Chapter One: Smoke Pellets and Protesters

John Egbert practically leaped out of his desk as the school bell rang. It was the last class of school, and tomorrow was the first day of spring break. He'd been waiting for this all day; who hadn't been?

Across from him, his friend Rose got up much more calmly, but John knew that she was just as excited about spring break as he was…or at least, that's what he assumed. He didn't really know much about how Rose thought about vacations.

Rose brushed back a strand of her short blonde hair back, calmly picked up her books and exited the classroom.

On the other side of the formerly-crowded-but-now-quickly-clearing-out classroom was his friend Jade. She was definitely just as excited as he was.

Jade adjusted her rounded glasses and smiled brightly. She also hefted her books and absconded from the deathly boredom trap the classroom was.

Finally, his friend Dave was sitting just in front of him. John didn't really know what Dave thought about anything, much less spring break. Besides, for some reason or another, Dave had arrived to school covered in a ton of bruises and scratches, and had been acting weird all day. When John had asked, Dave had said that he'd had a 'duel with Bro', but John definitely positively most certainly wasn't sure that his explanation was the entire truth.

Dave silently got up and walked out of the classroom. John, hoping to get a few answers, followed him.

The hallway was nearly empty, as most of the kids had already gotten the heck out of there. After putting his stuff in his locker, John went to talk to Dave.

Up close, Dave looked a lot worse. A whole lot worse. In fact, it looked like he might have been fighting evil green aliens for weeks on end, or something like it.

"Hey Dave!" said John, deciding that he was going to subtly get those answers from his friend. "How did you get so beat up? Were you fighting someone other than your brother? I've seen you after your fights, and he doesn't beat you up that badly."

Suddenly, Rose and Jade appeared; they hadn't left the building after all. "Yes, I was wondering why you look that way as well," stated Rose.

"Me too!" added Jade.

Dave looked somewhere between uncomfortable and irritated. "I was fighting an evil green space alien intent on destroy the world," he said with a straight face.

John and Jade gave him a weird look, but the both of them knew it was perfectly normal for him to use really weird metaphors for situations—it was either that or he was 'ironically messing' with them, whatever that meant.

Instead of standing puzzled like John and Jade, Rose immediately took out a worn-looking journal and began to write in it. "Subject: Dave Strider. Condition: Refers to 'evil green space alien intent on destroying the world' as excuse for what seems to have been a scuffle between him and someone else," Rose mumbled to herself while scribbling down her notes. Taking Dave by the shoulder, she pulled him away from the little group. "Walk with me for a bit," she said.

As the two walked away, John and Jade could hear a bunch of "And how does that make you feel?" And "Mm—hmm" s from Rose and much mumbling from Dave.

Yep. Totally normal and not in any way, shape or form strange or abnormal at all.

A few teachers eyed the loitering students, wondering why they'd stayed so long. Noticing the glares, Jade said, "I'd better be going. I've probably been keeping Bec waiting way too long. See you over the break, John!" She waved and headed for the door.

"Bye, Jade!" John realized that he needed to go too—he was most likely going to miss the bus. Upon realizing this, he raced to the bus stop, only to realize that he was indeed too late. The last yellow school bus sped away, leaving a cloud of fluttering debris and noxious fumes in its wake.

John sighed. It looked like he was going to have to walk home today.

It was a very nice, sunny, and warm day outside. Despite this, John rather dreaded the prospect of having to walk home—it was a long way from the school to his house. His dad usually worked until six, so he had no hope of asking to get picked up.

As of now, John had managed to get about halfway home; it had taken him half an hour, which was a record time. He was about to pass a busy street when he was mobbed by a bunch of people who appeared to be protesting something.

"Hey you! Did you know that the incoming meteor shower will destroy the world?! You and your family must prepare for the end, you hear me?!" shouted one of the protesters.

Another protestor that was holding a large handmade sign was shouting something along the lines of "Prepare for the end!" to the crowd pulled John into the crowd. "We must inform the people—the old, the young, the children—people like this boy!"

The crowd roared in approval. John awkwardly tried to escape the mob, but a bunch of hands pulled him back in.

The rally seemed to be getting louder and louder. Rather scared, John decided to make a getaway using his last resort—smoke pellets.

However, when he dropped the pellets on the ground, they failed to work. At least, not until an unsuspecting rally member stepped on them.

POOF! A huge cloud of smoke went up, causing protesters to scream and flee in various directions, crying, "It has begun!" As the rally started descending into complete chaos, John took this opportune time to abscond the heck out of there, sprinting across the street and ignoring angry drivers honking at him.

This is my first-ever Homestuck fanfiction. I have no idea why the heck I'm writing this...

Anyways, if you're wondering about the smoke pellets, remember that in Act 1 of Homestuck, John had smoke pellets with him.

My advice to readers of this fanfic: Pay attention to the seemingly random events. (coughFORSHADOWINGcough)

- Long-Vuong