2019-09-28 00:26:39 -05:00
|
|
|
|
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
|
|
|
|
|
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN"
|
|
|
|
|
"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<html xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
|
|
|
|
|
<head profile='http://dublincore.org/documents/dcmi-terms/'>
|
|
|
|
|
<meta http-equiv='Content-Type' content='text/html;'/>
|
|
|
|
|
<title>The Homestuck Epilogues: Candy - Chapter 28</title>
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name='DCTERMS.title' content='The Homestuck Epilogues: Candy'/>
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name='DCTERMS.language' content='en' scheme='DCTERMS.RFC4646'/>
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name='DCTERMS.source' content='MFW'/>
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name='DCTERMS.issued' content='{$issued}' scheme='DCTERMS.W3CDTF'/>
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name='DCTERMS.creator' content='EpubPress'/>
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name='DCTERMS.contributor' content=''/>
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name='DCTERMS.modified' content='{$issued}' scheme='DCTERMS.W3CDTF'/>
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name='DCTERMS.provenance' content=''/>
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name='DCTERMS.subject' content='Unknown'/>
|
|
|
|
|
<link rel='schema.DC' href='http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/' hreflang='en'/>
|
|
|
|
|
<link rel='schema.DCTERMS' href='http://purl.org/dc/terms/' hreflang='en'/>
|
|
|
|
|
<link rel='schema.DCTYPE' href='http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/' hreflang='en'/>
|
|
|
|
|
<link rel='schema.DCAM' href='http://purl.org/dc/dcam/' hreflang='en'/>
|
|
|
|
|
<link rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' href='../Styles/ebook.css'/>
|
|
|
|
|
</head>
|
|
|
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
|
<div id='s28'></div>
|
|
|
|
|
<div>
|
|
|
|
|
<h1>Chapter 28</h1>
|
2020-03-29 12:23:21 -05:00
|
|
|
|
<div class="o-story_text o_epilogue type-rg type-sm line-caption line-copy pad-x-0 pad-x-lg pad-b-lg">
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="no-indent"><span class="opener type-hs-opener-rg type-hs-opener-sm">T</span>hat being
|
2019-09-28 00:26:39 -05:00
|
|
|
|
said, it’s very rude, all things considered, for Karkat to start a
|
|
|
|
|
war on Harry Anderson’s birthday.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>John’s floating above the outskirts of the Human Capital,
|
|
|
|
|
letting the breeze toss him to and fro. He’s hanging upside down in
|
|
|
|
|
the air watching the first stage of the Troll Rebellion’s forward
|
|
|
|
|
assault begin to establish their defensive position along the
|
|
|
|
|
border. Despite the government’s paranoid crackdown on troll
|
|
|
|
|
reproduction, they’ve ended up vastly outnumbered anyway thanks to
|
|
|
|
|
the incalculable deluge of troll ghosts pouring down from the sky
|
|
|
|
|
over the last decade. Someone with political opinions might think
|
|
|
|
|
that this entire quagmire was one of the human government’s own
|
|
|
|
|
making.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>John isn’t really on record as “having political opinions,” but
|
|
|
|
|
he does think that the government approached this entire subject
|
|
|
|
|
like it was trying to hold on to a water balloon by squeezing it
|
|
|
|
|
too tight, and now it’s about to explode in their faces. He’s
|
|
|
|
|
wondering if he should go see his son one last time before that
|
|
|
|
|
happens. The battle is shaping up to be a pretty serious
|
|
|
|
|
engagement. Both sides armed to the teeth, with all modern military
|
|
|
|
|
technology at their disposal. Warships, laser guns, laser cannons,
|
|
|
|
|
laser mines. Laser mines? Would those be mines that shot lasers, or
|
|
|
|
|
lasers that tripped mines? John hasn’t been keeping up with the
|
|
|
|
|
recent innovations in weaponry, although he has noted that the lock
|
|
|
|
|
industry has finally started to take off. Dave said that this was
|
|
|
|
|
all to be expected in a war economy. But John tuned out most of his
|
|
|
|
|
analysis, which is what everyone does when Dave starts talking
|
|
|
|
|
about the economy.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>A flash above the clouds catches John’s attention: another
|
|
|
|
|
ghost, falling down from wherever it is they come from. John
|
|
|
|
|
follows after the light with an exhausted sigh. The novelty of dead
|
|
|
|
|
trolls falling from the sky has really worn off over the years. But
|
|
|
|
|
he might as well go warn the new arrival that they’ve landed in the
|
|
|
|
|
middle of an imminent warzone. He sets down at the edge of the
|
|
|
|
|
crater and peers through the smoke.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>He recognizes the ghost immediately, because he sees a younger
|
|
|
|
|
version of her almost every day.</p>
|
2020-03-29 12:23:21 -05:00
|
|
|
|
<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
|
2019-10-28 03:27:28 -05:00
|
|
|
|
<p class="john">JOHN: vriska?</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
2019-09-28 00:26:39 -05:00
|
|
|
|
<p class="no-indent">Vriska’s face snaps up, eyes blazing. Eyes.
|
|
|
|
|
Actual eyes, with expression, color, pupils, and everything.</p>
|
2020-03-29 12:23:21 -05:00
|
|
|
|
<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
|
2019-09-28 00:26:39 -05:00
|
|
|
|
<p class="john">JOHN: wait. you’re...</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="john">JOHN: alive??</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="no-indent">John skids down the side of the crater and
|
|
|
|
|
helps her sit up. He wasn’t imagining it. She’s extremely alive.
|
|
|
|
|
And extremely wounded. And above all, extremely Vriska.</p>
|
2020-03-29 12:23:21 -05:00
|
|
|
|
<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
|
2019-09-28 00:26:39 -05:00
|
|
|
|
<p class="john">JOHN: oh my god. you’re not just “vriska”...</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="john">JOHN: you’re *actually* vriska!</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="john">JOHN: you’re like, literal, for real, actual
|
|
|
|
|
vriska!</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="no-indent">Vriska shoves John away and staggers to her
|
|
|
|
|
feet. There’s a bleeding gash on her head and something lodged in
|
|
|
|
|
her chest. It appears to be the same material as whatever was
|
|
|
|
|
piercing the center of teen-Jade’s corpse. She’s bleeding bright
|
|
|
|
|
blue all down her side, but her expression is wild.</p>
|
2020-03-29 12:23:21 -05:00
|
|
|
|
<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
|
2019-09-28 00:26:39 -05:00
|
|
|
|
<p class="vriska">VRISKA: What the F8CK are you t8lking a8out?</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="vriska">VRISKA: Where am I????????</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="vriska">VRISKA: I c8n’t 8e here! I h8ve to go
|
|
|
|
|
8ACK!!!!!!!!</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="john">JOHN: back where?</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="vriska">VRISKA: I need to see what happened!</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="vriska">VRISKA: I NEED TO KNOW HOW IT TURNED OUT!</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="john">JOHN: how *what* turned out?</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="john">JOHN: vriska, you’re bleeding horribly, and talking
|
|
|
|
|
total nonsense.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="john">JOHN: we need to get you some help.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="no-indent">She whirls around and grabs John by the
|
|
|
|
|
shoulders. She starts shaking him, voice cracking with crazed
|
|
|
|
|
desperation.</p>
|
2020-03-29 12:23:21 -05:00
|
|
|
|
<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
|
2019-09-28 00:26:39 -05:00
|
|
|
|
<p class="vriska">VRISKA: I need to go 8ack!</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="vriska">VRISKA: I need to SEE!!!!!!!!</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<p class="vriska">VRISKA: I NEED TO SEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
|
|
|
</html>
|