Before Karkat would open his eyes, he is in a deep sleep. A rarity for someone with his level of chronic insomnia, but the dream bubbles the meteor would pass through from time to time do make the experience significantly more pleasant than the vast wall of writhing tentacles that would greet him normally.
This dream bubble feels significant to Karkat. He has finally said his piece to Terezi. Maybe put his foot in his mouth with her once again, but at least there’s some sense of closure there. Maybe she can finally forget him and move on. She’d be... better that way. And he has his meet-up with Meenah to look forward to. Things might not be great, but they are looking up.
So when he wakes up, not on the meteor, but on a massive ship?
Well, first he just assumes he’s still asleep. Then pinches himself to make sure. Hm, still here. Ok, fine, he slaps himself across the cheek. Ouch. So this is not a dream.
He gets up and tries the door. Locked. He rattles the doorknob. “STRIDER? STRIDER?! IF THIS IS SOME KIND OF SICK PRANK, IT IS NOT FUCKING FUNNY. OPEN UP.” Nothing.
“I’M SURE YOU’RE ALL LAUGHING YOUR ASSES OFF OUT THERE,” he tries again. “YES, I KNOW, MY MISERY IS THE EPITOME OF ENTERTAINMENT COMPARED TO WHATEVER VAPID BULLSHIT YOU WOULD OTHERWISE BE DOING. WRITING OUTDATED RAPS ABOUT SOME HUMAN THAT IS NO LONGER PRESIDENT, MAYBE. I DON’T REALLY CARE WHAT YOU DO. I WILL LISTEN TO A THOUSAND OF YOUR MOST HEINOUS WORKS IF YOU OPEN THE DOOR RIGHT FUCKING NOW.”
He’s starting to panic. He can feel himself hyperventilating. He shoves the door. Nothing. He kicks the door. Nothing.
“OF FUCKING COURSE!” he shouts and turns away from the door. “ALMOST TWO SWEEPS ON AN INTERDIMENSIONAL, TIME-TRANSGRESSIVE MISSION TO SAVE MULTIPLE UNIVERSES, AND I STARVE TO DEATH TRAPPED IN A TINY ROOM BECAUSE OF A LOCKED DOOR. THIS IS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. WHY ON ALTERNIA DID I EVER EXPECT ANYTHING ELSE?!”
During his dramatic, teary-eyed flailing, he knocks a piece of paper off the table. He pauses mid-mental-breakdown to read it.
“...WHAT THE FUCK,” he mumbles under his breath. Probably still loud enough to be heard a mile away. Karkat has a very powerful diaphragm.
A bit shocked by the surrealness of this experience (though honestly not TOO shocked because, with the direction his life has taken in general, he isn’t that unused to the multiverse giving him personally a giant middle finger), he grabs the stupid life vest and is finally able to leave the room.
He tries to walk in different directions and realizes he can’t. Fine, that might as well happen. A woman with no mouth puts a fucking necklace on him. That might as well happen too.
For someone as verbose as Karkat normally is, he stands in stunned silence during the drill. He isn’t even paying attention. He’s just mentally considering which specific acts he must have committed in his past life to generate the kind of punishment he has to endure on a daily basis.
1. but times have changed for sailors these days
This dream bubble feels significant to Karkat. He has finally said his piece to Terezi. Maybe put his foot in his mouth with her once again, but at least there’s some sense of closure there. Maybe she can finally forget him and move on. She’d be... better that way. And he has his meet-up with Meenah to look forward to. Things might not be great, but they are looking up.
So when he wakes up, not on the meteor, but on a massive ship?
Well, first he just assumes he’s still asleep. Then pinches himself to make sure. Hm, still here. Ok, fine, he slaps himself across the cheek.
Ouch.
So this is not a dream.
He gets up and tries the door. Locked. He rattles the doorknob. “STRIDER? STRIDER?! IF THIS IS SOME KIND OF SICK PRANK, IT IS NOT FUCKING FUNNY. OPEN UP.”
Nothing.
“I’M SURE YOU’RE ALL LAUGHING YOUR ASSES OFF OUT THERE,” he tries again. “YES, I KNOW, MY MISERY IS THE EPITOME OF ENTERTAINMENT COMPARED TO WHATEVER VAPID BULLSHIT YOU WOULD OTHERWISE BE DOING. WRITING OUTDATED RAPS ABOUT SOME HUMAN THAT IS NO LONGER PRESIDENT, MAYBE. I DON’T REALLY CARE WHAT YOU DO. I WILL LISTEN TO A THOUSAND OF YOUR MOST HEINOUS WORKS IF YOU OPEN THE DOOR RIGHT FUCKING NOW.”
He’s starting to panic. He can feel himself hyperventilating. He shoves the door. Nothing. He kicks the door. Nothing.
“OF FUCKING COURSE!” he shouts and turns away from the door. “ALMOST TWO SWEEPS ON AN INTERDIMENSIONAL, TIME-TRANSGRESSIVE MISSION TO SAVE MULTIPLE UNIVERSES, AND I STARVE TO DEATH TRAPPED IN A TINY ROOM BECAUSE OF A LOCKED DOOR. THIS IS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN. WHY ON ALTERNIA DID I EVER EXPECT ANYTHING ELSE?!”
During his dramatic, teary-eyed flailing, he knocks a piece of paper off the table. He pauses mid-mental-breakdown to read it.
“...WHAT THE FUCK,” he mumbles under his breath. Probably still loud enough to be heard a mile away. Karkat has a very powerful diaphragm.
A bit shocked by the surrealness of this experience (though honestly not TOO shocked because, with the direction his life has taken in general, he isn’t that unused to the multiverse giving him personally a giant middle finger), he grabs the stupid life vest and is finally able to leave the room.
He tries to walk in different directions and realizes he can’t. Fine, that might as well happen. A woman with no mouth puts a fucking necklace on him. That might as well happen too.
For someone as verbose as Karkat normally is, he stands in stunned silence during the drill. He isn’t even paying attention. He’s just mentally considering which specific acts he must have committed in his past life to generate the kind of punishment he has to endure on a daily basis.