>>151107954
Four teenage internet friends, John, Rose, Dave and Jade, play the game Sburb together. It triggers an apocalypse on Earth and transports them into the Incipisphere. They must complete quests on their personal planets to create a new universe.
They are trolled by a group of aliens from another universe - Aradia, Tavros, Sollux, Nepeta, Karkat, Kanaya, Terezi, Vriska, Equius, Gamzee, Eridan, and Feferi - who played their version of the game that failed ("Sgrub"). These 12 trolls come from a hierarchical world divided by blood color (left to right - lowest to highest on hemospectrum) called Alternia. Frendships form across timelines. The trolls' session of the game becomes entwined with the humans’ success.
Sburb isn't just a game but a cosmic mechanism that seeds universes and sustains a cycle of destruction/rebirth. Time travel, alternate selves, and doomed timelines are factors. Characters must repeatedly loop through time to ensure events unfold 'correctly.'
The story introduces an alternate version of the kids' guardians from a "post-scratch" universe, reborn with new backgrounds, including Jane (Nanna), Roxy (Mom), Jake (Grandpa), and Dirk (Bro) and a second group of trolls ("Dancestors") who are teenaged versions of the trolls' ancestors.
Central to this plot is Lord English, a time-traveling villain who is a fusion of several characters, but mainly Caliborn, a cherub who has a sister named Calliope he shared a body with, but they eventually grew into seperate people. The goal becomes not just to beat the game but also to defeat Lord English.
The characters work across timelines and deaths to build a new universe and escape the game. Terezi forces John to 'retcon' her decision to kill Vriska, which rewrites the story and creates a "perfect timeline" wherein Vriska can lead a ghost army against LE and sacrifice herself to let her friends John, Terezi, Karkat, Jade, Kanaya, Rose, Dirk, Jake, Roxy, Jane and Calliope escape and live.
