Here comes the end of this little arc. I think it really does get into some of the characters that I haven't had the time to expand upon yet and really move them forward. It really does get like that with a large cast like this, but I do try to get everyone in there when I can.

Without further ado, let's get on with the chapter!


Considering he was technically a superhero, Karkat was very familiar with the feeling of anxiety. Everything going wrong all the time, generally not sure about his humanity, along with every person being out to get you or having some kind of secret tends to make someone lowkey anxious every moment.

Karkat was currently not anxious. He was outright panicking.

With government worker taken by a ghost he knew was technically dangerous, whereabouts unknown, along with what Aranea actually planned on doing to Spectra, he figured it was justified.

Spades had started gearing up, getting all of his trackers and weapons ready. He was also arguing with Rosa about whether or not they should call the police, with his dad being kinda right in saying that they wouldn't help. Lack of ghost weapons and a simple belief in ghosts were not a good combination.

Karkat just listened as his dad kept ranting about how they won't take his calls anymore, anyway, watching as the other Maryam's were keeping their panic poorly contained.

"I think mom might need to buy an anti-ghost security system for the daycare here. I can't believe that'll be a legitimate business expense, but at least the kids would be safe."

"Porrim, I think this is the only time you've ever wanted to talk about the family business without being completely sarcastic about it. It's not like you to worry about the children that much. I'm not sure if I'm proud or not."

"I just saw a living shadow with eight eyes kidnap a grown ass woman, of course I'm scared for the children."

Karkat would've loved to watch this further, but he was currently trying to plan out Spectra's funeral. Seriously, why didn't he start noticing signs that things were about to go really wrong? Everything went wrong in his life!

"Seems like a lot of people heard a woman screaming all across town." Sollux kept checking his phone, looking over social media for some kind of news. "Nobody's seen anything, but everyone's getting really curious."

Translation: They needed to find here as soon as possible before somebody else did.

"And it seems like everybody is still posting about that giant cat that showed up earlier today." Aradia cringed at some of the blurry photos she was seeing of the incident. "The whole screaming thing is just adding more fuel to the fire, honestly."

Second translation: Shit had already hit the fan and the current rotation of it was sending it flying everywhere.

Yeah, Karkat was doing his best to come up with a plan but considering they had so many things on their plate right now, this was going to be interesting.

His phone buzzed. He checked on the Ghostian app.

AG: I'm at the portal entrance. Get me out and we'll search for my sister.

Karkat took in a deep breath. Maybe now wasn't the time for thinking. He should just act.

"Hey, dad?" Karkat got up quickly, grabbing one of the trackers around the kitchen, waving it lightly. "Maybe we should all split up and try to search up the ghost that way. We got a big enough group to cover most of the town."

"Kid, I'm not sending anyone out to fight that thing. Besides, you've been having bad luck with ghosts lately." Looks like Spades still had the forest incident on his mind. It wasn't like he was wrong either. "I really don't know what it is, but you've been getting into the thick of it lately."

"I'm not going to try and fight it! Seriously, what do you take me for?" Karkat really wished that weren't a lie, but that was the way the world was. "I'm just saying, if we cast a wide enough net, we'll find the ghost much faster."

"He's not necessarily wrong there, Spades. As much as I don't like Spectra, I'd rather she didn't have to go through whatever that thing wants to do with her." Rosa had a tracker of her own in her grasp, nervously eyeing. "At least it looks like your equipment should work. Laser guns and hover technology. What a strange place."

Spades wanted to protest more but stopped when he looked at the clock. Any time wasted meant a higher possibility Spectra would be hurt. Sighing, he ran a hand down his face.

"Fine. Take some ghost weapons just in case, but don't actively start something you can't finish." He pointed at the basement before heading towards the front door. "Grab some stuff for the others. Something easy for Porrim and Kanaya."

The perfect excuse to get inside the lab without people questioning. Vriska would be able to join them after all.

"I'll get right on it." Karkat already had a few ideas what the other Maryam's could use safely. Hopefully, they wouldn't mind his suggestion that much. "Just be careful if you do find them."

It wasn't like Spades would find her first. Karkat was going to make sure it was him and Vriska that did. Whether that meant subduing her violently or not would be determined later.

He just hoped that whatever Aranea was planning on doing, it would take a long time before it actually hurt Spectra.


Spectra wasn't exactly sure when she had passed out after the shadow creature grabbed her, but the feeling of grogginess as she slowly woke up. A chill went up her spine, her breath visible as she opened her eyes slowly.

She reflexively jerked as the memories resurfaced, though her arms barely moved. She looked down to see that she had been tied up tight in old looking bandages, keeping her in place. The sight immediately set her in a panic, making her look around.

The sight that greeted her was grim to say the least. The room she was in looked close to the therapy rooms hospitals housed for their doctors. It had the comfy chairs for the therapist and the patient to sit in for long periods of time, a wooden desk for the long stay therapists, and it even had the neutral colors painted on every wall.

The difference was that it looked positively run down. Paint was chipping away, the chair she was in was barely holding itself up, and the only light in the room was coming through windows with hole filled curtains.

"Ah, you're finally awake! I was wondering how long you would make me wait."

Spectra was two seconds away from snarling at that voice, though it died before it could even leave her throat. Aranea walked into the room casually, closing and locking the door behind her before moving to the desk. She stood out among the surroundings, looking immaculate compared to room.

"It's certainly been a while since we last talked, though I'm pretty sure we can easily get back to where we left off." The blonde smiled pleasantly, ignoring the silent stare coming from Spectra. "Though, I think I'll be the one taking the reins this time. I hope you don't mind being in the patients chair for once."

"Aranea?" Spectra's thoughts had finally caught up with her mouth, face going rigid as she looked the girl over. "What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead."

"Oh, you'd be surprised how easy it is to change that. It took a long time, but I considering only one of us here has actually aged, I'd say it's worth it." Aranea clasped her hands, looking over the older woman. "I should probably ask, but are you comfortable? It's only a cursory question, I can't really do anything about the furniture."

"How the hell are you here? I went to your funeral a long time ago. I watched you get buried." Spectra didn't seem to register what the blonde was saying, which irritated the ghost immensely. She tried moving out of her bonds, looking around for an exit. "This isn't possible. You can't be her. If you were, you'd be so much older. You'd look exactly like your mother-"

"Don't talk about her!"

Spectra flinched back as the young woman slammed her hands onto the desk, face turning into the eight eyed shadow for a few seconds. She could hear the wood crack under the pressure.

Aranea did force her temper down, a smile forming on her face to portray that. It felt more like she was trying to show her teeth to a lesser predator, to scare it away from a fight it wouldn't win.

"I would refrain from talking about my family. Not only is it unprofessional, but it's also rude to back talk." The ghost adjusted her glasses, pleasant demeanor slipping back onto her face. "Plus, you went to a ghost hunters house, Penelope. What did you expect to find there?"

The realization sent another chill down the grown woman's spine. That, or the expelling of cold air that made the windows frost over. Was that coming from Aranea? Something told her yes, even if that thought scared her more.

"Anyway, I think this conversation has been long overdue." Aranea pulled out a folder, though Spectra was unsure where she got it. "This time, I believe I'll be the one asking the questions here. Starting with your little experiment on me."

"The psychological experiments? That's what you're mad about?" Spectra hadn't thought about for years. The results to that had been published several years ago and she hadn't thought about it since. "That's-that's a bit strange to hold on to. I mean, it did contribute to psychology as a whole."

"Psychology can go to hell, Penelope. Especially since you virtually ruined my entire life before I died." Aranea's eyes narrowed as she pulled out a hard copy of said study. " I also don't appreciate how you used my real name in this. Also, this data should be thrown out since you taught me several of those 'negative coping mechanisms.'"

"Alright, maybe you do have a point there." Spectra wasn't sure how to get out of this, trying to think back to every session she had with the girl. "But that's far in the past! If anything, you're old enough to know how silly this plot is."

"Who said this was a plot of mine? This is a crime of passion, quite honestly." Aranea flipped through the study. She stopped to read the comments that pertained to herself, reading over them carefully before turning another page. "You brought this on yourself. I'm just surprised karma hasn't gotten to you already."

"But-but you can't do this!" Spectra had used up all of her arguments by now. She tried twisting out of her restraints once more, the chair clacking against the floor. "People know that I'm missing! You kidnapped me in broad daylight, you really think-"

Aranea calmly tapped the woman on the head, putting her into a trance. Aranea made sure that the woman could see and hear everything around her but couldn't do anything about it. It would be troublesome if she decided to start screaming.

"I can do this, Penelope. And no one is going to look for a woman kidnapped by a literal ghost. You know that." Aranea flipped through the study more before closing it, glaring at the title. Maybe she'd find a way to burn all the copies later. "You taught me quite a bit before I died, you know. You taught me how to hurt other people. You taught me how to turn my own mother away. You even taught me how to turn people against themselves."

Aranea felt the pulse of her obsession flit from her core. If it hadn't been acting up, she would've realized how insane this was. But the pulse of it kept her mind focused on this, for better or worse.

"Now I'm going to put those teaching to good use."


"We were so close to getting off parole." Vriska mumbled, flying through the air invisibly. She mostly followed Karkat, though kept her eyes peeled for her sister. "Obsessions or not, she had to pull this shit? For fuck's sake."

"Look, your case should be fine as long as you don't try anything while you're out here. I can't really say anything for Aranea." Karkat wondered how Redglare would react to this. He suspected that the older Serket would be in a good heap of trouble for this. "She might need to be stuck on house arrest depending on what she's doing to Spectra. She wouldn't kill her, right?"

"No? I mean, she hated her, but I don't think she'd go that route." Vriska didn't sound completely sure, which did nothing to reassure Karkat at all. Probably why she decided to change the subject. "Why'd you pick this part of town again? It kind of looks like shit."

She wasn't wrong, though he did feel his town pride rile up at the jab. He picked the more rundown part of town as his "section" when they were dividing up where to look for Spectra and the ghost that kidnapped her. He had a feeling Aranea would want a place where they wouldn't be disturbed, and this part of town had some abandoned places far away enough from civilization.

"I have a theory on where she might've gone. Besides, it keeps my dad and the Maryam's far away from the action." Karkat reminded himself to message Aradia and Sollux when he did find Aranea's location. They were in a neighboring section, so they could get here and alert everyone else, so he'd have time to neutralize the situation. "And don't dodge the question. This is serious. If your sister does something irreversible, Redglare will put her away for good."

"I really don't think Aranea will kill her." Vriska paused, thinking it over. She decided to add onto it. "She wouldn't do it immediately, at least. I think she'd probably want to draw things out before she committed to that."

He really didn't like the sound of that. "Drawing it out" can mean a lot of things and none of them were exactly good when it came to a powerful ghost capturing a human.

"Is what Spectra did really that bad? I can't imagine she's actually done something worse this amount of revenge." This had been bothering him since this all started. Aranea was the more reserved and controlled Serket, so this reaction must've been tied to something horrible. "I know what you said earlier, but that doesn't exactly get specifically into what's wrong."

"It's… It's complicated. It started not long after I died." Vriska wasn't sure where to begin on that, but she just shrugged. Better he had context than not. "Did you know that I used to be the older sister before I died? Only by a year or two, still older."

He didn't know that something which he notified with only a short shake of his head. He couldn't really imagine her as the best kind of influence, quite honestly. Then again, Aranea probably learned to do the opposite of whatever Vriska did.

"I died at a pretty damn young age. There's no denying that. And since it was only me, her, and my mom, my loss apparently hit her pretty damn hard for some reason." Vriska shrugged. She didn't try to think of the details of her death too often, especially the aftermath. "After they both got into a depressive episode, they eventually started therapy. Spectra wasn't Aranea's first one, but she was definitely the last one.

"Apparently she seemed pretty nice when they first met. Spectra always agreed with everything she said, encouraged certain things she liked to do, and even got her interested in psychology." The ghost sighed, eyes pulsing with energy. "Apparently those first two things were what Spectra was after."

"You mean the study Spectra was conducting?"

"Exactly. Turns out she wanted to see the results of negative coping mechanisms on a grieving youth. Short and long term. That included lots of things." Vriska started counting on her fingers. The story had been told to her multiple times when Aranea was overly tired or in a similar state. "Isolating herself for long periods of time. Cutting off friendships she'd made a long time ago. Everything."

"…Everything?"

"Aranea wised up at some point before Spectra could outright suggest drugs or alcohol. It was sometime before college that she figured out something was wrong." Vriska let out a breath. "She tried to sue her sometime after she turned eighteen. Like I said before, the case went on for several years before being left out. She even told me she was heading to the courthouse to make them reconsider when… when she died."

Car crash. A random accident. Still tragic, though in a different way than he expected.

Vriska was quiet for a little bit. She thought things over before something decided to slip out, most likely without her permission.

"I think my family is cursed with having the best luck sometimes, but the worst luck at others. Hell, look at the two of us." She laughed hollowly, lacking any real mirth or pain to it. It formed a pit in Karkat's stomach. "Both of us died miserable and through horrible circumstances, but we eventually came back and found each other. I don't know statistics that well, but I can't say the chances of that are high at all."

Yeah. Chance. Like her Aspect.

Maybe Light was a more fitting Aspect of hers than he thought.

His phone buzzed, tearing him from his line of thought. The halfa grabbed it checking to see what it meant.

FAA: n0 mercy.

Karkat blinked at that, wondering if Future Aradia was telling him to kill Aranea for a second. Then a thought entered his mind, confirming his hypothesis from earlier.

"I think I know where she is." Karkat sped up before the blonde could respond, prompting her to join him. They'd already been heading there, so it didn't take long to find the location on sight. "I was right. She decided to pick a pretty thematic place."

Karkat looked over the remains of the abandoned hospital, frowning to himself as the town lore crossed his mind once again.

North Mercy Hospital hadn't been a big place when it had been founded, but it was one of the few care facilities in town before other hospitals came up. It was one of the oldest buildings in Amity Park and used to be the most trusted.

That ended sometime in the early 1960's caused a huge outbreak, leading to mass quarantines and panic in the town. When the majority of it died down, it was found to have started in North Mercy due to poor conditions. Their handling of said patients, which had been negligent at first to severe later on, led to mass anger and the eventual closing of the facility. The sign at the front of it showed the nickname it got years after it closed.

"No Mercy Hospital?" Vriska narrowed her eyes, looking at the halfa in disbelief. "Are you sure this place wasn't haunted before your dad opened that portal?"

"Haunted? Nah." Karkat sighed, smoke coming out of his mouth and through the gas mask. Aranea was here after all. "But I have to admit, this place is fucking cursed."

The wind was his only response to that joke.


"And what exactly made you decide on the psychology track when you went into college?" Aranea kept writing down her notes, a long trail of things she picked on growing by the minute. "You certainly don't seem to be the altruistic type. You didn't help your parents as much as you could've."

"Money, mostly. I wanted to get my own income easily and growing up without money made me want a lot of it." Spectra said it in a monotone. Aranea had kept her under tight control the entire time, if only to make the psychological dissection easier. "Considering the large demand back home, I figured it would be a good start."

"That is true. Taking care of a child would set your parents back a bit. I can't imagine you going into such a field would've helped with that." Aranea fought back a smile as the woman's eyes twitched. "I really hope it didn't take you long to get it that degree of yours."

The process she decided to commit to was very much like the one she had done to her many years ago. Pick apart at every little thought, every insecurity, and turn it outward for everyone to see. Make her the most miserable she would ever be, like how she was when she was a kid.

Aranea would've never really done this in her right mind. She did have to bring people down sometimes when she worked on to get her dose of misery, but never enough to actually hurt long term.

She didn't even know what she'd do after this now that she thought about it. Aranea did want to make Spectra feel everything she did, but now that some of the fog was clearing her mind, she realized she was right when she said this wasn't planned at all. Maybe she could-

(kill her)

…Aranea blinked, her obsessions faltering for a second. That wasn't part of the plan. She was on parole. Killing someone wouldn't do anything good for her, much less Vriska.

…Wait, what was she doing now? The ghost blinked at Spectra, who had kept babbling after she had asked a question. Did she kidnap this woman? Dear lord, she lost control of herself, didn't she? All she remembered was Karkat mentioning Spectra and she blanked out.

A deep sense of cold floated through her. The ghost couldn't help but be reminded of the crash, how it happened in the winter. It had been early enough, and the roads had been closed, meaning nobody would find her. She had survived the initial crash, but the cold eventually got to her. She wondered if it was just as cold for Vriska-

(she needs to feel everything)

-would probably wonder where she was! She didn't even leave a note about her patient. How silly of her. She probably was worried sick!

"Aranea! Are you in here? We're just here to talk."

Oh, looks like she decided to visit her today! Strange, she usually didn't do that. Aranea really should've left a note after all. She must've been worried.

"Serket, we need you to give up Spectra! This isn't how you try and get justice."

Vantas too? She wasn't aware those two were friends. Then again, they seem to be chatting with each other more often, so maybe this wasn't too surprising. She should really go down there and-

(not finished, can't let them stop it)

-make sure they didn't get in the way. She wasn't done with Spectra yet.

Aranea got up suddenly, Spectra stopping her incessant chattering. Aranea snapped her fingers, making the woman go into a deep sleep.

Wordlessly, she headed towards the door, phasing through it as shadows slipped onto her arms. Her obsession droned in her head, like a siren loud enough to vibrate in someone's bones. The temperature around her dropped.

And deep within her mind, her rational side continued trying to scream.


"Seriously? This isn't how you try and get justice?" Vriska punched him in the arm before looking at the wreck of a hospital. "I know you're supposed to be a superhero, but how corny can you get?"

"It's not supposed to be profound. I'm just trying to get her attention." Karkat really didn't like being here. The rot to this place creeped him out, even if his gas mask prevented him from breathing it in. "I just hope she hasn't done anything stupid. How long would she try and draw things out?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen her go obsession-crazy before, so this is kind of new territory for me." Vriska handled her guitar with a tight hand. She wasn't joking about it being the first time. "If anything, you've got more experience than I do. You've had to deal with it, what, six times by now?"

"Does that count when he went obsessions-crazy himself, or did we just forget about that?"

Karkat growled as Vriska pulled her guitar closer to herself. Aranea must've found them first.

"I really don't understand why we don't talk about that more. Considering I was almost decapitated because of it, I certainly haven't forgot it." Aranea stuck to the shadows, and Karkat couldn't see her directly. He could barely see her slinking across certain walls, toying with them. "And yet, it's a bad thing when I give in to my own obsession? I really don't understand your logic here."

"Aranea, I won't claim that this is any different to my freak out, but that just makes it all the more important that you don't do this." Karkat slowly brought a sickle, keeping it to his side. "I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I'd finished it. You won't be able to live with yourself if you do anything permanent."

"You're forgetting we're dead, right? We've been dead for a long ass time now." Vriska's joke only got her a glare from Karkat. "Alright, fine. He's not wrong, Aranea. Besides, you're on parole right now and you don't want to get on Redglare's bad side."

"Listen to your sister! If she thinks it's a bad idea, then you should know that it's a really bad one." Karkat received a glare in return. But hey, fair is fair. "Aradia and Sollux are on their way too. And if that doesn't convince you, a lot more people armed with ghost weapons will fall behind soon enough. Don't push this."

"I don't think I'm going to listen to you. This whole superhero thing is just a distraction for you, and I feel like we need to talk about that." A large, shadowy hand suddenly grabbed Vriska without warning. Aranea didn't look at her sister as she reared her hand back. "Can you give us a moment, Vriska?"

She didn't bother waiting for an answer, throwing her sister out of the hospital. Vriska thankfully had time to go intangible before she could hit anything. Karkat sincerely hoped the fact she warned Vriska meant that Aranea hadn't gone completely over the edge.

"Why does it always have to end in violence, Aranea? You're supposed to be the smart one here." Karkat raise the sickle, pouring his ecto-energy into it. "And yet all roads lead to this."

A chair was thrown his way, leaving no more room for conversation. Karkat sliced it in half with a swing of ecto-energy, throwing a few more blasts as he flew upwards. Aranea dodged with a slither, sending ice spikes his way.

"Do you want to know something "Phantom?" This whole superhero exercise isn't an act of good faith on your part." Aranea threw an ecto-blast his way before continuing to dodge. "You're just trying to distract yourself from all the things going on around. Being a superhero is just a coping mechanism."

Karkat threw several ecto-blasts, all of which she dodged. When she got close enough, she tried swinging at him, missing barely. This opened up to him trying to swing at her, his blade missing her by an inch.

"Your life has certainly become a long line of trauma's, hasn't it? Your death, the constant fighting, dealing with the ramifications of life after death. It's just been one thing after another for you."

Aranea grew her hands bigger, slamming both of them together in order to squash him. He was able to slip past, though the force caused him to hit a wall hard. Cracking under his weight, he launched off of it with his feet, the added speed allowing him to punch her in the gut. She growled before continuing.

"But instead of actually dealing with those feelings, what do you do? You take that frustration and trauma and take it out on other ghosts. You increase the fighting all around you by making it everyone else's problem, even when your "help" isn't needed."

Karkat knew what she was doing. She was trying to get into his head, make him more likely to screw up. He wouldn't let her to do that.

He got behind her after a particularly heavy swing, grabbing a table and hitting her in the back with it. It broke into pieces as it connected, though she had enough time to back hand him with one of her transformed hands. He flew back but caught himself before he could fly down the hallway.

"It's pointless aggression! And considering your family, maybe that shouldn't be a surprise. Your father certainly isn't the best role model when it comes to dealing with these things, isn't he?"

"Shut up."

Karkat got close before he fired ecto-blasts into her chest, knocking her back. He let out some more, some hitting before she eventually recovered, dodging, and slithering across the walls and floors. A few ice spikes were sent his way for the trouble.

"Oh, don't pretend that I'm not right here. The man not only killed you, but Oberon too. How does it feel, knowing the one person you trust most killed two people? And the only other victim doesn't want anything to do with you except if it involves getting revenge on him."

Karkat growled, something which he couldn't help but kick himself for. He said he wouldn't react to this. This wasn't her actually speaking, this was her obsession talking.

That didn't stop him from breaking a spike and throwing it her way. The blunt end hit her shoulder, allowing him to throw more. This ended with her getting hit harder by them as she recovered from the first.

"He made you what you are today. Neither a human nor a ghost. You will never fully fit in with the rest of us. You're not even accepted by one of your own kind."

The halfa would regret letting his next swing go wild there, his rage coming to the surface unheeded. The blunt end of his sickle tried to connect with her shoulder, though she barely moved to dodge it. Aranea hit him in the gut with a blast of her own, followed by throwing him into the wall.

"What is a halfa, I wonder? Are you just some ghost that can't handle what happened to you,"

She grabbed him before he could recover, shoving him into the ground. A multitude of eyes looked into his red ones; his face contorted into rage as hers split into a fanged smile.

"Or are you just some creep little kid with creepy little powers?"

Karkat felt his rage spike.

"I said," He put his legs under her, rearing them before kicking them. "Shut. Up!"

His kicked connected with her gut, causing Aranea to hit the ceiling hard. Before she could react, the halfa flew up, grabbing the ghost by the throat as he forced her through the ceiling up into the second floor, having it crumble under the pressure. He threw her to the side, hitting her with a continuous ecto-blast from both hands. It sent her through the wall and into a locked room.

Karkat flew on in, barely noticing that Aranea had shifted into her more human form, trying to get onto unsteady legs. He raised a hand holding a sickle, ready to swing before…

"Karkat, stop!"

A guitar got in the way of the sickle, the blunt end of the weapon causing it to crack as Vriska stopped him from nearly giving Aranea brain damage. Vriska was even able to put her sister into literal ice before she could escape.

"Okay, you won't hear this from me any other time, but I think it's time to stop fighting." Vriska held up as the halfa's eyes switched to her, his grip on the sickle only tightening. She smiled nervously as he pulled back, narrowing his eyes at her. "You should cool off, dude. I'll get her to see some sense."

Karkat wanted to argue, feeling the insane urge just to literally knock some sense into Aranea himself, but stopped himself. His blood was boiling, and he knew he couldn't do this without being emotionally compromised.

"Fine. I'm going to find Spectra, though. She better not be hurt." Karkat knew he was being harsh, but he really didn't feel like he was in the mood to get himself in line. "I'm reporting all of this to Redglare. Obsession or not, this was all horrible."

"We'll be waiting on it." Vriska sighed as the halfa disappeared through a wall. She didn't know what pissed him off so much, but she figured it was something Aranea said. She was pretty good at it, in the worst way possible. "You really have fucked this up, sis. Maybe you should go on ice for a little bit."

"You should've let me finish up here first." Aranea growled, trying to get out of the ice prison. Vriska couldn't help but note that she was crying. "I told you everything she did. She deserves than what I gave her."

"Yeah, she definitely does. But I think you've done enough. Besides," Vriska shrugged, bitterly laughing to herself. "I used to be the older sister. I gotta set an example sometimes."

Her only response to that joke was shouting and the wind going on loudly outside.


When Kanaya had been called about how Spectra had been found, she was simultaneously happy, yet somehow disappointed by the anticlimax. Of course, the former was highly dominant over the latter, but there were some factoids that fueled the latter.

While Spectra had been found by Karkat and his friends, the ghost had apparently disappeared without a trace. Not only had the tracker not found anything, the reason they found her was because she was just standing on the side of the road. Wherever the living shadow went, it was gone.

The second fact that made her feel restless was the fact that Spectra, while physically unharmed, had barely said anything since she was found. It started out as a trance, but when she finally started acting normally, she kept tight lipped about the entire thing. Mumbled something about patients, studies, along with a string of nonsense that made little sense.

It was clear she was traumatized by whatever happened but unwilling to say what those events were.

Kanaya watched as the policemen they called talked to her, most likely getting the same result they did. Spades had been honest about everything, which didn't help, so she honestly wondered what they'd put in the reports.

"Are you just as confused as I am about what the hell's going on around here?" Porrim had finally gotten done talking to the police, moving to sit with her sister. Kanaya was actually glad for the company. "I think I've had enough for one day, personally."

"And yet, I feel like we've done very little to fix anything." Kanaya sighed deeply. Porrim certainly wasn't wrong, though she felt almost too passive in everything that happened. "As much as I hope this never happens again, if it does, I do want a more prominent role next time."

"Yeah, well, you might get your chance. I think mom is angling to make an extended visit here if at all possible." Porrim jerked her head to Rosa, who was talking to Spades about defense systems against ghosts. "She says that there are a few things she needs to set up for the daycare here, but I think she's staying for Karkat. Probably wants to keep an eye on him or something."

Kanaya did have to admit, that wasn't exactly an unappealing thought. She did want more opportunities to know Karkat more since he was, in a strange way, family. Not to mention this place would provide a few interesting psychological studies she could use for college.

"I'm not sure if I agree with her motives there, but it can't be too unpleasant to live here. Mind you, we should probably arm ourselves against ghosts." The poised girl really wished that wasn't a sentence she had to utter, but this was reality now. "Where is Karkat, by the way?"

It didn't take long to actually spot him, though it seems like he migrated away from the group a good bit. He was talking to two blondes a little way away. He looked notably less irritated than he was a little while ago, but he still seemed pissed off.

"Wanna go talk to them?" Porrim "innocently" offered. "Might be a good idea to know the locals better if we're going to live here."

"You just want to talk to the tall one because her skirt is short." Kanaya rolled her eyes as Porrim didn't bother looking offended by the insinuation. "Though, why not. Maybe they even go to school here."

The Maryam's walked their way over, something that Karkat seemed to notice immediately. He waved at the two of them with a strained smile, almost visually changing his tune.

"Hey Kanaya, Porrim. Really glad you haven't decided to high tail it out of here just yet." Karkat waved at the two blondes' behind him. "I was just catching up with these two. Any change in Spectra?"

"Nothing much. She still seems pretty out of it so far. The police are planning on getting her out of here soon." Porrim noticed the elder of the two women winced, almost looking guilty. "I'm guessing you just saw the flashing lights. Crazy, I know. I'm guessing this doesn't happen a lot around here."

"Hmm?" The older blonde blinked, looking dazed. Kanaya couldn't help but think she looked tired, as if someone just woke her out of a deep slumber. "Oh, right. Some strange things have been going on, but this does take the cake a bit."

"Aranea, we've only lived her for a few months. This town might be filled with people doing crack or something." Kanaya couldn't help but note the rude one had an eyepatch. She seemed familiar somehow, though she couldn't remember where she'd seen her. "I mean, I haven't seen any. That hospital might make a good one, though…"

"Vriska, please stop. Save it for comedy club or something." Karkat rolled his eyes, obviously used to smaller blonde's personality. He looked at Aranea, face going stern for a little bit. "Aranea, I'd suggest taking a few days off. You're barely standing on your own feet right now."

Another wince this time. Kanaya figured it was out of awkwardness, but it looked guilty once again. Did she overwork a lot?

"I'll be sure too." Aranea seemed eager to get out of the conversation, turning around to head down the empty street. "Sorry to be rude, but I do have leave right now. I hope you two enjoy Amity Park!"

"Or don't! It's kind of a hellhole around here!" Vriska went to follow her sister, waving goodbye with very little care. "If you like that, then this place it perfect for you!"

Kanaya raised an eyebrow at their odd behavior, though that was replaced with slight alarm when she heard rapid footsteps come up behind them. They all turned to find Spectra moving towards them, out of breath.

"Who was that?" Spectra's eyes were wild, looking everywhere as if there was something hiding behind every corner. "Was that her? She couldn't be here. I had to have imagined it."

"Uh, ma'am? Miss Spectra?" Karkat raised his arms, catching the red heads attention quickly. He looked ready to grab her just in case. "Shouldn't you still be with the officers? You're still shock right now, and I don't think you should leave them until you're better."

"But she was right there! Was that other girl her sister?" Kanaya perked up at that. Did Spectra know those two? "She shouldn't be here either. How are they here?"

"You know what, I'm going take you back to the police." Karkat gingerly moved the traumatized woman away from them, giving the Maryam's an awkward smile. "Sorry. We'll have to talk later. I'll see you around town?"

Kanaya nodded dumbly, watching the boy walk away with the Spectra. She looked behind her, noting that Aranea and Vriska had already disappeared somehow. She didn't know why, but the fact that they vanished so quickly made her uneasy.

"Man, this place is weird." Porrim echoed Kanaya's thought without meaning too, looking around at the small town. "I think I'll like it here, though. Seems like it'll keep us busy for a good while."

Kanaya agree with her whole heartedly at that.


Alright! I think that may have been bit quick, but I felt like some of this was needed. I really wanted to do some stuff differently, but again, I am working on introducing everyone one way or another. A large cast means some people will be left out of the spotlight sometimes.

Also; we got more playlists! Hopefully you all enjoy these, cause some of them are either overdue or fitting. Remember, I do have to stretch some since I try not to repeat songs during multiple playlists.

Aranea: playlist/191lwqJqYEZ6UoPtjQPHCU

Rosa: playlist/4DwVT3mg02Qefupcm25xnO

Porrim: playlist/3xYnobd2hm8LNIbBcD1JdO

Kanaya: playlist/5E5o6Wf33M7aN31cxzxuep

Hopefully you'll take a listen and I'll see you all next chapter!