Chapter Text
Eridan fidgeted with the hem of his cape nervously, eyes never leaving the humming fourth wall on the other side of the room. For once he was more than happy no-one was paying attention to him because he was quite certain that he wouldn't be able to speak over the too loud beating of his collapsing and expanding bladder based aquatic vascular system in his throat if someone were to ask him anything.
The idea that this bizarre machine would be able to do what he'd spent over a year believing was impossible, and more importantly that it was actually going to be doing so was so bizarre, so alien that it overtook him, became the one single point of interest on this entire stupid asteroid. Suddenly Feferi and Sollux and Vriska just didn't matter so much anymore because there was hope and there was going to be a new universe in which everyone would be fine and Dave would be there.
Sollux muttered something to Karkat and their leader cleared his throat, interrupting Terezi mid-cackle and stopping her rant on the coolkid and his bright red text that Eridan had been trying to tune out because hearing her talk about his human that way made a nasty slitherbeast of jealousy coil in his gut.
"Alright fuckasses, this is it. So the fucking universe we created was a steaming pile of dung and we should probably be glad we didn't get to enter it because of how badly we fucked it up but at least those four assholes it spawned are somewhat competent and gave us this chance so. Well. Just. Let's not fuck up, alright?" Karkat said, surprisingly softly in comparison to his usual outdoor voice. "It's time."
With a loud crash the glass of the fourth wall's lower right screen shattered under the impact of Gamzee's club and after a moment of hesitation Karkat stepped towards it, into the hole, vanishing through the black filter-like void that ominously thrummed where the glass had been before.
Sollux peeked his head around the back of the wall and Eridan almost expected to hear Karkat spit out expletives because it hadn't worked and he was just standing on the other side, but Sollux pulled his head back looking more rattled that Eridan could ever remember him seeing. He didn't even have the focus to mind that it wasn't him who had caused that kind of reaction.
"Okay then, who'th nextht?" Sollux asked, trying to sound more composed than he was. With a tinkling laugh Aradia, who had been standing next to the programmer gave him a small pat on the shoulder before striding towards the broken wall with a majestic determination that even Eridan had to admire, although he would never admit that out loud.
Terezi was the next to walk forward, stepping through the portal with one of those eerie cackles that made it sound like she knew something the rest of them did not even though it was much more likely that she just thought up a new crime-scenario to roleplay with her plushies. Never one to be outdone, Vriska followed right after quipping that if nothing else at least she would make it through alright because she had 'aaaaaaaall the luck', as if there was anyone who didn't know about that yet. Gamzee followed wordlessly, smiling as he stepped into the unknown.
With the daredevils gone came a short interval of silence in which no-one moved, probably because who knew what would be waiting on the other side if anything would be there at all and for all that Eridan was scared to death something would go wrong and he'd end up dying, the thought of meeting Dave motherfucking Strider face-to-face was even scarier because the safety that came with knowing that he was an alien from another planet (another universe even, but he hadn't known that before) would suddenly just be gone and the possibility that Dave wouldn't like what he saw made Eridan's chest hurt.
Then Kanaya stepped forward. Before stepping through, she turned around and gave them all a dignified bow and said a simple goodbye that definitely didn't ease anyone's nerves. Then Nepeta let out a yowl of frustration and ran through the window, immediately followed by a distressed and sweating Equius.
Tavros followed after a quick look around the room, probably feeling the rising tension between the ones left behind. After the Taurus vanished into the blackness one horn at a time Sollux turned to Feferi and the two shared a look before the Gemini walked to the fourth wall and stepped through.
Suddenly Eridan was very aware he'd been singled out, that Feferi had deliberately stayed behind last because she knew he wouldn't be the first to step through. He couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes, not because he was sorry but because he knew that he should be. "Eridan, I haven't forgiven you," she told him with a seriousness he's never heard from her before. "And I'll never fill any quadrant with you. But maybe in this new world we can be friends again."
He shuffled around uncomfortably. Instead of staying with Sollux she'd chosen to spend what could be the last moments of her life with him, even dropping the fish puns to tell him this and yet all he could think about was white hair and sunglasses. "I-" he started, even though he had no idea what to say, but she had already turned and was walking away from him, hair swishing with every step she took before she too stepped into the new world, leaving him alone in the dark, empty lab, suddenly all too aware that he was the last living being in the universe.
There was a side of him that wanted to stay where he stood, not wanting to see the consequences of taking that step into the dark but it was quickly squashed by his more prideful side, the side that wanted to be acknowledged, that needed someone else to tell him he was doing well.
He'd faced the end of the world, he told himself sternly as he squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. He stopped when he reached the fourth wall, but only momentarily. Then he took a deep breath and stepped forward. Dave would be on the other side, and just that would make everything better.