S GONNA GATHER UP TO JUST

CG: SEE OUT THE END TOGETHER I GUESS

GA: I See

GA: I Suppose In That Case I Can Abandon My Charge And Come To Visit

GA: Where Are We Meeting Exactly

CG: I DUNNO

CG: ON SKAIA I GUESS?

GA: I Will Endeavor To Be There As Quickly As Possible

She stops pestering you after that, and you breath a sigh of relief, though it doesn't last long before you start having to shrug off a bad feeling about all this. Had the end mechanism kicked in already? You should probably let everyone else know about the meeting place. You sent out fast messages to everyone, asking them to meet you on Skaia. Only a few reply, the others apparently too busy to bother at the moment.

You don't want to acknowledge the bad feeling that's only growing in you now.

While you wait, you figure you might as well see what exactly you can do now that you're apparently this super powerful being. Not that you had any idea what 'blood' actually meant; you'd thought it was bonds and leadership, but how can it be when you fail so much as a leader? Maybe it was literal?

You step back a few feet, realizing as you do that you have wings now, and even though you can't see them you're fairly sure they're as freaky and mutated as the rest of you. What a shocker there. Pulling out your sickles, you try and focus on the blood in you, pulsing through you like fire.

Nothing happens, to your lack of surprise. Then you realize that maybe you actually need blood available to do something with. Great, thanks past self for not thinking of that sooner, dumbass.

(You imagine your past self sticking up a middle finger at you. Perhaps two.)

Carefully running your sickle along your arm, you wince at seeing the mutant blood spilled willingly, the wound sealing closed the second you pull it away while the blood remained, sticky and warm on your skin. Right, try not to focus on that, but the control.

This time it's easier to imagine what you want it to do, lashing out at an unseen enemy like a whip. You're pleased to see that it works after a bit, the red streaking out and snapping back with a ferocity that couldn't be matched. Yeah, this was pretty cool, all things considered. Too bad your Alpha self would never get to enjoy having useful powers for once.

You on a whim hide your little blob of blood in your clothes' symbol, the red blending in perfectly with the fabric, and not too soon, because Kanaya is approaching on her rocket pack and coming to a graceful landing in front of you.

"I see I've managed to arrive first," She replies as she looks around, frowning lightly in concern. "Was everyone alerted to the meeting?"

"Yeah, but not all of them replied," You respond, trying to play it off even if you feel as concerned as she looks. "Probably still dithering around or something."

"Perhaps I should speak to them," She decided after a bit, settling down next to you while pulling out her husktop. "They'll likely take it more seriously if it's from multiple sources."

"Yeah, have fun with that," You reply, kicking back on the ground next to her. "And tell Sollux to get back to me already while you're at it; he was supposed to be letting the others know too."

"I see," She nodded, quickly tapping out the messages on Trollian and waiting patiently for a reply to ping.

After five minutes of nothing they were both frowning, looking to each other as they realized what might have happened.

"Damn, that timeline ender must kick in fast," Karkat sighed, not wanting to admit to the possibility but seeing no other reasoning. "So much for the last big blowout before it all goes down the load gaper."

"At least we're able to enjoy it together," She offered, resting a hand on his shoulders. "For as much as that means, anyways."

"I guess," You sigh, leaning into her just a bit, because fuck your self-image at this point, you were all dead anyways, and who else was gonna see anyways?

Something crashes into the ground nearby, catching you both by surprise. As it turns out, it's Terezi, bleeding fiercely while pulling herself up and out of the crater she'd made with her landing. Both of you immediately push yourselves up and run over to her, helping her to her feet before she pushed you away with a fierce scowl.

"There's no time for this - he's coming!" She growled, turning to where she'd flown from as if she could see the threat coming even now. She probably could, actually, Seers were strange like that. Or at least she was.

"Who's coming?" Kanaya asked. "We thought everyone else was gone already."

"Yeah, they are, I've smelt it," She told them. "Gamzee's killed them all."

"Gamzee?" You both utter, surprised. Sure, he'd been less mellowed out lately, but this was something else entirely. "You sure?"

"I think I'd know the guy who tried to bash my head in after he blindsided Vriska."

You wince, realizing that she probably wasn't happy with losing her kismesis (wait, were they?) so abruptly. "Well I guess we know what Aradia's big timeline cleaner is now."

"Great," She replies grimly. "Another doomed timeline, then?"

"Apparently," You reply, tensing when you hear the honks on the distant breeze. Your friends hear it too, pulling out their weapons as the clown approached, honking with every step and clubs dripping with blood at his sides.

The sight makes your guts curl, makes you feel scared and angry and before you know it you're charging in, because damn if you aren't going to go out avenging the friends you've lost to this madness, even if it's your fault they're dead.

(Maybe they'll forgive you if you succeed.)

Terezi is the first to fall, her wounds too much for her, and you have to watch as Gamzee smashes her skull in easily before turning back to you. Without a thought you call her blood to you, the teal swirling like a furious dragon, her last legacy, and you smile grimly to see purple leak from him in response to the swipes and lunges.

Kanaya goes next, though she takes a hand before she falls, spine at an unnatural angle as she hits the ground hard. The last of your friends, dead so easily, all because the Alpha timeline demanded it. It pisses you off, but you know how to work your rage, know how to wield bloods of all the colors he brought with him, including both of yours.

(A part of you thinks it's beautiful, the different colors flowing around each other with every strike, each the revenge of your friends who fell before you. It's almost like you're the vessel of their own revenge, eleven against the one who ended them all.)

(You feel satisfied when your scythe cuts through his traitorous heart just as his club smashing into your neck. You feel even more so to wake in the dream bubbles and learn you were one of the few who succeeded in doing so.)

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AN: Surprisingly, I like how this turned out, and since it's long enough to be a solid oneshot I figure I might as well post it as such. It's in second person, but that's just how it flowed and I think it worked out nicely all things told? I mean, a prompt exploring all of Karkat's capabilities would take a lot longer than this, and really we may never know just what he might have been capable of as God Tier, but I can dream about it.