Stricken from Record.

BAR //

That thing had a dice for a head.

“So”

Kanaya squinted a bit, her eyes having a bit of a hard time focusing on the being before her. It sort of looked like some kind of girl but with a lot less curvature than usual. Nice dress though, very tasteful. Whoever designed it was probably very pretty. 

Those colors though… something familiar.

Suddenly, Kanaya snapped her fingers.

“Tin Can You Are Associated With That Wretch”

Then he just sort of started to just

lay into her. 

Without any sort of punches being pulled. What the hell, who was this guy? Kanaya listened, intently, trying to piece together what he was saying. Unfortunately it was just most of the sort of things that Box Lunch and The 8aye kept saying about her over and over. Nothing new, just with a bit of a harsher coat of paint. 

It almost sounded personal. 

“I Do Not Suppose I Can Have That Shovel Back” she mused, taking a slightly defensive stance as she held up her fists. Unfortunately she did not have any weapons on her. Kanaya had not had a chance to grab them since…

since…

why didn’t she have weapons? Any weapons, actually? She had them before but now just. Nothing? Why? Where was her lipstick?

Frowning, Kanaya’s pupils darted back and forth, scanning the ground. Maybe the shovel? No that was stupid. Maybe.

Well.

Hm. 

“Wait Hold On” Kanaya waved her hands in front of her face, trying to appear as prone as possible. The figure towered over her already, as she was but 5′3. It wasn’t exactly hard for others to tower over her unless they were a flower girl at a wedding or something.

She glanced over her shoulder, looking to the massive auditorium she had managed to piece together over the past few months.

“Oh You Like That Yes I Just Wanted To Have Fun With Everyone Throw A Big Party”

She drifted off. This was starting to have some strange sort of tinge to it. 

“I Am Sorry If I Am Somehow Connected To Something Dire But You Seem Like You Know Things And I Need To Know Things As Well I Keep Having Nightmares And Nobody Will Help Me Work Through Them Except Well That Is Not The Point But You Can Tell Me I Bet I Keep Having Dreams Where I Am Trapped There Is A Stage With Candles Melted Wax And A Pole In The Center I Thought It Was A Spire But I Think It Might Just Be A Pole Like A Fire Escape And Then” Kanaya’s voice started to waver. Something about all of this seemed wrong. She shouldn’t be asking this thing about her dreams. She was going to talk to Rose about that.

Why… why had she stopped calling her Roseoh?

She tried to smile.

“And And Then I See A Speaker Box And My Voice Is Coming Out Over It Telling Me To Run Or Or Something And Then I Keep Going And There Are Stairs But There Are No Warnings I Feel Like I Could Have Been Warned But That Part That That Joke Never Comes Please I Just” Kanaya rubs her eyes, shaking her head. 

Now her voice was confident.

“Tell Me What My Dreams Mean”

Why was she rambling like that? Hops observed his broach once more as the one masquerading as this timeline’s Kanaya started talking about dreams and demanding answers that plagued her. It was with such a fervent passion that it was a little bit hard to take seriously. It came from absolutely nowhere. It made no sense. Maybe, though, that was the point. Actually, yes, it was probably exactly the point. To rattle the cage of some unsuspecting aggressor to give her the leg up for but a moment.

1:3 odds on that probability. 

Once she was finished, Hops snapped his fingers, appearing right in front of the small troll. Immediately his hand shot forward, thumb pressing to her forehead. 

“I do apologize for parroting the one you seem to despise for no reason tonight, but...

[Nobody Cares.]”

He made certain to keep the cadence of his voice similar to that of the small pixie-like troll he had theoretically met long ago, before sending a surge of spacial energy coursing through the troll in front of him. Electricity crackled and hissed around him before plummeting through the body of his target, taking care to target each one of her atoms to the best of his ability. 

If she were a normal troll it would probably be significant to say that parts of her body started to ooze and fall from her in thick globs of grey matter. Of course, as many had likely figured by now, this Kanaya was no troll at all, but instead a clay sculpture masquerading as one. 

Most forms of damage would do nothing.

But super heating? 

Well.

It would fit well in that courtyard of hers. 

Once enough contact was made with her to harden her body, Doc removed his thumb from the connective point. He waited a moment to see what what she did and...

Nothing. She was frozen in a defiant pose only to be offset by the brief shock on her face from his initial teleportation. As if to further prove his point, he tipped her over with his finger, toppling her over into the ditch that she had made. Oh, how convenient. It was Kanaya size, and specifically it was the size she had appeared as before him. What were the chances? The incredible narrative convenience? It all lined up so perfectly, wow. 

Doc sighed, shaking his head. Briefly, he touched a finger to his lower right corner, tapping it a few times before turning around back towards Kanaya. 

“If anyone is truly concerned about you they have your coordinates. You posted them publicly so very long ago. And if anyone truly wishes to solve this issue, they are more than capable of doing so without my intervention.” Then, he looked up to the sky. “Let us see though. Maybe I can still make this stick? Who might have the capability of escaping your sight?” Briefly, he started to nod, before slowing down into a bit of a halt. 

“Nn, no. No, that won’t work either way, will it? I haven’t done any of the prep work.”

Cursing to himself, Doc snapped his fingers, and with that, he was gone. 

All that was left, of course, was a statue. 

Kanaya was doing as Kanaya had been doing for the past few weeks. Building her Go Kart course. There had been many events and countless meetings that had gone into this track building, clearly, because Kanaya was so very popular. Everyone cared about Kanaya. She was popular and definitely had friends and wasn’t some sort of joke that people she didn’t even follow talked about.

People liked her.

People liked her.

People liked her.

The Land Of Crypts And Frogs was dead silent tonight. No monsters, no mysterious wind, no friends, no audience members, no karts wizzing by, just a whole lot of paved track and an empty stadium. Surely a fun time to be had by all. This entire idea was a huge success and was definitely setting things up for a massive explosive concert that everyone wanted to be a part of.

Yeah!

Kanaya dug away at the ground a bit more, eyes stinging a bit as she kept at it. She was actually starting to feel nauseous. She hadn’t been back to her castle in… god, how long had it been since then? End of December? Why did she even know what a December was?

Dig dig dig.

Kanaya paused, leaning her her shovel. Why was this so hard? Why was talking with people so hard? Why was keeping her body in one piece so hard? Why did everything about her seem to just… make people… angry? Was it from before?

Dig dig dig dig dig.

Another pause.

Was it because of her history with that Vriska? The nerdy one with the glasses? She had memories of being a bit antagonistic towards her in some long, distant time last forgotten. Maybe that was why? Maybe Kanaya was just sort of slotted into being a bully and that was why others were so hesitant to pay her much mind. She wasn’t anything like that though. She wasn’t some… manipulative seductress.

Kanaya has never even slept with anyone before despite memories to the contrary.

Dig dig dig dig dig dig dig dig.

Shff.

Clank.

Kanaya dropped the shovel, staring up at the sky. It was still broken.

Why did that have to happen?

Turning around, Kanaya decided to walk back to the stadium. It was really the only place she could stay. The only place that could keep her awake. The only place that reminded her of a grandiose castle that she had apparently once lived in before…

Before…

This was silly.

This was silly this was silly this was dumb. What, now she was having a pity party for herself? Where did this come from?? Why was she suddenly feeling so reflective?

She didn’t care. She never cared.

She was the special Kanaya.

She could do just fine without worrying about anything. Why bother? What would the point of that be? Focus on the now, not on the last. Nobody cared about the past. It was all about the future. With go karts!!! And a concert!!!

Kanaya smiled, reaffirming herself that what she was doing mattered.

She paused.

“Oh

Yes Silly Me”

She turned around, deciding to grab the shovel once more. This was not the time for giving up. This was a time for digging!

“Hello.”

Doc stood at the location of the shovel, observing his corsage as his dress billowed lightly in the breeze that did not exist. As per the norm his essence crackled with otherworldly properties that didn’t quite seem bound by usual properties, and he would be damned if his entrance ended up as anything less than extraordinary. 

He stood in silence for a good moment, allowing Kanaya register his presence. She likely had a lot to say, a lot of ambitions, and a lot of confusion. As was expected of a figment. 

“You know,” the figure chuckled. “Trying to sort that Kanaya based on her bracketed speech is becoming a bit old hat, wouldn’t you say? She has more than earned her graces by this point. She also happens to be quite smart,” he added, cracking his neck. “She figured you out. You are a poor imitation.”

Again, the being seemed to pause again for dramatic effect. He really wanted her to soak in everything he had to say. Even if it was a pointless venture because really, this whole scenario? Fluff. Filler. It didn’t matter and anyone reading it would likely get cavities from the exchange. Oh wait that was good, hit her with that.

Clearing his throat, Doc Hops spoke once more.

“Let us not kid ourselves here, mimic. Your eradication holds no significance to anyone. Even now they are joking among themselves at the mere prospect of your demise. You have failed so spectacularly at leaving any form of lasting impact or impressions with anyone that any gravitas this could have had is simply... stagnancy.”

Vaguely, he gestured towards the stadium behind the woman. No. Behind the girl. She was, what, maybe three or four months old in reality? A bit more, a bit less? Taking what wasn’t hers and utilizing it to create a persona, simply because some wicked entity with a horrendous sense of humor thought it might be fun to flex his own capabilities that way? 

Tawdry, if that.

“I see you are trying to make your mark on this land. Not satisfied with the castle? I hear it has some tasteful architecture.”

He crackled. Blue energy. Slowly, he began to adjust his gloved hands, taking fine care to make sure everything was straightened out and crisp. 

“They wanted a show out of this, but we ought to be honest with ourselves.