The Prisoner of Rage

[Strazio Rockwell]

The two locked hands. Strazio’s scarred flesh pressed against Gamzee’s pale skin. Sparks danced across their bodies. An acrid burning smell filled the air as the ragesparks tore into the swallowing slime. Purple cinders were belched into the air as the troll gasped for breath. His yellow eyes darted darted around, absorbing every scrap of information. Vigorously he was ripped from his prison of tar, and thrown onto the damp cement. Miraculously the slime sizzled and burned away, turning into nothing more than ash and cinders. Strazio towered over him, larger than life, and with a smoldering look of fury in his eyes.

“What’s up?” the rage mage asked his now-found head-mate.

“Uhhhh,” Gamzee spoke cautiously, feeling a strange sense of clarity, “sup bro? Any idea where we’re at?”

“Not sure,” Strazio shrugged, “I’ve only fused with someone once before, and it wasn’t anything like this.”

“Lotsa bad vibes in here motherfucker,” Gamzee crawled to his shaking legs.

“Yeah,” Strazio muttered.

The earth shook and a grinding of stone and metal was heard. Before them their sanctuary crumbled and shook, falling into a nameless and faceless void. Words were submerged and neither could hear the other asides from the occasional clip or echo. Falling deep into an ocean of nothing. Drowning. Anger. Mirth. Everything mixed upon itself and became one. Then came the rushing earth, something akin to a movie theatre stopped their fall. Before them a movie starring Gamzio’s exploits against the Harbinger and Okor began playing. Every thunderous blow against the fusion’s frame echoed within the theatre. Hairline cracks sheared into larger gaps across the cement walls of the cinema. A particularly vicious strike tore a gash across the screen, spilling royal blood.

“Is that us?” the avatar asked, his voice trailing off in astonishment.

“Woah,” Gamzee responded, “we make one badass motherfucker.”

Another blow shook the light fixtures hanging above.

“We’re getting our ass kicked” Strazio growled.

“Nah chill bro,” Gamzee put a hand on Strazio’s shoulder, “we’ve got this, just sit back, relax, and chillax.”

Sparks crawled across Strazio’s form and he pulled away from the troll’s hand. Every blow, every laceration he could feel numbed like a dream. Their movements slowed and their strikes weakened. Even their bond was failing, a fading light in the darkness. Gamzee reclined in one of the cinema chairs, brushing a bit of detritus that had fallen into his hair. His untroubled being infuriated the avatar of rage.

“Chill out?” Strazio questioned, “we’re going to die out there! And you want me to chill out?”

“S’not like we can do anything but watch right now,” inexplicably the damned clown had found popcorn.

The avatar clenched his fists and fired a shatter burst off into the ait, lighting the theater with a bright white flash.

“I can’t lose,” Strazio turned back to Gamzee, “that Harbinger motherfucker has my journal, and I just can’t let him keep it!”

“Journal? What’s so important about your journal? Is it a diary or something?”

“Kind of,” the defender sighed, “when I was younger my father would tell me that people died twice. First was when they draw their last breath, second was when their name was last spoken. My village was slaughtered when I was young. I couldn’t save them, I couldn’t protect them. I was weak. That journal has the name of every villager in Riverweldt, my friends, my neighbors, my family. Without that journal I can’t remember their names, and I can’t just let them die again like that.”

"Yo, that's right righteous of you, my cantankerous friend." Gamzee does some weird sort of sign language that involves making a four fingered claw across his heart. "May the Miraculous Gods of Mirth be with you in all your endeavors. And, jus' cuz I all up and like ya like that, you can even have their most devoted, most whimsical servant."

“Uhm,” the clown's offer is met with a blank, somewhat mystified stare.

Chuckling nervously, servant in question explains, "It's me, my dude. If you ever need anything from me, I've got your back. Especially if it's a quest as wickedly virtuous as this. My word and rhymes of honor."

Strazio smirked, “I appreciate that, but just so you know I’ll keep you to it.”

“Don’t worry bro, I got you.”

“Good,” Strazio stepped towards the screen, illiciting a raised eyebrow from the troll, “you fucking better not let me down clown, or I’ll be coming for your ass.”

Before Gamzee could respond, Strazio leaped through the screen and into the real world. Their bond was violently shattered and Gamzee was sent tumbling back into the void.

Falling, falling once again.