The room smelled like something horribly human, Karkat could barely open his eyes with such bright light around. He had gotten so used to the dim torches of the meteor. This real sunlight coming through the windows was going to give him a major headache. Along with the distinct smell of humans, he knew today was going to be rough.
He couldn't remember what the hell happened back on the meteor. Was Aradia there again? Did Sollux come with her? What did they do? Where the hell is everyone now? He was still their leader in his heart so he quickly got his shit together and took note of the situation at hand.
Karkat stood up on shaky legs; his vision was blurry with the sudden movement. He would have lost his balance, but he stuck his hand out and steadied himself with something attached to the wall. He glanced down to see what the piece of metal actually was and was completely unsurprised that it must be some stupid human bullshit. It was almost like a silver metal bucket but there was something on the top of it, a button was underneath. Naturally, he pressed it. Water came up out of the piece and got on his shirt. As if he needed something else to make this day worse. He looked above the human water shooter and saw a sign; it read "whites" in big, black letters. Karkat was so sick of this place already.
There were too many cultural differences to really be able to understand the situation on his own, so Karkat kicked Dave until he woke up.
"What the hell is your problem, Karkat? Can't a man get some sleep on his own damn meteor?", Dave asked lovingly.
"Dave, listen to me, you piece of human filth. Something happened, this isn't your fucking meteor anymore. Where the hell are we? Everything is written in your stupid pointless Earth alphabet."
"All right, give me a second", said Dave as he laughed at his own pun.
"Fuck you and your Knight of Time jokes, Strider. This is serious."
"Do we have everyone? Is anyone missing?"
"Terezi is her-"
"Of course she's your first priority" Dave jested.
"Shut the fuck up, Strider, let's actually work as a team for once during this nightmare of a game" said Karkat with less fire than he had intended. "Terezi, Kanaya, Rose, the Mayor, you, and me, we're all still- OH SHIT WHAT THE FUCK. HOW THE HELL ARE THEY HERE?"
Dave turned to look at what Karkat was having a fit over and was equally as shocked as Karkat was. On the floor behind them lay John and Jade, who were in a different dimension the last time the two groups checked in with each other. Karkat and Dave turned to look at each other and realized that they were in some serious temporal and dimensional shit.
Dave sighed, "Well, there's no point in letting everyone sleep. We need to make time for this impending happy reunion."
"I'll get Jade and John first, you worry about the others", said Karkat, exasperated.
"Funny how your priorities change when Jade shows up…"
"Fuck you, Strider."
Dave started to walk back towards the other group of his friends, but caught himself glancing at the same piece of metal that Karkat couldn't wrap his head around. It was definitely human made, but he had only seen that style of metal from old movies and photographs. The sign above the water fountain was all he needed to nearly flip the fuck out.
"No fucking way, man. No, hell no. How the hell did this even happen? Is this a dream bubble? Someone fucking pinch me. Terezi, hit me with your cane. Holy shit, do something, guys, we are monumentally fucked."
If his companions weren't awake before, they certainly were now.
"D4v3, stop your screeching, please. I have my sight back, but your voice somehow still manages to make my ears ring," Terezi breathed while rubbing her eyes.
"Please, Dave, try to calm down. We have managed to work through difficult situations in the past. I am sure that the same will apply to this case." Kanaya didn't seem to miss a beat, speaking as calmly and as level-headed as always.
Rose was just as worried as Dave and decided speaking was not in her best interests at this point. For once, a Lalonde was completely speechless. Jade and John began to wake up and shared in Dave's concerns about the situation.
Karkat was fed up with their shit, "Look, you stupid humans, can one of you useless shitbags tell us non-Earth assholes why the hell a dumbass human sign means the end of the world? I think we've seen enough apocalyptic shit with Lord English by now to not take these things that seriously."
Rose decided to speak up, "Karkat, if you stop your screaming for one second, we can talk about it. Dave, what year is it?"
"I… I can't get a read on anything… I have nothing. Can you use your Seer powers?"
"Unfortunately, no. I was hoping you would still have your time abilities. Something temporally and spacially dangerous occurred and now we are here.", Rose uttered.
"And where the fuck is here exactly?", asked Karkat.
The group glanced around and walked outside of the building they woke up in. An old road sign claimed that Atlanta, Georgia was 40 miles north. The wind started blowing and the three trolls stared in disbelief at how strange the Earth looked. John noticed a newspaper breezing past them and grabbed it. The date read April 13, 1954.
Just as John was going to break the bad news, he spotted a figure stand up in the distance. Suddenly, three more figures joined the other and it seemed as though they were racing towards John and his friends. He didn't think it was possible. It wasn't possible.
Jade recognized one of the faces and ran to embrace her grandson. Rose stood like a statue as she watched Roxy stumble over towards the group. Dave greeted his counterpart like any acceptable bro would, with a simple "sup" and an accompanying head nod. John and Jane looked to each other to find an answer about their father, but both had nothing to say.
Jake, Roxy, Jane and Dirk stood with the group of friends as John told everyone about their circumstances. The trolls did not realize the gravity of the situation. They understood that the game was not applicable here, that they were basically sitting ducks in this period of minimal technology, but they did not understand what Earth was like at this time. In Alternia, they fought tooth and bone to survive and live out their lives, Karkat and Terezi did not see what was so bad about human history in the United States.
Rose found Kanaya's hand and stood alongside her. Jake and Dirk looked to each other, Dirk walked towards Jake and placed his hand on Jake's cheek as he wiped away a tear. Jade glanced Karkat's way, her eyes filled with regret that this could have been their chance, but no longer.
John began to explain the hatred and discrimination that was alive in that world. As he told them about what was to come and what living here would be like, they began to understand that their road ahead would be filled with obstacles and loathing. It was bliss that they could all be together, a as a team, but this bliss was ripped from them. At a time of segregation and bigotry in the country's history, their lives would be, in some ways, more difficult than they were in the medium. The love and acceptance of the future was not present here. Rose, Kanaya, Dirk, Jake, Karkat, Jade, Terezi, Dave, John, and Jane would have to fight their way through the darkness of history and keep their love strong.