Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The beeping within the large ship was absolutely hellish and almost deafening, everyone was doing everything within their power not to just punch the blaring sirens and jump out of one of the many holes within the ship. Trolls have sensitive ears as it is, this became ever-so apparent as the sirens continued blaring. The ringing within Karkat ears was almost as deafening as the sirens themselves. His ears felt as if they were bleeding, it was terribly difficult to resist the urge to just lay on the ground in defeat with his hands over his pointed ears. He was almost certain everyone felt the same, but there was no way he could live with himself if he actually went through with this. Not that he would live anyway if he did! He had to lead, he had to prove himself worthy of this title as leader. He had to prove he could be the leader his team deserved, even if no one saw him as such in the first place. He's well aware no one really views him as such, that's probably why he is so compelled to command and protect the best he can. As much as the aliens would’ve liked to just give up here, they still had a bit of will power remaining that motivated them to quickly run to their personal escape pods and drift into Earth's atmosphere.

“GET TO YOUR RESPECTED ESCAPE PODS WHILE WE STILL HAVE THE SLIGHTEST BIT OF TIME.” Karkat shouted at basically nobody, simply hoping everyone heard and would listen. It was chaos, everyone scattering about the damaged ships like mice in the kitchen.

Once most had managed to make it to their pods, Karkat suddenly felt compelled to give the crashing ship one last run down. In the center of the ship he found both Gamzee and Tavros, the tall juggalo was curled in a ball covering up his goat-like ears. Gamzee had always been especially sensitive to loud sounds, becoming practically paralized if overwhelmed by them. Tavros was trying his best to drag the highblood to his own pod, willing to risk his own life to help out a friend.

“OH GOG DAMMIT.”

Karkat grumbled, running to the two completely helpless trolls. He had to think of a plan quickly. He figured that he could simply carry Gamzee to.. His escape pod.. The idea of having that massive stupid motherfuker in his pod for god knows how long was not a good one, but he was willing to put up with it to save the guy. The Mutant was strong, a large and muscular troll. Not like that was super important though, Gamzee wasn’t the heaviest of clowns. Despite this, Tavros was still struggling to carry.. or… drag Gamzee to his pod.

“MOVE, I’VE GOT HIM.”

Karkat blurted out. The Nitram quickly backed away, allowing Karkat to basically bridal carry the taller troll to his pod. The mutant was expecting Tavros to make a run for it to his own pod, but oh was he sorely mistaken. The bronzeblood followed behind the two, jumping into the small pod behind Karkat. He struggled to get his bull-like horns through the small opening, but somehow managed to angle his head just right to get through.

“THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE YOUR OWN FUCKING POD TO ESCAPE IN.”

Karkat grumbled through gritted teeth. Tavros’ pod was specially designed with a wider door to ensure easy escape if necessary.

“YOU’RE LUCKY YOU DIDN’T GET YOUR FUCKING HEAD DECAPITATED..”

The door of the pod closes as soon as someone sits in the seat located in the middle, Tavros truly was lucky to get in unscaved. Just as the small door closed behind the 3, the small pod was promptly launched off of the ship.

After being ejected they gave one last hopeless glare at the larger ship, hoping and praying that everyone else was able to safely remove themselves from the ship. As the 3 swiftly fell from the sky, they noticed various other escape pods dropping at quick speeds alongside them. Karkat quickly realized that everyone was falling in different directions. Very different directions. Some falling towards a small and isolated island in the middle of the deep blue ocean, Karkat was unsure where the others were going, but it was at least guaranteed they’d be landing on land. The Mutant was quickly pulled from his worried thoughts by Gamzee's struggled movements. He had totally forgotten that the other was still in his lap. He practically tossed the clown to the ground, causing him to let out a honk upon impact. It was more of simply letting go of him than a toss I suppose, there isn't really much room in this pod to truly throw someone.

Once Gamzee sat up straight, the other two trolls followed Karkats gaze to the big blue planet that resided ahead of them. The blue planet would’ve been beautiful from so high up if they weren't hurtling towards it at record speeds. Before they knew it, They were about to crash right beside a decently sized apartment building. Well.. not directly beside it, but relatively close to it. There was a small field and forest behind said building, probably a space for running and jogging provided by the landlord. All the trolls had barely any time to brace for impact before their small pod roughly collided with the ground. Luckily for the aliens, their ship was prepared for almost anything! It is an escape pod afterall. Unfortunately the three trolls couldn’t say the same for themselves. They were promptly knocked out as soon as the spaceship touched the earth’s surface.

Chapter Text

A young man by the name of Dave Strider was awoken by the loud bang. Normally he wouldn't have given it a second thought, I mean the neighbors were always exceptionally loud, especially in such a cheaply made building, but this was different. It sounded as if it was coming from his left, rather than right above or below him. Its source even seemed to knock a few of his oddities off of various shelves around his room, weird gross liquid and glass now scattered across his floor. The Strider couldn’t help but groan at the realization, still… he decided he’d do something about it later.
The male tossed his shades on, throwing himself out of bed. Still being mindful of where he stepped however. He creeped towards the window, gazing through the glass. At first, Dave couldn't see much of anything, but upon lifting up his glasses he saw a small trail of smoke in the distance. The males eyes widened at the sight, a feeling of excitement building up in his stomach.

Aliens!

No, thats stupid..

But what if…

He couldn't handle not knowing! Maybe he was about to be the first documented alien sighting in the world! That’d be one hell of a brag. He could totally dunk on Egbert with that. Bragging rights weren’t the only reason he was so excited about this, however. Strider had always been somewhat of a dork, despite his cool kid facade. His enjoyment of aliens and sci-fi as a whole wasn’t as ironic as he made it out to be! That's besides the point though, he had to get a look of what was out there. Dave grabbed his small digital camera from on his bedside table, shoving it into his weirdly deep pants pocket, beginning his journey out of the apartment.
Since his bro was gone more often than not, especially during the night, Dave had no issues sneaking out. He wouldn't even call it sneaking anymore. It seemed like everyone else in the apartment complex hadn’t noticed the crash, not one person even opened their door. I suppose that was good, he really was about to have the very first alien encounter. All by himself. He had to admit, he was honestly a bit scared. The excitement and anticipation quickly suppressed that feeling as he exited the building, making sure to leave out the backdoor so as not to alert anybody.

It was cool out, the wind gently blowing against him, carefully tussling his locs. The sky was dark and starless, just the result of living in a big city. That didn't mean it wasn't disappointing however. He often times missed the starry skies. Dave wasn’t here to take in the scenery however, he was here to investigate. His steps quickened, his hands shoved in his pockets as he grew closer and closer to the scene. The path seemed to be leading him right to the crash! The smell of smoke grew stronger and stronger the closer he got. Eventually, the ship was in full view of the human. He hurried behind a thick bush, leaving only the top of his head peeking over. This definitely was some weird alien bulllshit. The Strider pulled his camera out, quickly snapping a photo of the crash landing. The ship was kinda lame, rather small. Compared to what Dave had seen in films anyway. Maybe these aliens were super small.. That'd be hilarious. Humans had been anticipating the arrival of aliens for centuries, excited to see how advanced and intelligent they are, only for them to be weird small little stupid guys.

"I should totally make a comic about that... that'd be a total hit." He murmured under his breath. He said that about all of his comic ideas. The only one to actually take off had been Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff. Not like he was upset about it though, he just thought his other work had just as much potential.

He was quickly pulled out of thought. A small gasp escaped the males mouth, his hand quickly moving up to cover it. The door on the side of the ship opened up, a small ramp being expelled from the bottom. He snapped another picture. The door was badass, lifting from the bottom, hanging open like the trunk of a car, I believe they’re called falcon doors. Very futuristic in nature. The aesthetics of this ship became the least of Strider's worries as 3 weird gray dudes tumbled out of the ship, one of them barking swears and curses at the other two. They looked nothing like Dave assumed. They looked like no alien he had ever seen on TV. I guess those film producers got the gray down, but nothing else! These guys had hair and clothes and... horns! He snapped yet again, another photo. The tallest of the three’s ears perked up high, his head snapping towards the area Dave was hiding out. The other two turned to see where he was presumably looking.
The human tried to hide, sitting down so as to not show his head above the bush! But oh god oh fuck, his movements caused the slightest bit of rustling from the leaves. He was done for now. These aliens could have powers beyond human comprehension. Maybe he'll be featured in an episode of The X-Files if he's murdered mysteriously...He wasn't exactly keen on that happening however. His hand shot over his mouth, silencing even the sound of his own breathing. It was silent. Dead fucking silent. It seemed like the whole world had silenced itself with anticipation. Nothing could be heard, Aside from the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. It was an almost deafening noise, drowning out any possible sound the aliens could be making.

"hELLO,,,?" The one with presumably metal legs spoke out, his voice shaky and riddled with anxiety.

Chapter Text

‘What the fuck, what the fuck’ Was all that was racing through the stiders mind. They speak english?? That's one thing he definitely wasn’t anticipating. I guess that makes the whole communicating thing a lot simpler. He could definitely plead and reason for his life a whole lot easier that way.

After a few moments of silence, another spoke

“BrO?”

Dave assumed that voice was coming from the tallest of the three. It was deep and raspy compared to the other two, a little hoarse too, but with an odd southern twang to it. Is there an alien equivalent to the south on their planet?? Why was the tall one the only one with an accent??

“WE KNOW YOU’RE THERE FUCKER, SHOW YOURSELF BEFORE WE MAKE YOU.’ This was an empty threat of course. The trolls were just as terrified as Dave was, despite Karkats confident facade. The fear in all of their voices was incredibly evident to the Strider, But with the troll's size, Dave wasn’t willing to risk anything. While the male had been referring to them by their heights, they were all unspeakably tall. Maybe that was just an alien thing. A really intimidating alien thing.

He shoved the digital camera in his pocket once more, carefully rising from the ground. He was tall and lanky, almost skeletal. He kept his arms up in the air, as if he had a gun pointed right at him, showing he was unarmed and harmless. Daves back had been turned to the aliens, so there very well could have been a weapon pointed in his direction. He didn’t feel exactly in danger however. Which was.. Odd considering the circumstances. Of course he was uncomfortable and nervous and scared out of his mind, but he didn’t feel in danger.

“Okay okay, chill. I'm unarmed, I'm cool, nothing to freak out over.” He sputtered out whatever he could think of in an attempt to win the trust of the alien creatures. His accent was exceptionally audible right now, it tended to act up whenever he was scared or angry. He had practiced day and night to get rid of it, but it still seemed to shine when he was afraid. Dave slowly turned around, finally able to get a good look at the creatures. He looked them up and down, emphasis on the up, they did the same. It was apparent they had never seen anything like each other before. Before anyone else could get a word out, the one with the smallest horns spoke up.

“WHO IN THE HELL ARE YOU?? WHERE ARE WE??” he asked, his fists remaining balled up by his sides. He tried his best to appear confident, puffing out his chest ever so slightly. He was just trying his best to seem larger and more threatening. Though it didn’t seem like it was doing much good, considering the human size.

“my name's dave… strider,” He was hesitant giving his full name. “i'm a person. you’re on this huge ball called earth.. I’m sure you’ve heard of it, we’ve been here for millions of years.” Strider explained, his arms still up in the air.

“You really have no idea where you are?”

“OF COURSE WE KNOW!! I JUST DELIBERATLEY DESTROYED MY ENTIRE SHIP AND LOST ALL OF MY FRIENDS AND PERPUSFULLY CRASH LANDED ON A PLANET I’VE NEVER EVEN FUCKING HEARD OF.” The troll sarcastically rambled on. He seemed to be doing a lot of the talking out of the 3 trolls.

“alright alright dude I get it… who are you guys? where are you from?? are you aliens??” He had so many questions to ask! The human could go on and on and on!

“mY nAmEs-” Before the tallest troll could finish speaking, he was cut off by the shortest one. “THAT ONES GAMZEE, AND THIS IS TAVROS. I’M KARKAT.” He stated firmly. “WE’RE FROM ALTERNIA, OBVIOUSLY.” These were all such strange and unfamiliar words. Dave was completely confused, but decided to zip it until Karkat finished. “NO?? WE AREN'T ALIENS, WE’RE TROLLS. YOU’RE THE ONLY ALIEN HERE.”

I guess they were both aliens to each other. Dave had never heard of a troll before. Aside from those annoying motherfuckers who bothered him and his buddies on the internet from time to time. They had always insisted on being alien creatures called trolls, but Dave and his friends never bought it. They had always assumed it was just some incredibly elaborate joke, a troll if you will. Maybe they were in the wrong…

“are you guys hurt?? i mean i sure as hell don't think y’all have anywhere to stay. i have the apartment all to myself for right now.. i can probably sneak you guys in..”
Karkat gave the other two trolls a look, raising one of his bushy eyebrows. The two nodded, happy to have a place to stay. They seemed so trusting, even of someone they had just met. Even of a species they had never heard of! “OKAY. WE ACCEPT YOUR OFFER. BUT IF YOU PULL ANYTHING SO GOG HELP ME I’LL SERVE YOUR ASS TO YOU ON A SHINY SILVER PLATTER.”

Dave simply nodded, giving them a thumbs up. “okay okay, i didn’t plan on it dude. its that building right behind us. follow me.” He simply stated, turning around and speed walking down the path. His legs were long, his steps quick and large, carrying him swiftly.
The trolls hastily followed behind, still trying to keep a bit of space between them however. At any moment the human could turn around and try to attack them, who they didn't want to be too close for comfort. It made the human nervous having a group of huge trolls walking behind him. Especially with their mumbling and whispering. They could be planning anything… Thats probably how they felt about him too however.

Sneaking back inside wasn’t a challenge. His apartment never locked the back door, so he could just slip in and out as he pleased. Dave pushed the door open, motioning for the trolls to enter first. They briskly scooted past the human, shifting as they walked in order to avoid any kind of contact. First Gamzee, then Karkat, then Tavros, and then Dave. He speed walked his way to the front of the neat little alien line, leading them to the elevator. He was lucky that the elevator worked all night long, having to walk up all those flights of stairs would be a pain in the ass. And legs! Not to mention it would be incrediby dangerous for the trolls. The elevator ride was painfully awkward, the tension between all of them was almost suffocating. Leaving Dave nervously tugging at the collar of his shirt, anxiously awaiting for his floor number to appear on the small screen within the elevator.

Ding! The door slowly opened up, Dave immediately stepping out. Karkat peeked around the frame, staring down the hallway. The human stopped in his tracks, shooting the trolls a confused eyebrow raise. “what? you never been in an apartment before? must be pretty nice.” It was true however, trolls didn’t have apartments. Not on their part of the planet at least. It was uncommon for trolls to live in large communities, as their planet was incredibly dangerous. Being too close to another could lead to immense danger. “Step out before it closes on you.” Dave simply stated, pulling the troll out of thought. They all nodded, hurrying out of the small lifting box.

Success!! They made it to his apartment unspotted! Hopefully! The Strider quickly ushered the aliens into the room, hastily shutting the door behind him, leaning against it after closing. He let out a deep and relieved breath. The trolls were pretty relieved too, happy to have made it safely to the secluded room.