His Eyes....Like Gimlets!

[Harlan Higgs]

With a flash, Solomon Grundy stumbled out of the portal. One huge hand clutched his head as the giant moaned, the rushing and swirling sensation disorienting him as he toppled forward on unsteady feet. "URGGHH.....GRUNDY FEEL SICK." He managed to wander over to one of the large stone pillars surrounding the gate and lean against it until the dizziness passed. It was an unpleasant feeling, one that Grundy had not felt before in such a capacity. Like getting smashed in the head over and over and over but without any of the pain. Just the nasty lurching pull in his lower torso and a sense of unsteadiness. Resting for a few moments, the unliving man opened his yellow, luminous eyes and almost immediately closed them again. The shining sun was brighter, brighter even than the whiteness of the void.

Once his eyes had adjusted to the light, Grundy looked across the rolling green fields and hills. Fertile, lush grass as far as he could see, carpeting idyllic pastures and fields . A beaten dirt path lead away from the portal, flanked by a river a few hundred feet away. It was as far away from Slaughter Swamp as you could possibly get, and Grundy wasn't sure how he felt about that. It was pretty and bright, but the chalk white zombie had grown used to the bubbling dankness and wet, muddy bog that had been his home and birthplace for so many years. With a shrug he began walking along the path, occasionally stopping to watch the grass blow in the light wind, a rabbit poke its head above the tall grass, or on one instance, a bee buzz around a cluster of wildflowers.

He bent down to watch."HELLO LITTLE STRIPEFLY. WILL YOU BE GRUNDY'S FRIEND?" Unsurprisingly threatened by the massive white face leaning in towards it, the bee ceased its pollinating efforts and landed on Grundy's wide nose. Stinging him in an attempt to drive the massive monster away, Grundy took no notice and apparently no pain, waiting for the bee to fly off of his face. He waved as it buzzed away indignantly and continued walking along the path towards whatever lay ahead of him.

-Some time later-

The scenery around the pathway had begun to change in the past twenty minutes as the dirt road got wider. The rolling hills and fields gave way to acres of farmland, dotted with thickets of wheat, corn, and even what looked like an orchard. It was all fenced off though, and Grundy figured he should probably just enjoy the view. Besides, although it was pretty, it was most likely just as boring inside the fence as it was back in his dirt fort in the Nexus. Then the undead hulk spotted a cluster of buildings just a way further down the path, and decided to investigate. Maybe he would find friends in the buildings! They certainly looked like people would live in them. Grundy veered off the path and headed towards the biggest building, situated slightly away from the others. It was painted red and had white trim around the doors and the siding. He stopped in front of the main door to find that it was barred with a long plank of wood across the two slats holding it together. As he tried to lift the bar, however, his thick fingers crushed most of the stopper and handle to splinters and the door swung open. Grundy shrugged and stepped inside the barn, calling out. "HELLO? GRUNDY COMING IN. NEW FRIENDS?"

The zombie stopped, blinking. He'd expected to find people or at the very least, living beings, but what he hadn't expected was what lay before him. This really was heaven! Large shanks of cured meat hung from the rafters, the dark red flesh marbled with thick chunks of fat and what looked like pepper dried into the skin. Barrels were stacked against the walls, their tops open and fresh crisp apples spilling over the wood. Huge yellow rounds of cheese, covered in wax, were stacked on shelves next to glass jars that had a rainbow of spiced fruits inside them. Near the back of the storehouse was an old bathtub hooked up to an odd contraption made of glass, copper, and twisty tubes. It smelled vaguely chemical but the delicious scent of the food held Grundy's attention much more raptly.

Grundy didn't actually need to eat, but he could still taste, and actually consuming food made him feel satisfied. Besides, this was Heaven! Maybe instead of having it appear in front of you, which would be boring after a while, you had to go and find the things you wanted. Like an adventure; that way it would never be boring! The zombie failed to grasp the irony of this thought as he pulled down one of the shanks of meat and tore into it with a ripping sound, a glazed and contented expression on his face as he chewed and swallowed. He reached over towards the shelves and grabbed one of the cheese rounds, eagerly devouring that as well. To finish he ate one of the jars of spiced fruit, glass and all. It was at this point, mouth full of peaches and glass shards, that he turned around to see a person staring at him from the doorway, frozen in fear.

The man was clutching a pitchfork and wearing simple clothing, a wide brimmed straw hat on his head to keep away the sun. A look of complete surprise, shock, and trepidation was on his features, and no wonder. A nine foot tall giant with chalk white skin and burning yellow eyes was happily devouring his family's food stores!

Grundy swallowed awkwardly and turned to face the farmer, who gripped his pitchfork tighter with a yelp.

"UHHH....HELLO. ME ARE SOLOMON GRUNDY."

They stood there for a few seconds. Once the farmer saw that Grundy was not going to reach out and bite his head off, his fear turned to anger and indignation. "What exactly do you think you're doing?! You can't just come in here and eat my family's food!! Get the heck out before I make you leave, you overgrown monster!"

Grundy was confused. He thought that the food was for everyone, like a treasure chest. Now, this man was saying it was his family's. As monstrous as he appeared, Grundy did have a few morals. He felt bad. Mumbled ashamedly, he tried to sidle out of the storehouse and apologize. "GRUNDY SORRY, FOOD MAN.....HE HUNGRY AND NOT KNOW."

The farmer crossed his arms and glared at the zombie as he stomped out of the storehouse. "You're damn lucky I don't report you to the Guard....ignorant Primes...think they own everything..."

Grundy stopped just as he got out of the building and thought for a minute. Maybe there was a way to make this right. He dug around in his pockets, searching for the large shiny ball God had given him. He didn't find it at first, but after a few moments of searching he discovered a marble sized lump of the material in his palm. Handing it to the farmer, who dropped his pitchfork and stared at the Omnilium, Grundy stomped away and continued on the path towards the capital.

- Two Hours Later -

Grundy had passed a lot more buildings on his trek to the Capital, although he hadn't made the mistake of interacting with anyone else, or breaking into any more buildings. Even so, travelers on the road gave him a wide berth, fearful glances, and nasty glares. One pair of armored guards had almost stopped him along the road, the younger of the two even aiming a crossbow at him, before being told to stand down by the elder. Grundy had shrugged and walked by. No one here was very friendly to him, and he felt that maybe he had gone the wrong direction from the Nexus. Over the crest of the next hill though, any and all dark musings on his journey were swept away by the sheer sight of Minas Tirith, the White City, Jewel of Camelot and Last Bastion of Good Thinking Folk.

"IT LOOK LIKE A CAKE." Grundy said aloud.

Turning away from the city in the distance, Grundy noticed a much more interesting sight. Another cake looking building, and this one was much closer, not to mentioned surrounded by all manner of colorful tents and booths. And more than a few people that also looked out of place, just like him! Maybe here was where he would find new friends. Grundy began trudging down the hill towards the Colosseum, and the fairgrounds surrounding it.

Before long, he arrived at the edge of the carnival. Marveling at the noise and sounds and colors, Grundy took a few minutes to stare at the people, listen to the barkers calls, and smell the aroma of food in the air, although that meat he'd poached earlier was still keeping him sated. Carefully, so as not to knock any people, tents, or fixtures over, he entered the carnival grounds and began wandering among the attractions....

[Jade Harley]

The fellow who stood before her was gargantuan. Like, seriously all kinds of tall. Jade had to tilt her head back to get even an approximate look at his face, and she was honestly a little bit surprised by what she saw there. Where she had expected to perhaps see tusks, or horns, or something equally outrageous and bully, there was just the face of an ordinary man. Well, not exactly ordinary, but ordinary enough in Jade’s book!

A ghostly pale visage loomed over the heads of most of the people wandering over the fairgrounds; stringy white hair dangled over the giant’s formidable face. There was an intense green and earthy smell about him, as well, as if he had been swimming through soupy pond water and muck, and his eyes strayed out like two spectral will-o'-wisps through dense fog.

Everything about the tall person was tattered, ratty, and decayed, and yet he did not seem as solemn as the clothing he wore indicated he might have been. Rather, a wide, almost dopey expression was spread easily over his face like smooth molasses, and he looked around at the musically lit festivities with open wonder. A glittering golden twinkle might have manifested at the corners of his eyes if he had been any more alive.

Following his gaze, Jade too marveled at the crowds of people swarming about the fair as if they were troupes of angry red ants scrawling around a Colosseum-shaped anthill. She was all but unaware of the sharp, slanted looks that were aimed their way, and the emerald green sequins of her coat glimmered in the orange-hued afternoon sunlight.

Colors, character, and form made up every single speck of the universe, and yet it all seemed to concentrate into a lone and marvelous point when the enormous, hulking man genuinely smiled. Even though it was yellowed with age and pock-marked with darkened, swampy decomposition, Jade found herself smiling in kind, bouncing up onto the very tippy-tops of her feet so as to look him fully in the face.

“Hi there!” she greeted him, her feet lifting an inch or two above the ground in her immense excitement. Her huge mop of hair flounced about her shoulders, green sparks trickling through the full, frizzy locks. “I’m Jade Harley! Who are you?”

There wasn’t much to do after that but wait for the lumbering fellow to respond, but, boy, was Jade ever so delighted to be meeting someone new!

[Harlan Higgs]

Grundy had spent more than a few moments deep into the fairgrounds, oblivious to the aside glances he was getting. So much color and sensation, assailing his dulled sense. It only reaffirmed his belief that this realm was his eternal reward. He'd never had the chance to experience something like this when he was alive, so he was more than a little overwhelmed by the sheer excitement of it. He hadn't been paying much attention to the ground around his feet, so he was more than a little surprised when a girl floated up into his awareness.

“Hi there!” “I’m Jade Harley! Who are you?”

Grundy stared at her for a few seconds, the gears turning in his head. Her coat fluttered around her like wings, shifting in the breeze and glinting with almost audible light. She was pretty, her features soft and welcoming. And that smile! The zombie had only ever seen a smile like that once, and his perception of it was muddy and cracked, viewed through his fractured memories. He looked down, grinning dopishly, and boomed in his guttural, growling voice, "SOLOMON GRUNDY. BORN ON A MONDAY. YOU ANGEL, FLOATY JADE? GRUNDY NOT MEET ANYONE NICE TO HIM YET LIKE YOU."

Somehow Grundy felt much more at ease, the girl's enthusiasm and genuine earnestness giving him a content feeling. It couldn't be much better here, if random people were this friendly. He wished he had something to give her, and started rooting around in his grimy pockets, as he had with the farmer. Once again, after a few moments of searching, he found what he'd been looking for in his palm all along and presented it to Jade; a slightly crushed, bulbous and purple bog flower, more a collection of pods on a stick than petals on a stem.

"WILL ANGELJADE BE GRUNDY'S FRIEND?"

[Jade Harley]

The Witch oohed and aahed down at the swampy plant in her hands that was so unlike Valerie's beautifully delicate sea-snap, with plump bulbs that seemed as if they might burst into odious plumes if Jade held it wrong. Still, it was wonderfully magnificent in its own way to the Witch, and she held it with the same care she might use if it were a precious gem or a wounded, broken bird.

"Oooh," she cooed aloud, holding the plant close to her face and giving it a light sniff. It smelled absolutely atrocious, like Bec's breath or sliiightly noxious fumes! Jade grinned widely, her cheeks practically glowing with happiness and the bog flower cupped in-between her palms.

A gnat whistled past her ear and the dark-haired girl swatted it away with a vaguely waspish squint, her rounded glasses slipping precipitously down her nose. Her gaze returned to Grundy and softened immensely, but by then a greatly puzzled look had squared across her face.

An angel? She wasn't an angel. Those were supposed to have wings, at the very least, and many limbs and watchful eyes gleaming about them. Jade certainly didn't have any of that, although she might as well have guessed it was her flying that really threw the big fellow off.

In any case, her slippers soon hit the ground with a light pap as Jade had found it to be incredibly trying to maintain flight for so long— especially whilst having a conversation! Maybe flying was difficult for everyone, though, for she had seen Adam struggling to pick himself up off of the ground during one of his matches. She hoped he was doing well, even if she didn't exactly know him. Besides that, having a Time player and a few Space players running around could only mean good things for this strange new world, in her humble opinion!

"Oh, of course I'll be your friend!" She declared, smiling up at Solomon. How he had introduced himself had seemed strangely familiar to her, like the lines of a nursery rhyme her Grandpa might have sung to her many years ago.

Oh, shoot! She had almost forgotten about Grandpabot! Most of all, she could hardly recall what she was even here for, which was, well, to leave here. Speaking to Karkat had been a nice reprieve from her loneliness and she had been absolutely delighted to meet him at last, but that didn't mean she didn't have a job to do! They needed to find some way out of the Omniverse to get back to their friends. Yet, Jade was finding it increasingly more difficult to want to do that. Perhaps visiting with her Grandpa for a while would help get her head screwed back on straight!

There was a problem, though. The Frozen Fields were dangerous and filled with carnivorous snowbeasts, dragons, dwarves and trolls. Jade could not be sure if any answers to her transdimensional predicament would be found there with ease, and just plain adventuring would be a mighty risky business to take on. She would need a lot of help to do that.

Her startlingly green eyes flickered back to Grundy from where she had been staring off into empty space, then over towards the plant mage and nubby-horned troll who were meandering somewhere over her shoulder. The gears ground together in Jade's mind, reminiscent of the lava-seared clockwork of LOHAC. After a few moments, she arrived at a decision.

"Hey, Solomon," Jade said, her tone hopeful and bright as day, still gently holding the purplish plant close to her heart. "I'm about to go on an adventure in a snowy place called the Frozen Fields! Do you want to come along? I think it'll be super fun!"

[Tearen Wover]

The doggie lady and her dog were very nice to Rebecca and the flyey things said she was gonna keep Rebecca safe, so that was good. Rebecca followed the doggie lady and her dog through all the people with the tents and suddenly there was a really big guy!

He was bigger even that Mister Oakie but he smelled like the same smell a lot! His name he said was Solmony Grundie and Rebecca laughed because the name was a little silly. She spent some time drawing things in the dirt with her toe when she heard the doggie lady talk about a Frozey Place! Rebecca thought that the place sounded like a fun place and so she skipped up to he doggie lady and tugged on her shiny clothes.

"Ooh! Ooh ooh! I wanna go to the Frozey Place, Daddy! Can I?" Rebecca said with a squeak sounding voice. It was hard to talk over all the other people's talk!

[Harlan Higgs]

Grundy grinned, showing his crooked yellow teeth. The angel-not angel girl had liked his flower! He remembered the first time he'd seen that particular one.... The green lady had stopped by his swamp, and collected a sample from the bush where they grew. The zombie had watched, head peeking above the water, while she sung to it, cooed to it, and eventually coaxed it out of the ground. With a splash, he had walked out of the dank water, startling her and getting a thorny vine to the torso for his trouble. He shrugged it off easily, and from there, Grundy and the green lady, Ivy, had teamed up against their enemies more than once. He hadn't seen her in a long while and even though Jade didn't resemble her too closely, Grundy still felt that happy feeling of making another friend.

That feeling only skyrocketed when she immediately said yes. The zombie nodded his head and watched her float back down to the ground, absently picking at his elbow. He noticed that Jade seemed to be thinking about something, but he understood getting lost in your thoughts. It was something he'd done many a time, usually to his own detriment. But here, he had the freedom to do so. No one seemed to be stopping him or bothering him. He was happy. Truly happy.

Finally, Jade came back down to the earth, literally and figuratively. The alabaster zombie noticed another girl, younger looking, run up behind Jade and laugh while they talked. Grundy was intrigued at all the new friends he was making, and then Jade asked him if he wanted to go on an adventure! Exactly what he'd been looking for.
"GRUNDY THINK ADVENTURE SOUND LIKE FUN. NEED JACKET IF GOING TO FROZEN PLACE. SOMETIMES IF COLD ENOUGH GRUNDY'S ARM FALL OFF."
This would be great...adventure! Excitement! Friends! Most likely bad things to smash and crush! And the best part of the adventure was obviously the treasure. Maybe it would be gold or jewels, or more of that sparkly orb stuff he'd been given. Enthusiastic about the adventure, he turned to Jade and patted her on the head as lightly as he could, although it might have left a teeny bump.

"GRUNDY PROTECT HIS NEW FRIENDS FROM SNOW. AND FROM HAVING TOO MUCH TREASURE. HAH. GRUNDY MAKE JOKE."

[Strazio Rockwell]

　　Valerie watched as Jade wandered off, he was intent on following her as she proved to be a wonderful companion, but he needed time to process Strazio’s death. It wasn’t that he abhorred death, quite the opposite actually, it was that he knew the depths of rage that his pupil would traverse in order to get revenge. Strazio’s death could very easily be the catalyst that would set in motion another rampage similar to the one at Cherodill. The consequences of Strazio’s previous rampage would hopefully temper his fury. Valerie’s painted nails dug into the soft green flesh of his palms. Primehood had no doubt increased Strazio’s strength, perhaps even far beyond what Valerie was capable of stopping.
　　
　　No use worrying now.
　　
　　Now was the time to enjoy life with friends, he would worry about Strazio’s tantrum when it happened. Karkat had left the verdant mage to fetch Gamzee, and Jade had frolicked through a crowd of carnival goers. In the chaos of the fair Valerie had found himself painfully alone.
　　
　　“Jade?” he called out, a twinge of worry in his voice. “Miss Harley? Becquerel?”
　　
　　A regular flurry of greens and other bright summer colors, the plant mage stormed through the crowds. His green robes danced around his body, sending out scents of sunflowers and roses to mingle with the acrid scent of burnt popcorn. If he was in any place except for the Omniverse his appearance would stand out like an emerald beacon of curiosity, but in this place nothing was foreign. In the distance he spotted a familiar young girl with a pair of dog ears. Next to her was a gargantuan, quite possibly the largest man that Valerie had ever seen. The mage’s fingers once again bent and moved erratically, a symbol of his nervousness.
　　
　　He skipped over to the two and introduced himself in a cheerful tone, “greetings my friends!”
　　
　　Valerie smiled and looked up at the towering Solomon before continuing, “My name is Valerie and it is an absolute pleasure to meet you!” The foolish mage extended a hand towards Solomon in hopes of a handshake to seal their friendship.

[Ruby Rose]

Continued From: Colosseum - Spectator Thread

CHAPTER 8
PAGE 1

Aaaaaaaand I lost her. A mere two steps led me to be cut off by a pair of orange-clad swaggering fellows, bellowing some drunken ditty like fools from a castle, and then I copped a hip-check from some bustling woman in GIANT high heels and carrying some kind of... mirror? Except it wasn't a mirror, it was more like a... I dunno, like a mirror in a frying pan. Don't ask. Anyway, there were way too many people blocking Weiss and I off, and I wasn't known for being able to track people down. However, I DID know someone who was...

Breaking away from the crowd into a small, run-down building that looked like something Uncle Qrow might visit, I keeled over, palms against my knees, lungs heaving. "Weiss... I think... I've become... claustrophobic..." I panted, taking exaggeratedly raspy breaths. "You don't become claustrophobic." She responded matter-of-factly, and I whimpered as I was thwarted by Schnee Logic once more. I perked my head back up and placed my hands to my back, stretching my abdomen forwards. "Alright, time to call the cavalry." I muttered, rubbing my hands together and getting to work in summoning.

I shut my eyes and gently pressed my hands out towards the rickety floorboards, focusing the sinewy, rainbow fluid that constructed my being into a single spot. I imagined the small, roly-poly body, the furry ears, the monochrome colours of the fluffy coat, and not to mention the bushy, waggy tail that had the four of us in hypnosis time and time again. It seemed summoning a living being took much longer than summoning, say, my diary. Soon enough, a muffled yapping, as if bagged and placed ten meters from my position, evolved into a quiet bark, and then the volume increased with the frequency. My argent eyes flew open to see the little dog, sitting obediently upon the dusty floor. Well, dusty apart from where Zwei sat.

"Zwei!" I exclaimed jubilantly, as if the dog were a Christmas present. I scooped the pooch up and held him close to my chest. Weiss's eyes flew wide with joy and she nearly tore my arms off just to pet Zwei! "Ohh, hello there, you little cutey~" She cooed to the dog, and I had to lean my head back to make sure her stray fingers didn't poke an eye out. "A-alright, Weiss, I think that's enough!" I warned, uncomfortable with my bent-back position. The ivory haired fencer detached herself from my pet, whom I gently let down onto the ground.

"Alright boy, I need you to help me find someone." A sharp yap and the excited wagging of a tail allowed me to continue on. "She has black hair, dog ears-" The little fella tilted his head and twitched his ears cutely this way and that, "-hehe, yes, like yours, Zwei. She wears a dress that looks like the night sky and smells like... uh..." I turned to Weiss for help, and she simply mouthed the words 'flowers'. I threw a thumbs up in return and spoke once more to Zwei. "And smells like flowers. You got that, boy?" I asked, and he began running in circles like a lunatic. "Haha, I'll take that as a great big yes!" I laughed, walking with Weiss out of the shack place.

We stalked behind the hound as he weaved and barreled his way through the forest of legs and stumps and tails, et cetera et cetera. Eventually we broke through - after multiple dead ends at food stalls, because dogs will be dogs - and Zwei instantly recoiled as he came across something that smelled pretty atrocious, even to Weiss and I. I laid wary eyes upon the colossus of a man standing not twenty feet away, looming over someone. Brain in overdrive, I reached behind for Crescent Rose, but spotted to figures run up to whomever the big guy seemed to be attacking; one was that green mage guy from earlier, and the other was Rebecca! That meant that...

After leaning just to my left, I noticed a smiling Jade looking up at the big fellow. "O-oh, Weiss! She's over there! Let's go!" I shouted, grabbing her wrist and beginning to yank her along... but I was halted by a vibrating in my waistband. I slipped the Scroll out and opened it to see a notification reading "INCOMING CALL" above a picture of a blond beauty with amethyst eyes. My breath hitching, I answered the call and raised the phone to my ear.

-H-hello?

-W-wait, Yang, is that really you?!

-You were brought here too? I posted in that thingy on the Dataverse by the way, if you wanted to know!

-Yeah… I do know how she gets.

-Ahh, you’re both still stuck in the Nexus! Yes, Weiss is here with me… she’s not doing all too well, Snow White can’t really take the heat here.

I looked to Weiss to make sure she wasn't focused on me and OH MY GOODNESS SHE HAS A SCARY STARE SOMETIMES.

-We’re somewhere called Camelot, I’m sure Blake would know about it… it’s not too much like all the stories I read, honestly...

Yang spoke again and I cut in before she continued on.

-Heh… about that…

-You won’t believe how happy we were when we found eachother in the infi- on the way from the gate!

-U-uhm… what do you mean by ‘you went through literal hell’? What happened?!

-Alright… as long as you didn’t go causing any trouble over it… you did, didn’t you?

Yang sounded pretty embarrassed, and I rolled my eyes as I sighed.

-Hughh… I guess it doesn’t really matter anymore since we technically don’t exist… okay, that’s actually a kinda depressing thought.

-Alright, if you can come to Camelot and come meet some of our - well, MY new friends, that would be awesome! Weiss likes the dragon man though, that much she’s shown!

-Well, when you consider he’s a DRAGON, I don’t see why not… but then again she also took a liking to my friend Jade’s dog, so I guess it’s those that aren’t human or Faunus that REALLY melt her! Oh, yeah, speaking of Faunus… we may wanna keep Blake away from the dog…

She made a pun about Blake being a 'pussy' and I groaned in agony, hoping my despair was conveyed to my sister.

-I can’t believe you really just said that…

-Yeah, shouldn’t be too hard… we’re near this giant Colosseum structure, not too far away from the Carnival games.

-...apart from the fact that there’s lots, and I mean LOTS of people? No, not really.

-Take the amount of people who were watching the Vytal Tournament… and multiply that by two- nope, maybe three… and that’s JUST at the Colosseum.

-I just hope you get over here before I lose sight of Jade, haha!

-You REALLY like to have your way…

-You… could summon a giant laser pointer and put it on the front of Bumblebee?

-Either that or you let her drive and you can enjoy the ride?

-Writing something? Like… a diary? That’s what I’ve been doing here, so that I can read all my adventures and maybe find some clues as to how to get to this ‘Omni’ guy…

-Ehhh, I’ve heard rumours… apparently you can get to him and he will answer your questions the best he can and grant you one wish.

-Yeah, I understand. I guess I’ll see you later, Yang!

A beeping filled my ear as Yang hung up, and a wide grin was plastered to my face. The menacing grimace that had momentarily taken the reigns of Weiss's features was gone and replaced with a smile about as bright as mine... hard to get that bright when you're so cold though, hehe... okay, she's gonna kill me if she reads that.

"Why didn't you tell me Yang and Blake were here?!" She asked, surprisingly not contorting her grin to match her irritated tone. I backed up as she approached me rather closely. "Weeeeell, you were kinda talking to a dragon, and I found something Yang put up and responded, and meant to tell you after you were done... and, uh, kinda forgot... sorry." I apologized, and Weiss sighed, seemingly fed up with me being a ditz. "Well, all that matters is that we're all here, right?" She suggested, and I responded with a chuckle and no more. "Alright, let's go see Jade and friends." I said gleefully, a new spring in my step as I skipped forwards.

I ended up beside Jade, looking up into the eerie, but dopishly kind eyes of a giant zombie. "H-hey there!" I greeted him, putting on as big a smile as possible. I could hear Weiss in the background greet Jade with a 'Hello again!' as she likely clutched Zwei. "M-my name's Ruby!" I stuttered to the giant. As much as his gleeful expression and simple attire suggested a caring nature, it was hard to stay calm in front of such an imposing figure. He was the size of an Ursa, maybe even an Ursa Major! THAT is pretty big. I hoped Weiss would introduce herself sooner or later, buuuuuut she got a free pass for the time being.

Full conversation between Ruby and Yang is detailed below.[spoiler]R(uby): H-hello?

Y(ang): Ruby? Hey, is that you over there?

R: W-wait, Yang, is that really you?!

Y: RUBY! I’d recognize your voice anywhere! Yes, of course it’s me!

R: You were brought here too? I posted in that thingy on the Dataverse by the way, if you wanted to know!

Y: Oh, yeah, I noticed! I found your contact request right after reading your reply. Sorry about Blake not adding you by the way, she’s into something else right now... you know how she gets.

R: Yeah… I do know how she gets.

Y: Hehe... so uh. Where are you? Is Weiss with you? We’re at what looks like Vale Café, but there’s white all around us. And portals, apparently.

R: Ahh, you’re both still stuck in the Nexus! Yes, Weiss is here with me… she’s not doing all too well, Snow White can’t really take the heat here. We’re somewhere called Camelot, I’m sure Blake would know about it… it’s not too much like all the stories I read, honestly...

Y: Camelot? Heh, we KNEW you’d go there. Blake mentioned that whole Arthus or whatwashisname legends, I knew you wouldn’t miss the chance to meet a hero from the books-

R: Heh… about that…

Y: -Still great to hear that you’re together, though!

R: You won’t believe how happy we were when we found eachother in the infi- on the way from the gate!

Y: Oh, you ran into each other? That’s great! Blake and I were pulled minutes from one another... I went through literal hell when Blake disappeared right before my eyes, before I got pulled here too.

R: U-uhm… what do you mean by ‘you went through literal hell’? What happened?!

Y: Well... Blake and I were looking for... ah, no. That’s too long. But basically I saw her disappearing in front of me, and I was the only one left over. I thought I would be alone, until I got pulled in too. I’ll explain the full story when we meet up in person, okay?

R: Alright… as long as you didn’t go causing any trouble over it… you did, didn’t you?

Y: Uhh... hehe…

R: Hughh… I guess it doesn’t really matter anymore since we technically don’t exist… okay, that’s actually a kinda depressing thought.

Y: Look, that’s past... we’re back together now. And I - no, we both - want to meet you as soon as we can.

R: Alright, if you can come to Camelot and come meet some of our - well, MY new friends, that would be awesome! Weiss likes the dragon man though, that much she’s shown!

Y: Someone else than Zwei can melt Ice Queen? Really?

R: Well, when you consider he’s a DRAGON, I don’t see why not… but then again she also took a liking to my friend Jade’s dog, so I guess it’s those that aren’t human or Faunus that REALLY melt her! Oh, yeah, speaking of Faunus… we may wanna keep Blake away from the dog…

Y: Oh, Blake’s just overdoing it. She’s a big pussy sometimes, hehe…-

R: I can’t believe you really just said that…

Y: -but okay, Camelot. I’ll tell Blake about it. How big is that place by the way, can we find you easily?

R: Yeah, shouldn’t be too hard… we’re near this giant Colosseum structure, not too far away from the Carnival games.

Y: Colosseum, Carnival, got it. I guess we can ask around til we find our way there. I’ll be using Bumblebee, so I hope you can hear the sound from afar. Anything else we should know about this place?

R: ...apart from the fact that there’s lots, and I mean LOTS of people? No, not really.

Y: Didn’t we already have tons of people in Vale?

R: Take the amount of people who were watching the Vytal Tournament… and multiply that by two- nope, maybe three… and that’s JUST at the Colosseum.

Y: Woah, THAT big. Okay, yeah, that’s pretty awesome… well, I hope we can get there before everyone leaves then!

R: I just hope you get over here before I lose sight of Jade, haha!

Y: Just ask her to stay a bit longer to meet your awesome sister! We’ll be right on our way, even if I have to tie Blake onto the back of Bumblebee.

R: You REALLY like to have your way…

Y: Well you know me. And Blake probably won’t notice… I mean, I’m looking at her right now, I don’t think she’s realizing that I’m talking to you.

R: You… could summon a giant laser pointer and put it on the front of Bumblebee?

Y: Oh right, I gotta get this summoning thing down… heh. But that’d be evil for Blake. I mean, she’d have to run next to me all the trip. Maybe I can draw her attention with tuna instead?

R: Either that or you let her drive and you can enjoy the ride?

Y: Guess I could do that too. I’ll ask her about it, once she’s done with whatever she was doing… writing something, I believe.

R: Writing something? Like… a diary? That’s what I’ve been doing here, so that I can read all my adventures and maybe find some clues as to how to get to this ‘Omni’ guy…

Y: Might just be a diary, yeah. I have no idea. And you can get to him? I figured that all we saw of him would be the first time he greets us…

R: Ehhh, I’ve heard rumours… apparently you can get to him and he will answer your questions the best he can and grant you one wish.

Y: Huh... That’s pretty wild, actually. Might be a worthwhile trip. But listen… I think we should be on our way, Blake and I. We’ll meet up soon, okay sis?

R: Yeah, I understand. I guess I’ll see you later, Yang![/spoiler]

[Claptrap]

Invoker stepped through the portal into Camelot. He was fairly used to teleportation, but it's something that you never get completely accustomed to. There was a large amount of commotion nearby so he started walking towards the noise of chatter. As the mage approached, a large structure came into view. He wondered what such a large building could be used for before he noticed a small group of people. A large, half-decayed man with a number of smaller individuals around him. Invoker decided that journeying alone in this world would be foolish and decided to approach the group. Plus, they were talking about embarking on an adventure.

As the group talked amongst themselves, Invoker cleared his throat, making his presence known. "Greetings. I am Invoker." He said, his reagents flashing brightly for a moment. He did love showing off. "I heard talk of an expedition and I decided that allies are important in this world." Invoker held out his hand to the group, offerring to shake hands with anyone who was willing. "So, may I join the party?"

[Jade Harley]

Jade felt an insistent tug on the edge of her billowing skirt. A simultaneously interested and attentive look blossomed across her face, her lips pursed and ears pricked sharply up as she angled her head so that she could better see the yellow-eyed child peering curiously up at her.

She blinked once or twice in startled puzzlement, a few figurative copper wires sparking to life at the forefront of her mind. Words rolled around in her head, inquisitive ones that were near to some rocky precipice and bound to be swept away by the tidal wave of her thoughts. They were light, and rounded like the spiral curvature of a shell— a question! One that she could answer, to boot.

“Of course you can!” Jade answered, positively thrilled at the prospect of conducting a true, honest to goodness expedition. The little girl smiled back, and Jade took a moment to pass the stuffed octopus into her tiny, probably sticky hands for safe-keeping. She already had an enormous collection of Squiddles dolls, after all!

Iridescent, whispering shafts of stardust rifled through the humid evening air as Jade turned back to face the hulking mass of rancid plant matter and resurrected life that was Solomon Grundy. She nodded her head along with his words in a steady bobbing motion. “Haha, yeah! You can have as much treasure as you want, I certainly won’t have any use for it!”

At this juncture in their conversation, Valerie wandered up, the green clad mage greeting Grundy with gracious words and an extended hand. Jade leaned to the side to peer over his shoulder for Karkat, craning her neck over dozens of shifting caps and lacy bonnets to do so, but alas, there was no shouty troll to be seen. Disquiet spread over her freckled features, but she did not comment on his absence.

There was a curious absence of activity on the Dataverse as well, besides the usual crudeness that oftentimes riddled certain websites. The red-tinged lenses of her Spectagoggles flickered with scrolling lines of text and indescribable symbols as the dog-eared girl idly paid half a mind to them, the candy red earmuffs she wore buzzing faintly with discordant sounds. The rest of her mind was focused on everything else, d’oh.

“Well,” Jade said as the last couple of straggling adventurers wandered up, a wide smile on her face and her glasses appearing to be comically large atop her comparatively small nose. “Are we all ready to get this show on the road, then? It's pretty cold, so you had better try and come up with some winter clothing!”

As she spoke, Karkat being gone niggled at her a little bit, like a tiny worm towards an apple’s core, but Jade reasoned that he probably knew the way to the Frozen Fields quite well by now. Maybe this time that big, preposterously unkind goofball would be sure to bring along a warm coat and mittens!

Oh, but that reminded her of something else very important that she needed to do! Turning to face Rebecca, who held onto the purple stuffed octopus as if it were one of the most precious things in the whole wide world, Jade set about summoning a seal grey parka that was just about her size. Immunity to the elements or not, Jade wasn’t about to let anyone, and she meant anyone, freeze to death on her watch, especially during the excitement of her marvelous expedition! It would be counter to everything she had planned to do, as of yet, and therefore that one little detail could not be overlooked.

Soon enough, the Little Sister was bundled up with a loose knot near her collar in a fleecy coat, the poufy white lining of her hood contrasting sharply with the oily strands of hair falling over her smiling face. Out of the corner of her eye, Jade could see the primarily red and white forms of Ruby and Weiss standing off to the side. One of her pointed ears twitched when she heard Ruby haltingly greet Grundy, and Jade hurried to rise from where she had knelt in the dewy grass and dirt.

“I think we’re just about ready to leave, now,” Jade remarked, standing once more. Becquerel busied himself with sniffing interestedly at Ruby and Weiss’s canine companion, and she tried and failed to conceal a toothy grin. “Is everyone else all set to g—”

An unexpected voice broke through her words and miserably derailed her train of thought, and Jade spun with a small pucker between her brows to see another new face. She was taken aback by this newcomer’s rich purple robes and shimmering blonde hair. Most of all, she was immediately drawn in by his faintly radiant eyes, which appeared to brim with a serene understanding that reached back centuries in time.

“Oh, hi!” the surprised girl exclaimed, a tad flustered after being interrupted. Her long, twin-tailed god-tier hood flopped about exaggeratedly with her movements as she reached out to firmly shake Invoker’s hand, like a ruffled bird’s fretting wings. “Uhm, yes! You can certainly come along—the more the merrier, actually! Speaking of that, I was just about to ask if everyone is ready to head out?”

She reached up to brush a wayward curl of hair out of her face, paying close attention to the new messages scrolling across the red-filtered lenses of her glasses. One hand smacked lightly against her cheek as she gasped, a grin of pure elation tugging relentlessly at her lips.

“Yes! Adam wants to go, too, this will be soooooo amazing!” In saying this, Jade clasped her hands together delightedly, turning to regard the group from the hulking and imposing Grundmeister to the furry and yapping Zwei. “We should get going, huh? I think Karkat will catch up in a few minutes; he already knows the way to my tower, so everything should be fine.”

With a soft sniff, she looked over her shoulder once again to try and get a bead on Karkat’s location. Unluckily, the nubby-horned troll was nowhere to be found. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so quick to run off without him— they still had a lot to talk about, after all! It seemed that their discussion would have to be postponed further, unfortunately.

Her wandering gaze then tracked over towards where her Space sense told her the swirling portal to the Nexus was located, her mouth twisting into an indecisive curl. So many decisions to make!

[Harlan Higgs]

As Jade turned to face the zombie, Grundy grinned in delight when she assured him all the treasure he wanted, plus her share as well. This was turning out to be the best time of his short stay in the Omniverse so far, and he hoped that the rest of his non-existence would involve such engaging and rewarding enterprises.

Grundy's glowing eyes widened as the green and flashy mage popped out of the crowd and weaved his way towards his new group of friends. This newcomer was just as friendly and bright as Jade, and he reminded the zombie of his other planty friend. He even looked sort of feminine as well, painted nails glinting in the light of day as Grundy reached for the proffered hand. Gingerly shaking the mage's wrist between his giant thumb and forefinger, he nodded.

"VALOR....REE. HELLO VALOR REE. NAME SOLOMON GRUNDY. BORN ON A MONDAY."
The bubbly plant mage would probably sense the truth of Solomon Grundy's form, it's composition and a large portion of the energy that held him together. Heck, the mage had probably summoned creatures akin to Grundy's distant distant cousins. Plant golems or magical constructs along those lines.

“Are we all ready to get this show on the road, then? It's pretty cold, so you had better try and come up with some winter clothing!”

Grundy had almost forgot, and quickly set his mind to thinking. What kind of jacket did he want? Usually he just wore what he woke up in, and any attempts to get new clothes were met with screaming and superheros showing up to punch him in the face. Something warm, definitely, and in Grundy's mind warm meant fluffy. He thought about it some more and lost himself in his musing, finally imagining something long, thick, and black, with a big fur trimmed hood. After concentrating on it for a while (and thinking about the treasure he'd be getting), he looked down to see it folded in his hands. The big guy wasted no time putting it on and the material encircled his large frame, the hem of the jacket brushing the tips of his big stompy boots."GRUNDY READY. AND LOOK GOOD, TOO."

"H-hey there! M-my name's Ruby!"

Grundy blinked, his eerie yellow eyes brightening as he looked over the woman and her friend as they approached. The red haired girl looked somewhat intimidated, but the zombie didn't do anything to allay her fears or suspicions. He gave her the same greeting that he'd been giving for the past half hour in his gravelly, booming timbre. "HELLO ROO BEE. NAME SOLOMON GRUNDY, BORN ON A MONDAY." He straightened up and announced to no one in particular, "GRUNDY VERY HAPPY HE MEET SO MANY NEW FRIENDS THAT WANT HIM TO COME ON ADVENTURES.....OH. VALOR REE, YOU HAVE COUSIN?"

The chalk white hulk watched as a new figure approached the group, most of the crowd from the fair having parted long ago to give them some space. They made a motley assortment of figures, and Grundy towered over all of his new friends. He waved at the lithe, sleek looking woman....or wait, was he a man? Grundy decided to just let it be for now as the mystically attired newcomer brusquely introduced himself, carefully shaking the second proffered hand, maybe a little too hard this time. By accident, of course.

Finally, the group seemed ready to set out. Grundy tightened the thick black rope that served as a jacket belt around his waist and nodded. Time to get to business. "LOOK OUT SNOW FIELDS, HERE COME GREATEST ADVENTURE TEAM!"

[Jade Harley]

Well, that was that, then! Jade clicked her tongue twice to call Becquerel to her side, and the white-furred devilbeast half-heartedly slunk over to follow her off to the Nexus, reluctant to cease investigating Zwei. He snuffled curiously at Rebecca and allowed for her to clamber onto his back by bowing his wide head nearer to the ground.

His ears were briefly flattened by the Little Sister’s hands as she scrambled for a handhold in his mass of fluffy neck fur, but soon she was settled comfortably atop his back. He turned his snout towards Jade with a largely silent sigh, huffily shuffling his paws in the dirt. The vaporous white clouds in the sky delicately accented his pointed ears and blunt snout, and a blaze of orange sprang up over the golden, wheat-smeared hills of the land which shone along the tufted edges of his largely featureless face.

“Alright,” Jade announced, frowning as Bec began to spark with greenish-yellow energy. “No, that’s enough of that, Bec! We’re going to get there the old-fashioned way— by walking! No teleporting. You probably need the exercise anyway, you big ol' goof.”

The wolfdog’s nose twitched minutely at her, and Jade imagined a really witty retort relating to time, space, and all things in-between. She reached out and scrubbed her fingers over his scalp in an acquiescent gesture, receiving a pleased whuff in return that sent flickers of light sizzling along the palm of her hand.

After a few moments more of making sure that Rebecca would not, in fact, go flying off of Bec’s back, Jade turned and strode off alongside Solomon Grundy towards the swirly portal in the distance. Her light footsteps were an ill match with his lumbering strides, so she merely sped up to match her gait with his, occasionally drifting up into the air in her excitement.

As the portal was reached, Jade again looked over her shoulder at the majesty of Camelot and those still lagging somewhat behind. Her lips twisted into an expression caught between sorrow and disappointment, and she wondered if she would ever return— and, if she did, if the place would even be the same as she had left it.

But then she had no time left for brooding thoughts, for her feet had carried her near enough to the portal that she could already feel the frenzied sheen of filtering light particles cycling through the portal’s pool-like surface, sparkling with all sorts of tantalizing magical energies that compelled her to move ever forwards. With a skip and a fluctuating, star-spangled bounce, Jade traveled once more into the land of light and an uncanny lack of rain.

===> TO THE NEXUS.

[Gamzee Makara]

Wow, those idiots sure do cover ground fast. After his rude awakening, Karkat did NOT feel like sticking around that medical tent for whatever reason. Gamzee was chill about it though. Dunno what’s got into his bro, but he be aight. The two made a hasty exit from the Coliseum Grounds.

“Where we muh fuckin’ goin’?”

*clap clap clap*

“Where we muh fuckin’ goin’?”

*clap clap clap*

Karkat was seriously questioning every decision he has ever made up to this point in his life. Why was his best friend an idiotic juggalo? Why does he continue to feed on and act as though this relationship is healthy? Why does he-

Karkat stops in his tracks, holding Gamzee back with an outstretched arm. He...doesn’t know where they’re going. Or rather, he doesn’t know how to get there from here. Jade said something about Nexus shenanigans, something about the revival of a prime. The crabby troll won’t even begin attempting to comprehend how that mess works.

“The Nexus. We’re going,” the exasperated Low-Blood says with a sigh, “to the Nexus.”

“Dope.”

“Yes. You are, in fact, one of those. I don’t suppose you remember how to get to the gate, do you?”

From the blatant “oblivious clown” look on his face, it was pretty obvious that no, Gamzee did not remember how to get to the Nexus Gate. With an even MORE exasperated sigh of annoyance, Kar runs a hand through his coal colored hair.

“How do you suppose we get there than? Any more bright ideas that have to do with traveling? Your last one worked out oh-so-perfectly.”

It took the clown a few moments to puzzle out that little taste of sarcasm. And then, it dawned on him like a Sunday morning sun. A huge, goofy grin splits his stoner-ass face. Upon seeing this goofy grin, the shorter, more uptight of the two trolls immediately took up a defensive position for the ensuing shitstorm.

“No. Absolutely not. No, no, a thousand fucking times over, no. No.”

This was starting to sound horrifically familiar. But it was too late. The miracalizing had begun.
---

Not too much longer after Karkat’s futile denial, the two are being flown through the midnight skies of Camelot.

In a motherfucking Faygo Jetpack built for two. The jetpack was basically an exact carbon copy of the last one Gamzee had summoned into existence, save that this one had an extra harness and thruster so that two bodies could be carried at a time.

It was a stroke of sheer stupid genius.

Once they were in the air, the gate was easily visible with a sort of glow or aura to it that lighted up its presence like a beacon. The clown and the Knight made for the Nexus and their friends, fruity rainbow goodness spilling out behind them in a beautiful, tasty mist.

[Claptrap]

This group was... Interesting, if nothing else. Invoker analysed his new allies, quickly looking them over. The giant undead man stood out the most. The surprising part to Invoker was that, although he looked fearsome, he was rather friendly. This pleased the mage. As long as he didn't go out of his way to enrage the zombie, he would be a powerful ally.

Next was the dog eared girl. Other then the odd animal ears and the occasional green sparks flowing through her hair, she seemed quite normal. She appeared to be the leader of the group, organising everyone else and making sure they were prepared. Invoker didn't mind as she seemed more then capable of leading the party.

There was also the man Valerie. Invoker didn't know the extent of his abilities, but he appeared to be a user of magic which pleased Invoker greatly. A fellow wizard was a welcome addition to anything Invoker did.

Finally, there were three girls. Two who seemed to know each other already, one dressed in all red and one garbed in pure white, and one surprisingly young girl who was wearing a sweater made by the dog eared girl, who seemed to be looking after her for the time being. Invoker was quite pleased with this group and thought that they could make a fine adventuring party. The dog eared girl soon told them to get going and headed towards the portal Invoker entered through. The mage set of with the rest of the group, ready to start an adventure.

Camelot ---> Nexus

[King Axorn]

Axorn soared over the landscape, the beauty of it making him relax, as his eyes drifted across its surface, he noticed a couple humanoid creatures just slipping through the portal back to the Nexus. That was probably the rest of the group, he thought worriedly. Guess I'd better hurry up and summon a vehicle.

Axorn closed his eyes, his mind focused on the image of the vehicle he wished to summon, this time it was a strap-on, rocket-powered mechanism that would attach to the back edge of his wings and allow him to fly naturally at high speeds. Focusing on the mechanisms and getting the attachable vehicle summoned, Axorn neglected to notice the two candy corn-horned trolls rocketing by on their fruity jet-pack.

A few short minutes later, the vehicle was ready to go, Axorn expertly strapped it on, having invented it himself and made it the perfect size for his wingspan, and turned it on blasting towards the Nexus portal.

Axorn slipped through the portal a few minutes later, feeling the all too familiar feeling of his body being split into a billion nano-particles and being re-assembled on the other side.