This little arc is going to be dramatic as hell and crowded too. So, prepare yourselves.

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

The days after the mass ghost attack was exhausting for everyone. The town had seen what a full force of angry ghosts could do if given proper motivation (if you could call it that), and the evidence was clear as day as to how it went.

Karkat glared as the news recounted the events for third time. So far, it hadn't made national news, but the entire state probably knew what had happened by now. He figured the only reason it wasn't any bigger was the government was hiding it, but he wasn't entirely sure.

Whatever. He was exhausted anyway. He'd been doing as much research as he could into the stuff the Makara's had on them, and it was coming up with the usual shit. Stolen items, both from Earth and the Ghost Zone. Various violations of human and ghost rights. Hell, the ghosts he had to bring to Redglare after were a nightmare to deal with since apparently some hadn't even known they were dead.

Redglare at least was getting a power boost from all the new ghosts in her territory. Of course, she was also telling them he was partially in charge too, which made him a little uncomfortable. But, she said it would make him stronger, and she'd already started it with Littlemeyer and the Box Ghost, who could ease them into believing it. It apparently kept them more stable, and also made sure her power boost wasn't too strong and drove her obsession-crazy.

It still made him uncomfortable, though. He'd have to figure out something else to that.

At least at home, the chaos here was easier to deal with.

"These notes are either the best thing to have ever happened to me, or the worst thing that's ever happened to me." Spades went through the small packet of information that had been hastily put together. He was transcribing it into his computer, while putting anything confusing on a chalk board. "Phantom just drops this shit at my door while I've been researching it all my life. Un-fucking-believable."

Karkat had made some time to give some information on ghosts to his dad sometime after the fight. It wasn't too comprehensive, but enough that it would keep Spades distracted. Some of it was on how ghosts formed, some on specific ghosts that showed up, and social stuff like quadrants. Nothing about Aspects or anything too complicated, though. Too much, and Spades would think Phantom is lying.

"Why are you putting playing card symbols up on the board again?" Karkat lazily remarked, eating his breakfast. It was the weekend, thankfully, so he wasn't in a rush to move out the front door. "Some kind of romance system? Not something I expected from ghosts."

"Yeah, me neither. I can't make heads or tails of it." At least Spades agreed it was a little confusing. "Somehow, it ain't even the worst of it either. According to Phantom, ghosts can not only form from the dead, but they can reproduce too. Like humans do."

Karkat cringed. No matter how old you get or how clinical it was, hearing your parents talk about sex was still weird. "Dad-"

"Hey, I'm as surprised as you are." Spades fired back, focusing on the wrong thing. He scratched the back of his neck, staring down at the packet again. "For some reason, Phantom marked the third way like it was important. Which is weird, since it's the rarest way it could happen."

Karkat knew what he was talking about. The third way, where ghosts can form due to massive disturbance in ectoplasm or psychic shift in an area, was one he marked to throw his dad off his scent.

"Maybe he's trying to tell you something. I can't imagine he'd put it down there if he wasn't pointing to himself." Karkat led with that, hoping it would point his dad to the right direction. "He does seem to want you to trust him. It could be important."

"Important how? It isn't like he's going to tell me how he… formed." Spades paused for a few seconds, thinking over the latest hypothesis before moving around again. "Fuck. That would make sense. Why the fuck is he telling me that though?"

Karkat shrugged, letting his dad go through the motions himself. His dad already had another chalkboard set up solely for Phantom, and he could see him writing down guess after guess on it in rapid fire.

"Remember, you have that meeting you need to get to later." Karkat felt it was important to inform him. Spades' little "Midnight Crew" were finally coming around and joining in on his studies. "You're old ghost hunting crew are meeting up at the nearest lab, right?"

"Yeah, that space I was able to get rented out. Can't believe it's finally happening." Spades was able to snap out of his mumbling long enough to remember it. His attention really kept on getting divided between so many things today. "God, haven't worked with those asshats in a long time. Did I ever tell you that time one of them found a cane and nearly destroyed this one house we were investigating with it?"

"Yeah. About four different times, actually." Karkat remembered that the guy had apparently found out it was made from a bull's scrotum. Apparently, his dad's friend hadn't taken it well when he figured out what it was.. "I'm still sure that's a form of animal cruelty. Where did he even get it?"

"It was a rich guy's house, so what do you expect? Probably got it from the black market or some shit." Spades paused before getting back to his studies. "Don't you have to meet with your friends too? Shouldn't keep them waiting for too long either, kid."

Karkat closed his mouth, the reminder actually making him sour. It was weird that it did, but he figured he already knew the reason why. Other than messaging them after the raid, they all went dark to think about things. And he certainly had some things to think about.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going." Karkat huffed, forcing it to sound joking. "If you want me out of here so bad, I'll go."

"Don't get dramatic."

Karkat laughed at that, heading towards the door. He sobered up quickly, though, almost hesitating before getting out completely.

He wasn't looking forward to the conversation today. Not with what he was planning on talking about.

Redglare knew logically that being in the Far Frozen wouldn't hurt her since dragons weren't cold blooded. She was also technically dead and was only a dragon half of the time, so it wasn't a big deal.

Didn't make standing in an ice fortress all the less jarring though. At least Nebit was keeping them all occupied by either asking Frostbite questions about the Far Frozen's history and occasionally teasing Signless.

"So," Nebit drawled out slowly, running a claw across the man's shoulder. "Was being the mysterious type a thing that came naturally to you, or is this whole thing something you had to cultivate? It works, but I'm just saying..."

Redglare chuckled along with Frostbite. Signless, who was visibly flustered, glared at them for it. Honestly, for someone working with technical gods, he was surprisingly easy to mess with.

"For your information, he wasn't always like this. Back before he could use sign language, he always tried talking in that voice of his, despite it hurting his own ears." Frostbite shook his head, clicking his tongue at the memory. "And even if his voice intimidated people, he always said something that would negate all of it. Fond memories, right Signless?"

Signless didn't need any of the sign language he actually knew to give him a very clear, if rude, gesture. It only caused more laughter to erupt in the room.

"And here I was, expecting you to be stoic and professional." Redglare could see Signless roll his eyes, putting his cloak around himself. God, he was probably her age and was acting like an edgy dork. "I'm guessing you were only all mysterious because you hadn't even met my kids before."

Signless simply brought his hands out, signing stiffly.

"Had to make a good first impression. You only ever get one." Signless paused before resuming, shrugging. "Plus, teenagers are scary. They can sense weakness a mile away."

"You're not wrong. As a mother of two weird, lovable kids, I would know." Nebit taught her kids to do that, and Redglare was a judge who taught her kids to learn that skill, but she digressed. "Speaking of kids, though, how are yours doing, Frostbite? Nepeta didn't get to know them well, but she said they were memorable at least."

"Well... They're doing just fine. At least, Calliope is." Frostbite sighed in frustration, running a hand through his mane. "Caliborn has been acting quite strangely since his encounter with that doctor. If he can be called that."

"Yeah. We've had to build some different defenses at the jail because of him just in case he decides to get a little bold. Not to mention against Dualscar." Redglare flitted her sword towards Frostbite before he could open his mouth. "And no, I'm not letting you find that guy for your prophecy stuff. I already don't like you getting my kid accidentally involved with it."

"I don't exactly like the idea of Nepeta joining in either. She always liked those stories, so I know she'd be suckered in." Nebit wasn't being harsh. Her daughter was very big into those types of things, even outside of her shipping. "I know you and Signless here are dedicated to this, but maybe think of them first."

"I never said I was thrilled with this either. I was personally hoping they'd be our age, but fate apparently is a young adult author." Signless quickly signed. He gave a shrug at Frostbite's betrayed look. "It's nothing against you, old friend. I'm not trying to bring up that stuff from before."

"That… Alright, fair." Frostbite figured it would be best to go down the road of least resistance right now. It wasn't like they didn't have a point. "In all fairness, there is a large possibility the prophecy, or prophecies, won't happen in too short a time. They could be adults by the time some events truly begin."

Static from a walkie talkie caused the conversation to halt. Frostbite picked it up, putting it by his ear before groaning.

"Looks like I spoke too soon." Frostbite grabbed some tools from off the wall nearby, growling under his breath. "Looks like there's been activity in a place of interest to us. And if it's what we think it is, I would appreciate some help on this one."

"Does it involve the Muse's Temple?" Signless got a nod, causing the man to straighten out into his more serious act. "Do we need to involve Caliborn and Calliope into this? I don't think they're ready to deal with this."

"No one is every ready for anything. I'm certainly not." Frostbite sighed, turning to the guests. "I'm not joking about appreciating any help I can get. This is a very serious matter, and I suppose I need to know if we can work together in the future."

"Sounds good to me. Don't know what you mean by Muse's Temple, but I can probably swing it." Nebit played with her claws, giving a look to Redglare. "How about you?"

"Just as long as we can keep it quiet, I'll deal with it." Redglare raised an eyebrow. "Why do your kids have to be involved with this?"

"It's important. Especially to Calliope." Frostbite turned, heading towards an exit. "We leave in ten minutes. Feel free to stop by the armory if you need to."

The three adult ghosts followed behind, some more reluctant than others. The day was only beginning, but they wouldn't know that until it was far too late.

"I don't think this is particularly ethical."

"Yeah, I know, but I'm getting sick of this, and we need to know what they're doing next so we can plan around it."

Kanaya could understand the sentiment coming from Feferi, despite having some misgivings. Playing around with this secret identity nonsense was starting to wear down on her and she figured that even if they up and told Karkat, it would end up being less stressful than in the long run.

Spying on him and his friends was a touch bit far, though.

"How did you exactly bug one of their phones again?" Kanaya figured it was through the power of simply being rich, but she figured she should know how to cover her own bases. "I wouldn't have pegged you as knowing how to do that. No offense, of course."

"No, I get it. I tried looking into computer programming once and got a headache from all the lines and lines of numbers." Feferi waved her phone around, giving it a glare. "And I didn't bug one of their phones. Sollux apparently bugs every one of his friends according to Eridan. I found the program on mine and it turns out it can work both ways. I'd check yours at some point just in case."

"Noted." Kanaya looked at her own phone with open suspicion, scooting it away. She suddenly felt a little less guilty, if slightly creeped out. "And what exactly do we plan on doing here? I don't think this will really be constructive at all."

"Probably not, but I'm running out of ideas here." Feferi huffed. She rested her head on the table, looking frustrated with herself, as well as everything around her. "I think we're running out of options here when it comes to looking into this and I'm sure we know enough to make a decision here. But..."

Kanaya didn't have question what the "But" meant. It was fairly obvious to her as well.

"We were planning on just telling him. I'm guessing that hasn't changed?" Kanaya received a nod, rolling with it as much as she could. "We're just going to have to face the music. If another attack like the one that prevented us from talking last time happens again, he might need more reinforcements."

"Yeah. Eridan has been quiet since that started too. At some point I'm going to have to figure out what's going on with him too." Feferi had been worried. Eridan could deal with some things, but she wasn't sure if he was actually ok right now. "I can't believe that he's been able to hide whatever it was from me for so long. I should've known more about that."

"If Karkat has any answers, hopefully he'll be able to share them with us. For what it's worth, Eridan probably isn't meaning to hide it from you out of mistrust." Kanaya couldn't speak for the guy, especially since she thought he was a little jerk. But it seemed like he liked Feferi well enough at least. "Though, I am afraid of what we could possibly learn."

"And you don't think I'm terrified either?" Feferi let out a laugh, fiddling with the phone again. "I don't know what he's involved in, but I'm actually scared to figure out. Karkat lying to me and being involved with this is one thing, but I've known Eridan forever."

"You'd be surprised what you learn about people. I didn't even know Karkat existed for a very long while before my mother admitted to adopting Karkat's father." Kanaya remembered that day. Porrim had found an old picture of Kankri, and it unlocked a lot of old memories. "But he isn't the focus right now. What we do need to focus on is this."

"…You have a point. Karkat would know if something was wrong." Feferi felt a chill at the thought. Oberon crossed her mind, and she wasn't sure why. "Any movement?"

"Aradia and Sollux have been at the booth for a little bit, but they haven't been talking. Seems like they're uncomfortable." Kanaya frowned, eyes narrowing. "Karkat's walking through the door. I think we can turn on the bug now."

Feferi picked up her phone, pushing away the feelings on what they were doing. She needed to get this over with, but not before figuring out where Karkat was at first.

With a quick swipe, the audio turned on to the conversation.

"Bout time that you get here. I was starting to think we'd have to order without you." Sollux said it casually, but he could tell from Karkat's stiff gait that they were about to have a serious conversation. "You look constipated, as per usual. Something you want to share?"

"Sollux, this really isn't the time." Aradia was going through the news on her phone, keeping an eye on things. "Karkat, how's your dad doing? Is he taking all that information you dropped off well?"

"Mostly. Some things like the quadrants are confusing him, but that's understandable, but other than that, he's taking it well." Karkat figured Spades would have to come up with some kind of theories of his own after meeting with his cohorts. "If anything, he's overjoyed. Maybe giving him a full interview as Phantom might ease him off the anti-ghost schtick."

"I'd think we could probably talk to him now if we need to. But then again, we should wait a while after the whole mass attack thing blows over." Aradia had seen the articles repeated over and over again. It wasn't looking good. "Did you hear Axion Labs is going through some shit? Can't imagine Trizza is feeling okay about all of that."

"Isn't it kinda karma for how she's been since forever?" Sollux didn't really believe that. He honestly believed Trizza's family would bounce back from this fairly easily if things went well enough. "At least your dad said the force field was operational. Which, again, is a weird sentence to say."

"We should be used to it by now." Karkat tapped his fingers on the table impatiently. He didn't want to push this off any longer than he had to. "Look, I have a few things to say. Can we cut the banter for a second and just…? I don't know."

The desperation that slipped in caused the other two to wilt. It seemed like most of their conversations were serious nowadays.

"Fine. What's going on?" Sollux gently made sure to put Aradia's phone face down to prevent her attention from splitting. "Is it about what happened during the raid?"

"Yeah. I've been wondering about this for a while now and I think I might be coming to a decision here." Karkat took a breath, thinking it over before deciding to simply say it. "I don't know if I can be Phantom anymore."

There was a pause for a few seconds as the other two digested that information. Aradia was the one to start talking first, clearing trying to be careful with what she was going to say.

"Okay." Aradia winced, realizing how much of a bad start that was. She shook her head to start again. "I'm going to support you either way here, but that's kind of a big decision Karkat."

"Look, I fucking get that this is a little surprising, but I legitimately think this needs to end now. At least, we need to stop all of the extra shit." Karkat couldn't necessarily stop making sure his dad was protected from Dualscar, but if he had to deal with anything else, he was sure something bad would happen. "And I'm not gonna leave the town defenseless. I'm thinking maybe I could switch it over to Redglare or Frostbite, someone who could probably handle the town better."

"Not a bad plan, but why the change all of a sudden? Being a superhero isn't fun, I get it, but this seems like a big turn around." Aradia did understand. She just didn't get why now. "We've already done a lot of stuff to get here."

"I-I kinda think it's a good idea." Sollux was knocked a little, but he could follow the logic. "We have a lot more options than we did when we started. Redglare probably would appreciate being more hands on."

"It's not just that. You know how my obsession has been acting up lately?" Karkat gulped, feeling the memory of the past few freak-outs come to him. The other two's faces showed they were thinking about it too. "They've been getting worse lately. I know obsession is, y'know, exactly what it says on the tin, but I don't think I can indulge it anymore without someone getting killed."

"Karkat, that's understandable and all, but I think we're all in a little too deep here to stop now." Aradia started counting on her fingers as she remembered everything that had happened so far. "So many ghosts know that a halfa exists, a lot of them know your face, and Dualscar definitely isn't going to let up."

"Maybe we should talk about this later?" Sollux said meekly. He could see Karkat's hackles rise and knew that an impending argument was heading their way. It'd been a long time coming, but he didn't want to air this out right now. "Preferably not with a bunch of people present."

"No, we need to talk about this now. Are you not hearing me, Aradia? We're done." Karkat was doing his best to put some finality into this, which was only making things more tense. "Do you know how many times I've almost killed someone since I started being Phantom? Every time I've gotten too obsessed, I've nearly decapitated someone."

"Maybe if you actually included us more, you wouldn't have to worry about that so much!" Aradia stood up, making the halfa lean back. It was rare to see her this angry, especially since she was normally cheerier than this. "I can count on the times you've let us fight instead of focusing on evacuating people on one hand. One hand!"

"Guys, you're making a scene." Sollux pulled her down, giving a glare to a passing couple. They looked away, moving fast to avoid them. "And she's got a point there, KK. You don't really involve us that often and that might be a good idea."

"It's nothing personal or anything. I can't have you guys publicly fighting with me, especially since I'm apparently getting more attention than ever." Karkat raised a good point, even if both of them were wary to agree. The secret identity stuff would be null and void if people saw two of his friends helping a ghost. "And, you know, think about this too; we're just teenagers. Redglare has always had a point about this, but we're not adults with years of experience. This is starting to get more and more dangerous, and I think I'm only realizing that since I get hurt so much from the ghost fights."

Sollux just frowned, leaning back in his seat while Aradia pursed her lips at the wound. Again, a horribly good point.

"...We don't like seeing you get hurt. We've already seen you die, man." The admission from Sollux hurt Karkat. He didn't mean to sling guilt on them. He just wanted to make sure they understood. "But this whole prophecy thing and all that sounds unavoidable. How are we going to avoid that shit?"

"We'll find a way. Prophecies are either guidelines at best or predictions that people take too seriously at worst." Karkat sighed, running a hand through his hair. "We can find a way to handle this. I don't think we have the option not to face this anymore."

"Okay. I... I'm sorry for getting angry there. The news has really been getting to me and I don't know what to do about it anymore." Aradia picked her phone back up, giving the screen a once over. "I mean, they're apparently making a government branch- what the fuck?!"

The curse cut short any other part of the conversation quick. Aradia shoved the phone into Karkat's hands in a panic. "Look!"

Karkat did, and when his eyes finally caught the screen, he wished he didn't.

"Bullshit that happened." Diamonds Droog punched Spades in the arm, eliciting a laugh from the other man. "Some ghost actually decides you aren't annoying the first time you meet and listens to you twice? That's a goddamn miracle."

"What's a miracle is how you're such a surly bastard and somehow raised Aradia!" Spades dodged the other blow that came from his friend. "And hey, if he left me alone, it would've been the fact I was armed, not because of my personality."

"Yes, that part only works on anyone you're trying to date." Hearts Boxcar was dealing out cards again, ignoring the general chaos Diamonds and Spades usually brought to any event. "Please don't tip over the table, otherwise I'll throw it at your heads."

"Hey, don't! I need a place to put these macaroons and I'm not putting them on that lab table." Clubs Deuce put the bowl full of them on the table, swatting at Hearts. "Weren't you supposed to be going to those anger management things? You haven't changed a bit."

"None of us have. Despite having kids, apparently." Hearts gave Spades and Diamonds a raised eyebrow. "Speaking of which, I do want to be introduced to them. I've seen Aradia, but I certainly haven't heard much of Karkat."

"Hey, I've been busy. As you know, I'm now officially the leading scientist of this century." The group groaned as Spades boasted. The man rolled his eyes, hitting the table with a wide smile on his face. "Hey, it's true! Came a long way from our little troupe in college."

Spades wasn't wrong, but none of them would admit it. The Midnight Crew had changed quite a bit since they left college.

They had all met in college when Spades had been going through some of his tougher college classes and ended up working together on many different science projects together. The Midnight Crew name was inspired by an old song and many late nights trying to cram for papers or exams, or God forbid whatever else they were doing at the time. Some of it was ghost hunts, all of which ended up failing badly.

"I think I've done fine in raising two kids, thank you. Not sure how Spades succeeded, though." Diamonds started shuffling cards, chewing at the tobacco gum he was trying out. Heido had been trying to get him to stop smoking, but it wasn't the same. "Though, I don't think that's what you really want to talk about, Slick?"

"True, though I am willing to brag about my kid if you want." Spades rolled his eyes at the next set of groans. "Fine, fine. I was really thinking about getting the old group back together. You assholes can read me like a book still."

"Oh, right, that's what you were talking about in that email! I knew I should've reread that." Clubs scratched at his head. He could be a bit absent-minded, even at the best of times. "Are you sure you want us back? I'm sure the government would love to give you some of their own people if they want to."

"Yeah, but I actually know you guys better and know you're competent with the right motivation. Plus, they've been trying to horn in on my experiments a lot lately, and it's really getting annoying." Spades grumbled. The grant money was great, but he'd been able to do his research without too much oversight before. "Guess this is the price for being recognized for my work. Everyone wants a piece afterward."

"Yes, a surprise that the government would happily want to find ways to take control of new technology and possibly a new dimension." Hearts had plenty of opinions and buttons to push. Made his job as muscle for certain jobs a lot easier, honestly. "I think you just don't want to work with that Doc Scratch guy since you two know each other."

"And you think that isn't a valid reason? The guy's a complete and utter dick!" The comment earned Spades some laughter. "I'm serious! The guy is slimy, and I wouldn't trust him to hold a rubber knife without thinking he'll somehow stab me with it. Besides, he's a suck-up if you've ever seen one."

"Uh, yeah. I can definitely see it." Diamonds put down the cards to pick up a tv remote, pushing the volume up. "I can actually see it right now."

The questions that Spades was going to ask died on his lips when he looked at the screen. Doc Scratch was actually on tv this time, smiling politely as he talked to a woman on a television network. It was one of the more well-known news stations, and it looked like they were in the middle of an interview.

"...and the government believes that they should intervene with what's happening in Amity Park?" The reporter asked. Doc Scratch seemed to have her attention, though Spades always thought his smiles were unnerving. "What exactly is the government planning on doing? The situation does appear to be strange, but this seems a bit much for a small town."

"I would agree with you, but we aren't dealing with anything simple I'm afraid. This is a matter of life and death, and the balance between the two." Scratch stated carefully. The statement sent chills up Spades spine for some reason. "These videos and sightings are certainly not hoaxes, and that presents a problem; ghosts, whether we like it or not, exist and they seem intent on being in the world of the living."

"If that's true, what does the U.S. government intend to do about it?" The reporter leaned back as Scratch's smile turned wider. "I suppose you already have a plan."

"Yes, I do. You see, I've made some requests for the government to start a new initiative ever since Dr. Slick gave me a chance to view the 'Ghost Zone,' and I've finally been approved after so long." The screen changed after Scratch said this. Three letters were next to his head, formed into an acronym. "As of today, I have two announcements to make; the first is the formation of the Government Interdimensional Warfare department, which will start operation as soon as we're able."

The reporter looked taken aback, something Spades understood completely. Interdimensional warfare? What the hell was Scratch organizing? "And w-what's the second announcement?"

Something in Scratch's eyes turned smug. Another chill crawled on Slick's spine.

"I am officially ordering a bounty on the first ghost that has been sighted and has been repeatedly seen at all ghost attacks so far," Scratch said slowly. "The first person to catch Phantom will be awarded $20,000,000 for taking him down."

Spades suddenly felt hollow at those words, and he didn't understand why. Something told him things just got so much worse in such a short amount of time.

Yeah, that's what I decided to call the GIW. I'm pretty sure I saw something similar once and I don't remember where it came from, so if anyone does recognize or think a name is similar, feel free to link me. I'd like to at least have proper credit given due.

Either way, thank you and I'll see you next chapter.