Sweltering heat, dirty floors with a ceiling in desperate need of repair, the smell of prepubescent sweat and hormones along with a hint of boiled eggs. Obviously this was a high school, the place where creativity most often goes to die while the system pumps you full of test taking skills so you can become another paper pusher up in the offices. At least that's how most people saw it. Sure there were the odd ones out who freakishly enjoyed learning, the sports and school spirit fanatics who didn't enjoy school work but shoving enthusiasm down other people's throats, but a good sixty-seven percent of people really did not like public education.

Karkat Vantas easily identified as one of these students, never quite scraping up proficient marks in his class throughout the ten years of classroom endurance and foolish projects. Not that he did horribly either- just the overwhelming sense of apathy always canceled out his capability to give a shit about getting straight A's across the board. Sure C's and B's weren't a piece of cake, but they got him through the courses and closer to his goal of getting the fuck out of HHS and into the real world. Being stuck in a rinky-dink town with its serious obsession for the high school's football team could get anyone wishing they could leave. Funny enough, the over-romanticized aspect of small towns weren't that great.

It was not like his father would find another job or move away either; he was the town's church pastor with his body and soul devoted to God. Of course he wouldn't just pack up and leave. That little white building was his home, and until he died under the grace of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ or Karkat reached legal age to leave, they were stuck in good ol' Haze Point. Sure lived up to its name, as the place was hardly sunny and had morning fog that could challenge the smog in Las Vegas, a contributing factor as to why he wanted to leave so fucking badly. Yes, the dark is great, but just like small towns, after living in it for too long, it gets old.

So he was stuck having his brain fried in his un-air conditioned History classroom, thoughts being numbed away by Mrs. Vermon, who was dragging on the topic of the Persian Wars for the seventeenth time since they started up the chapter. Even if she recited every word in the textbook, the class would still fail the unit test if she kept teaching like this. The most Karkat could absorb was already used up from way back in first periods GMF. Blinking slowly, he turned his head to glance at the clock in the back of the classroom, sighing with relief inwardly that there was only a minute or two left of this utter bullshit and he could go on his first break. Most of the class seemed to realize this too, sliding out of their slouched positions and stretching casually before packing up.

Shoving his textbook into the already crammed main pocket of his backpack, Karkat stood up to swing it over his shoulder as the bell rang. The halls were already flooded with students, although the school's population was barely over 300. Everyone still managed to bump into each other, and as Karkat wasn't a very tall student -a whole whopping 5'5 and shorter than most of the freshmen this year- he had to be very aggressive when it came to getting through the crowds. Pushing past a particularly slow walker, he turned to the stairs that led to the ground floor classrooms. C113, Science 10, and where most of his friends tended to meet up (since they all shared that one period). It was a pain to get to though, halfway across the school from period two. But there was a ten minute break in between these two classes, so he could take his time getting there if he wanted.

Another exasperated sigh later, he reached the opened classroom door and greeted Meenah Piexes with the usual high-five before hopping on top of the front desks. His bag was carelessly dropped on the floor while he shifted a bit on the cheap fake-wood desk until it felt slightly less uncomfortable. Meenah gave one last look out the door before joining him on the chair he decided to leave unattended. The older teenager gave him a sly grin as she sat down. The girl was almost eighteen; due to her unruly behaviour, and the tendencies to skip class for days on end, she'd been held back twice. She was alright though, into some pretty nasty shit but otherwise like any other misbehaved student, known for her abilities to con anyone out of a few bucks. Karkat raised an eyebrow, realizing that she was the only person he bothered to talk to in the class room.

"The fuck is everyone?" He spoke up, his voice dry and somewhat gruff, (Well. As gruff as any fifteen year old going through puberty can get.)

"Well. not here obviously-" Meenah said with slight snark in her voice, pausing when Karkat gave her a fed-up glare before continuing with her explanation. "I dunno where four-eyes is, but Kanaya was here but got called home for some family emergency crap. Somethin' 'bout her cousin gettin' sick." She gave a nonchalant shrug, seemingly honest.

"Fuck. Well, today's going to be boring as hell then. Hopefully Fledger pulls his head out of his ass for once and doesn't set the bio lab on fire again. Ruined my best shirt. Got that shit ordered online for fuck's sake." Karkat grumbled, remembering last week's incident with disdain.

"Clam it shorty, nobody gives a flyin' fuck about your shirt. It got us outta class- be thankful for that."

Karkat was about to protest that his shirt was worth plenty of air-born fucks, and that if she didn't wear ripped up clothing every goddamn day she would understand. Sadly enough the bell rang before he could make the point, Mr. Fledger opening the door for the remaining students who were mingling out in the hallway. Mr. Fledger was unexceptionally kind when it came to late students, a light hearted but somewhat air-headed teacher, but it beat the lecturing that most of the faculty gave them. Giving Karkat a raised eyebrow, he pointed to the seat that Meenah had left without his notice. Rolling his eyes he slid down from the desk and into the seat, tapping his chipped nails on the side of his chair as he waited for the class to begin.

"Alright class, due to last week's mishap in the lab-"Some students gave small laughs, some looking slightly unimpressed. "We will be watching a nature documentary on how frogs indicate our ecosystem's state."

He held up the case to the movie, something that looked a bit too childish for a group of fifteen to sixteen year olds. Nobody bothered to complain though, a movie class was always good. Hell it could be the fucking "Wiggles" and nobody would give a shit. Actually with the level of maturity in the student body they would probably enjoy it for the joke of it. As the film flickered on the Smart-Board at the front of the class, Karkat was already sinking back into his drowsy state from before. Last night had been a terrible one for the red-headed teen, seeing as he had to stay up all night to finish that stupid fucking English essay on "Twelfth Night". Good book, not worth the lack of sleep though. Nobody would care if he drifted off here, right?

With his arms folded in a somewhat comfortable pillow substitute, his ginger locks left his forehead and were caught in the folds of his sweater as he lay his head down. Feeling his warm breath get sent back at him from the desk, Karkat closed his eyes and felt his muscles relax, vaguely listening to the sounds of some shit narrator tell the class about the importance of nature. Something along those lines at least (either way it did not interest him) as he imagined himself back home in his room surfing Netflix for another "Orange is the New Black" marathon.

Falling asleep is usually weird- most of the time you don't even remember when you fell asleep in the first place, but this time it was especially odd. He couldn't move any of his limbs- there was the absence of the odd prickly feeling that accompanies the body when its appendages fall asleep, so it definitely wasn't that. Though he felt like his eyes had opened, everything was pitch black, and a high pitched whistling sound echoed along with the sound of a TV screen on a canceled channel. If he could panic he would be panicking right about now; sadly being stuck in whatever state this was kept him from doing so.

As quick as it came the feeling left him, his limb movement returning along with the ability to speak and scream. Which was exactly what he was doing, clinging to his seat as he screamed until he realized he could make sounds again. Everything was still dark though, same went for the high pitched whistling and faint fizzling noise. Suddenly the world was bright again, causing Karkat to wince and shield his eyes until they adjusted. Christ, did he have some sort of aneurism? Were these lights the lights of the ambulance as they whisked him away from school? Maybe he was dead. How the hell would he have died though? Nothing made any sense.

Blinking furiously, the setting around him adjusted into blurry shapes, and finally into distinguishable things. No, he was not in an ambulance; instead he was sitting in an old bus, clinging to the tacky bus seat. It wasn't as bright as before, but the light was slightly dimmed and casting an eerie glow on the poles and empty chairs. Nobody else seemed to be on the bus besides him and the driver, the windows blacked out and hiding the view of the outside world until he would decide to get out.

Karkat got to his feet very slowly, walking from his midpoint spot and up to the front of the bus to ask the driver what was going on. Surely they would know what was happening, or at least it would be another human being to sympathise with. Instead when he got up to the front he was shocked to see that the driver's seat was lacking a crucial part: the driver. Panicking even more the teen decided to pull the nearest "next stop" rope, listening to the bus stop on its own despite nobody being there to hit the break. As he was going to turn and go, his eyes brushed over a small black box, which seemed out of place on the haunted public transit.

He decided to pick it up and get out of the bus, nearly jogging out the front doors as they slid open with the sound of air releasing. Karkat stepped onto pavement as he left the mysterious bus, watching it leave the supposed stop and drive down the road and around the corner. It had taken him to a city of some sorts, similar to New York's downtown but with empty streets and static filled screens. Well, that was one mystery solved. Karkat looked down at the plastic box in his hand, which wasn't a box at all but a TV remote, like that was any help to him. Cursing under his breath he shoved the controller into his hoodie pocket, looking around again for any source of life just in case he missed somebody.

The weird thing was (like being left in an empty city by a fucking ghost-mobile wasn't weird at all) how dull everything looked. The colours on the buildings, the street lights, everything, were all nearing gray but still holding slight tints of their original hues. Not the sky though- it was white, completely white, and lacking any sorts of clouds or stars, not even a celestial source of light. Yet everything seemed lit, well, to a point at least. The eerie glow was still around the city as it was on the bus. At the center of what he presumed to be the town square was a large towering clock, its hands stuck at 3:27. Whether it was am or pm was a mystery just like the place itself.

Karkat started to panic again, wondering if this was actually death and he would be alone in this malfunctioning city forever. Of course, just as he was beginning to believe that he was the only person here, there was the sound of footsteps behind him. Turning on his heels he looked around for the approaching person, only to feel the blood drain from his already pale face.

It wasn't a person, but instead the silhouette of a full grown man and their skin nothing but static. Dripping from their arms and hitting the ground with more intense fizziness was something equating liqud static, their face was featureless besides two shining white eyes that were far too big to even be considered humanoid. The noise grew louder as the creature approached- its footsteps wobbly and off balance similar to a new born deer, but it was fast all the same. Even worse was that behind it were three more wobbling after it, all different body types but sharing the same characteristics as the first.

Whatever those things were, Karkat was not going to stick around and find out. Turning back again and sprinting down the vacant street, he turned his head to see if the things were still following him. They were, and with incredible speed, all three practically on heels. He screamed, forcing himself to move faster while his mind scrambled to think of something to do. If he didn't focus on running he would stumble and fall, which is exactly what happened as he went to look back again.

His scream was cut off as his right cheek hit the pavement, his hands failing to catch him as he tripped over his own toes. He scraped and rolled down the street for a few more seconds, the right side of his face stinging with pain like his hands. Karkat raised a hand to his cheek, pulling back to see that he was bleeding; he must have gotten road burn from such a disastrous fall. Tears threatened to push past his eyes, seeing he was fucking terrified, hurt, and alone. There was no shame in doing so either. Once again he turned his head, seeing that the creatures were now in front of him, reaching out their elongated fingers with faint fizzling and high-pitched whistling.

So Karkat flinched, waiting for what he thought would be pain or something even worse. Though it never came; the boy was spared as the sounds of metal against metal canceled out the sounds of static. Opening his eyes slightly, he saw a blond boy holding a remote: his remote, to be exact. The other kid was pressing buttons in panic, the static creatures jutting out in different directions and making an awful screeching noise like fingers on chalk board. One even started turning different colours, becoming the colourful "Test pattern" screen you would see on an old TV before it melted into the ground. Seeing that their "buddy" was gone, the other two made a run for it, leaving Karkat and the other boy there in shaking fear.

Forcing himself to his feet, Karkat looked the guy over; he saw that the boy had to be around his age, and looked like he'd been here for quite some time. Although he couldn't see the other guys eyes thanks to a pair of Aviators, he knew the blond was equally as frightened as himself. His clothes were in tatters though, holes and frays in the band T-shirt, even a few spots of blood. After a moment or two of looking at each other, he stuck his hand out to Karkat with a slight smirk on his lips, holding out the remote for him to take.