106 lines
5.9 KiB
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106 lines
5.9 KiB
HTML
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<title>The Homestuck Epilogues: Meat - Chapter 40</title>
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<div id='s40'></div>
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<div>
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<h1>Chapter 40</h1>
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<div class="o-story_text o_epilogue type-rg type-sm line-caption line-copy pad-x-0 pad-x-lg pad-b-lg">
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<p class="no-indent dirk"><span class="opener type-hs-opener-rg type-hs-opener-sm">K</span>anaya
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Maryam is single and ready to mingle.</p>
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<p class="dirk">Alright, not really. But she’s coping admirably
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with the sudden departure of her beloved spouse. She’s doing her
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best not to think about it. That’s how you get past something. Just
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put it out of your mind, train your thoughts on a hopeful future,
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and stop dwelling on the many little micro-failures in your past
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that all added up to a doomed marriage. She’s looking directly
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ahead, chin up, taking firm, confident strides. The heels of her
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designer shoes click loudly on the hospital linoleum.</p>
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<p class="dirk">She grips the antidote I left for her with both
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hands as she scans the hall for the room number she got from the
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front desk. She hears Roxy’s voice before she sees the number, and
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follows the sound. She enters the room. There’s Jade, still as a
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corpse, propped up slightly in her bed as the adjacent heart
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monitor beeps gently. Roxy is sitting next to her in a chair, still
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looking every bit the slick and cool dude he’s presenting as these
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days. Nice.</p>
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<p class="dirk">There’s nobody else in the room. I guess he was
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talking to Jade? That’s very kind, but she can’t hear you, Roxy.
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She’ll be able to soon enough though. And when she does, you’ll
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probably want to be the one listening to what she has to say.</p>
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<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
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<p class="roxy">ROXY: oh hey</p>
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<p class="kanaya">KANAYA: Hello</p>
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<p class="kanaya">KANAYA: How Is She</p>
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<p class="roxy">ROXY: um</p>
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<p class="roxy">ROXY: sleepin</p>
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<p class="roxy">ROXY: idk</p>
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<p class="kanaya">KANAYA: Yes I See</p>
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<p class="kanaya">KANAYA: I Brought This</p>
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<p class="roxy">ROXY: wats that</p>
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</div>
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<p class="no-indent dirk">Kanaya pops the cap off the EpiPen-style
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delivery mechanism for the antidote and jabs it into Jade’s arm.
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Her hands twitch a bit, and her body begins to stir. Her mouth
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opens a crack and lets out a barely audible whimper.</p>
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<p class="dirk">She opens her eyes quite wide, suddenly. Her bright
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green irises dart around the room, trying to solve the riddle of
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her present location. Roxy peers intently through his shades to get
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a better look. They’re Jade’s same old eyes, playful, intelligent.
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But they seem different somehow. These are eyes that have seen so
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much more than they had the last time they were open.</p>
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<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
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<p class="roxy">ROXY: jade!!!</p>
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<p class="roxy">ROXY: omg jade</p>
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<p class="roxy">ROXY: youre awake</p>
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<p class="roxy">ROXY: how u feelin?</p>
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</div>
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<p class="no-indent dirk">Jade stares at Roxy. If she mistakes him
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for Dave, it isn’t for long. She hears the beeping next to her.
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Glances out the window. This is a hospital room, she understands
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now. Her mind races, sifting through the overwhelming amount of
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information that became available to her the moment her trance
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began. The scope of her awareness, she now understands, is truly
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staggering. Memories are suddenly accessible that are almost
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impossible to believe. Some of them are unspeakably marvelous to
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her. Others, deeply disturbing.</p>
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<p class="dirk">No, more than just disturbing. She lingers in the
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dark recesses of her consciousness. There were things she saw,
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things she was <em>told</em>... Her mouth twists into a silent
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snarl. She’s been angry plenty of times before. But never so angry
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that she stopped being cute. She’s not cute this time.</p>
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<p class="dirk">She starts breathing harder, belligerently pushing
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the air from her nostrils. The beeping doubles its pace. Her eyes
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are wild, no longer sizing up the room but calculating the true
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extent of the turbulent rage coursing through her body. Her brow
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creases sharply, and her nose wrinkles as her upper lip rises and
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quivers. And then it hits her. She knows exactly why she’s feeling
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this way.</p>
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<p class="dirk">She bolts upright from her bed, and shouts:</p>
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<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
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<p class="jade">JADE: DIRK STRIDER HAS TO BE STOPPED!!!!!!!!!!</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
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</body>
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