Kill the Numbers [Dark Data]

[Dave Strider]

Dave heard the familiar beat of his ringtone, a flow of raspberries and quotes from his infamous sbahj comics, and figured someone is probably trying to reach him.  Oh, just the boss dude from the Ashen blades. He guessed he did alright from the message and he was expected in the Ashen Steppes on official terms for their next mission. Dave had seen some rumors on the Dataverse about mad shadows and weird infections coming in throughout the verses, so this might be tied into what they were about to do. He decided to nonchalantly write up his reply with one hand as he turned and made his way to the Steppes.

"K. Cool."

One day he might not be too lazy to send a witty remark, but for now, bossman only got the short and shit replies. After a few inside jokes Dave figured he'd spice them up, but for now, he would chill. He took his time as he walked across the white decor of the Nexus, occasionally yawning or browsing the dataverse on his iShades as he walked forward. He wondered how their lair would look? Probably something edgy. Not that it was a bad thing, Dave always like to hard some sort of edge, but unlike some people, he was aware of his own snowflake syndrome. 

Dave only looked past his holographic screen once he felt the familiar heat and smell of ash, taking a deep breath and giving a very slight smirk. Home sweet home. Although the battle he was returning from was recent, it felt like months since he had actually been a part of it. Actually, checking his local dataverse time, it was a few months since that event. Huh, weird. He wondered how anyone could remember birthdays or be on time for shit with all these time warps and fuckery going on. How long ago did Kuzuru text him, earlier today right? Or yesterday?

Dave's mind wandered just as far as his own legs carrying him, leaving nothing but shallow ash-prints behind him that were blown away as quickly as they were made.

Apparently, the Koopa Kingdom was having the most trouble, with large amounts of media covering the carnage and crossfire. Who was the good side in this shit? Dave recognized the douchey turtles from a video game, and they weren't exactly the nicest of creatures. Right? But then again there was this darkness and corruption? Maybe we should just go in there and fuck ever thing up. Actually, that's probably what Kuzuru is thinking.

But then there was the whole possibility of the Koopa Kingdom being good? His thoughts then wandered on a much more familiar subject, one that made him hang his head slightly.

He wondered about Jade and her thoughts on this. What if he was fighting for the wrong side? Then again, did anything even matter in this shitty omniverse ruled by some faceless white douche? What if Jade wasn't even real, and everything was in his mind. Gamzee had recognized him, but was that real too? He remembered laying there for so long. Why did he fight that battle, what was he trying to do? What if he was no longer who he used to be?

Fuck it. Shit's too complicated for even the Knight of Time's understanding of shenanigans.

Dave shook his head as he came back to the real world from his thoughts, finding that he had subconsciously pulled up Jade's memo on the omniverse. He froze for a moment, unsure of what to do until his eyes looked past the screen.

He stood before a grand fortress, with a carved path leading around the bends of lava and up to the front gate. He heard the gates close above, as if someone had just exited, or maybe entered? So long as it was one of the Ashen Blades then things were alright, if not, well Dave would make it alright by kicking some ass. Kuzuru better not be a vampire of some shit though, this stuff looks like it came from Dracula himself, all we need are a shitton of bats. 

Dave made his way up the carved steps, whistling a bit as he hopped up along and kept his hands in his pockets. he hoped Kuzuru didn't forget to mention some secret elevator behind fake lava or some sci-fi teleporter guarded by some stone dragon or some shit. These stairs were long as fuck, and though Dave wasn't tired, he would rather not have to walk all this... wait... he forgot he can jump. Well shit.

Dave facepalmed as he forgot about his basic abilities, just before he shot up to the front gate. He took a moment to dust off the ash and realized he still had Jade's contact info up. Again faced with the decision, but should he act upon it or ignore it? Voices from beyond the gate ahead signaled for him to make a decision soon, and with that, his screen faded as he walked forward. The dude he guessed to be Kuzuru started to come forward, but Dave immediately interrupted him and spoke up, rocking a bit on his heels as he gave a small stretch.

"Alright, so we have Mario Party Omniverse Edition going on somewhere and I don't know why the hell we didn't get a damn invite, but I say we cut the fucking board shit and get right into the mini-game battles. What's the plan?"