Karkat made his way to the front of the group, a few of them shouting complaints at him to stand still,
Karkat merely shooting a glare at them and making them stay silent. As Eridan hollered at him to hold still Karkat stopped, looking back and hollering to the crowd, "I am the leader here. Shut the fuck up now you fucks."

After that everyone stayed silent, as he made his way to the front he approached the boy, staying a few feet back, "Who are you?" Karkat asked him, glaring him in the eyes, wincing after noticing the red. Karkat could only stare at him, standing up and shivering at the similarities of the two. "You're a mutant too, huh?" Karkat asked.

"Uhh... What?" The boy questioned. Karkat facepalmed, sighing and evidently already growing annoyed with this new human, but getting a bit disappointed knowing that he was still the only one in their group, other than the red-sweatered freak of course.

"Who are you?" Karkat asked "And why did you chase us into this run-down piece of shit?" The boy replied, "Humans can't see you, if they did do you know what would happen?" By this time, a troll in a red sweater stepped up beside Karkat, resting his hand on Karkat's shoulder before speaking up.
"Well we thank you for your hel-" Karkat cut him off "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kankri, go back, I can handle this."

Kankri nodded, walking back into the crowd and Rose stepped up beside Karkat. "I believe you meant
well but as you can see they are accompanied by experienced humans." Rose spoke up, Kanaya stepping beside her, acting a bit too protective of Rose. Kanaya glared at John for taking her
lipstick, obviously wanting revenge for not being able to give the boy a scar he won't forget.

"Just because a few friendly humans like you care for uhh.. Them doesn't mean the others will be as 'friendly'."

Karkat rolled his eyes at the boy's response, "That still doesn't answer my question. Who are you?" The boy smiled slightly, laughter wanting to burst out of his mouth but he held it in, obviously laughing at the short Karkat and his ambitions to try to look frightening.

"How about I save that for later when I know I can trust you?" The boy replied, succeeding in holding in his laughter. Karkat scrunched up his nose and bared his pointed teeth, his expression looking a bit offended but he brushed it off, "How are you sure we can even trust you? Does this look like a group capable of doing the things you may think we can? For Gog fucking sakes if we wanted something from you we have enough people to take it from you."

Karkat growled the words at him, his voice cracking at the end. Karkat blushed a candy red, lowering his head into his turtle neck and glancing around as the group began to laugh.

"Cute. Very cute." The boy replied, a quiet chuckle escaping his throat. Karkat glared at him, his eyes peeking out of his turtleneck, staring at him coldly. The boy stared at him, mocking his stare and smirking before Karkat spoke up, hollering at the crowd. "Quiet! Everybody shut your fucking bulge licking mouths before I shut them for you!"

"Okay, alright. Let's all just calm down." The boy reasoned, everyone growing quiet as Karkat looked back at him, eyeing him coldly. "What do you want from us anyway?" Karkat spoke up from the silence, folding his arms and glaring back at the crowd as he heard the small giggle, obviously coming from Nepeta, clinging onto Equius' back.

Karkat shot her a warning glare before turning back to the boy. "As I said earlier, it wouldn't do you any good if any stray humans saw you. I'm just trying to make sure that doesn't happen."

A small thought hit Karkat. What if this strange boy was so protective of his identity because he was a mutant too? Maybe he was only pretending he didn't know because he had to hide that he was a mutant. He would just wait and see.

Eridan spoke up. "Who are you?" The boy looked in his direction. "Quit your rambling and tell us who the glub you are, you sickening land dweller." The boy somewhat narrowed his eyes. "Don't." A voice calmly warned. "I wouldn't recommend it."

A deep British accent echoed through the empty building. Karkat looked around, trying to pinpoint where the sound had come from.

"Oh, child, honestly. You've got to stop running ahead of me. Who knows what could happen to you." The door way. Karkat looked. All that stood there was a dark gray cat. The boy turned to face him. "I saw something going on in the distance." Came the lame excuse as the boy crossed his arms. The cat padded forward, glaring at the boy. "Not an excuse." The cat growled. So the voice did belong to the cat.

"I don't always need you to protect me."

"Sometimes it feels like you do."

"Well I don't. I can defend myself without you here to give me your needless input."

"Oh believe me, child, its very needed."

"If anything at all you only hinder me."

"Do you even know the meaning of that word?"

"Yes, I do actually!"The boy raised his voice a bit. He was getting frustrated by this strange cat.

"Really, I was sent to protect you for a reason. You should be glad you have company-" That was it. The boy quickly drew a hand gun and fired at the ceiling. "I don't need your damn protection!"

Karkat gulped and tucked into his turtleneck again. This guy might actually be crazy. The cat narrowed its eyes, suddenly angered by the action.

He paused for a moment, then spoke. "Put. The gun. Away... Before I kick your ass. You very well know I could, and I should, but I won't." He growled. "Not unless I have a reason."

The room was quiet. The boy glared for a moment before slowly lowering the gun and putting it back into his pocket. His gaze had softened to that of a child who had just been scolded. He was quiet for a long moment.

"Just... Go stand guard. Someone might come in without our knowledge." He sounded and even looked a little regretful.

The cat turned to the entrance. He stopped half way and turned his head to look back at the boy.
"Don't fire a gun again unless you have good reason. Someone could have heard that." The cat then turned and exited the building.

The boy let out a sigh. "Anyway..." It seemed he was searching for something to say but couldn't find the words.

"Yeah. I can't just leave you out there where someone could have seen you." He stood straight, his arms still crossed. He seemed quieter now. After that... 'Situation', his whole demeanor appeared to change.

Jake and Dirk stepped up beside Karkat, Sollux signaling for Rose and Kanaya to come back into the crowd.

Dirk stared the boy down before acknowledging his words, "How about we call it a truce?" Jake nodded, agreeing with Dirk and speaking up. "I agree with Dirk, you did help us and we definitely need plenty." Jake smiled weakly, it was obvious he was nervous to be in the presence of a talking cat and something he'd not seen before, the boy didn't even look a bit like a troll. Were there more of his kind? And if so what were their ambitions?

Dirk's face remained expressionless, Karkat stepping in front of them, trying to speak up, only able to mutter a cluster of noises as Dirk shoved his hand over Karkat's mouth, keeping Karkat in a tight headlock and keeping him quiet.

The boy replied, his voice a bit lazy in a way, "Sure. We can call it a truce. I honestly was waiting
for someone to ask." Karkat rolled his eyes and decided it's best to not fight because evidently, Karkat may not want his jaw broken.

Dirk nodded, snickering at Karkat and handing him over to Sollux, Sollux taking him and keeping him in the headlock.

"Right then..." The boy said awkwardly as he looked at Karkat. He seemed to have let himself stare longer than he wanted.

He suddenly looked away, apparently noticing how long he had been staring. "Okay, what to do..." He said, as if talking to himself. He stopped to think for a moment.

He turned his head to look back at the door. "Zero!" He called out. "What?" The voice of the cat responded.

"Come help me!"

"What is it now?"

"Help me figure out what to do."

"Do you want me to stand guard or help you think?"

"Zero, just please help me."

"Which is it?"

The boy let out a frustrated sigh and walked to the door. He disappeared outside for a moment then came back inside carrying the cat by its scruff.

He let go. The cat dropped only to land on its paws. "You're lucky cats land on their paws." It said sarcastically. The boy crossed his arms, glaring down at the cat as it sat. "What?" It said.

"Zero." The boy said, slight annoyance in his tone. "So you speak my name but not your own." The cat pointed out flatly.

So that was the cat's name. Zero.

The boy just glared at Zero again, waiting for him to say something. "You know you shouldn't be angry with me. You could have just asked me to come in and help politely and I would have."

"That's bullshit and you know it." The boy said with no emotion. "Is it?" Zero responded.

"Zero, honestly." The boy said.

"It seems as though you are attempting to burn my name into their minds."

"Please."

"No, really, you've said my name four times now."

"You're counting?"

"Yes. What of it?"

"Why?"

"You like to say my name a lot so I thought I'd turn it into a game."

Karkat just stared. The boy sighed again. "Zero, really. Please. I know you love being difficult, but now is not the time." Zero only flicked the tip of his tail. "Five." The boy went back to glaring at Zero.

He let out a sigh. "Oh, alright. If helping them means so much to you." Zero jumped onto the boy's shoulder. He purred for a moment and rubbed his cheek against the boy's head.

The boy giggled and reached up to scratch his head. They seemed much happier with each other now.

Zero had stood up as tall as he could only seconds after. His soft smile had disappeared along with the kindness in his eyes. All that was left was a serious glare. His ears stuck straight up, his tail following suit. His stance was one of confidence and dominance. He was either trying to appear unafraid to scare off any attackers, or there was something much more to him. Karkat wasn't in any rush to find out.

Zero's red glare met Karkat's eyes for a moment. They both had red eyes. Were the two of them mutants?

Zero turned his head to look at the boy. The boy stared back. Childish curiosity glittered lightly in his eyes. Zero simply sniffed impatiently. "Gizmo lives in the woods, does she not?" He said. "Yeah..." The boy's tone was laced with curiosity. "What are you getting at?" Zero rolled his eyes. "Call her and ask if she's accepting visitors."

The boy only stared back. He gingerly nodded and raised two fingers to his right ear. The cat jumped down from his shoulder and landed lightly. He sat and soundlessly glared at Karkat. His tail lashed back and forth like he was watching prey. Karkat stared back and stood up straighter to warn him off. He could hear the boy's voice as he talked to whoever "Gizmo" was but he wasn't listening to what he was saying.

Zero just stared back, despite Karkat being bigger and stronger than him. Zero really wasn't afraid of Karkat and his friends, and yet he was so outnumbered.

Karkat wasn't sure how much time had passed when the boy called their attention again. "Well, guess we're heading to Gizmo." He said for everyone to hear. He looked around for a second, then stopped when he found Zero. Zero was still staring at Karkat. It was just uncomfortable at this point. The boy stared down at him for a minute before speaking up. "Oh, leave him alone. He's not hurting anyone." Zero twisted his neck to look up at the boy. "Just making certain he knows his place." Zero said lazily, getting up to jump back onto the boy's shoulder. "Why him, more importantly." The boy questioned.

"He is the leader of this group." The boy was quiet and stared at Zero for a minute. "... You were outside listening, weren't you?" He asked. Zero only smirked and let out a quiet chuckle. The boy just stared with an eyebrow raised. He shook his head, then turned back to the group.

"Come on. Be quiet while we're out there." The boy turned and started walking away. He stopped and turned around when he didn't hear the others' footsteps.

He only watched as someone made his way to the front of the crowd and break away to stand a few feet in front of him. It was John. Everyone only watched as John looked up at the taller figure. The boy lightly smiled down at him, then lifted his chin to smile at the crowd. There was a certain playfulness in his eyes.

He watched them with his gentle smile before turning and walking away again. John followed not far behind him.