Consider this the start of an intermission, because you can't have a Homestuck fic without intermissions. Either way, I hope you enjoy it.
Karkat hadn't been to Frostbite's castle all that much, but he did have to agree that it was relaxing. At the very least, it was a lot quieter than it had been back home. It was appreciated since the Muse fiasco ended up being so…
…Well, it was nice. That was the important part.
"She did return seemingly moments after she left." Frostbite murmured, writing down the testimony that Karkat had given him. The story was interesting, though Karkat had left out a few parts for the sake of privacy. "What in the world did you do to make her go back?"
"Just made a little deal with her to make sure she would go back quietly after a wager." The halfa refused to elaborate further. It wasn't a pretty picture no matter what he would say, and he didn't trust Frostbite like that yet. "Either way, the situation has been dealt with. I can't say if she'll try again, but I doubt it personally."
Apparently there'd been a ruckus when the Muse had escaped and when the ghosts were ready to start a manhunt for her, she'd come back. What had been a fuckton of resets involving time travel didn't even last five minutes for them, something that had been a relief to Karkat when he heard.
"I wouldn't get to comfortable just yet. I'm still not entirely sure what had gone wrong there during the ritual to keep her sealed." Frostbite grimaced. "Actually, that isn't fully true, but I'm not sure if I like the possibility of my guess being true."
"…It might've been Caliborn." Karkat noted the droop in the ghosts' shoulders, shaking his head. "Has he still been acting weird since his run-in with Scratch? I would've thought any delusions would've gone away by now."
"Usually, it would. But I still find him talking to himself about it, as well as the occasional drawing showing some less than encouraging things." Frostbite frowned, shifting through some of his papers. He handed one of them to Karkat. "Take a look at this one. I didn't understand it until I got a good look at the Muse herself."
Karkat carefully held the paper in his hands, squinting at crude drawings on the page. He could see the Muse, her black cloak looking tattered, but still flowing as she stood in front of another creature. It looked like a bulky Caliborn, carrying a staff, a jagged crown, and a large cloak that enveloped his body.
"If I didn't know about Lord English already, I'd assume your kid just made an original character or something." Karkat said in dull surprise. This was worrying, but nothing they needed to panic about just yet. "Are you planning on talking to him about it?"
"Soon enough. As for anything related to his "destiny," I'm planning on keeping it away from him. I'd keep Calliope involved, but then he'd accuse me of favoritism." Karkat didn't envy Frostbite. Fatherhood sounded like a ridiculous affair. "Though, that's enough about me. I've been wondering how things are going on your end?"
Karkat flinched at the question, feeling his hands ball up in reflex. He couldn't just not answer, though.
"Things are a little tough right now..."
"You bastard!"
It hadn't taken long for Sollux to get back on his feet. When the Muse finally left, his mood swung right into anger as he tried to land a hit on Karkat. The halfa, not having been in the right headspace, didn't seem to care much as he let them phase through him with little effort. He just watched as his friend futilely attack him before Aradia pulled him back.
"You could've- everything was fine! All you had to do was play along!" Sollux was putting up a decent fight, but Aradia was just stronger than he was. "You always have to be a stubborn asshole about it, though! Just can't deal with it if you think you're right."
"I didn't ask for you to make that wish." Karkat growled, just barely holding it together. Going through the portal accident once was bad. Reliving it a second time was worse. "And calm down. You're going to make a scene."
"Karkat, don't be a dick. There's no one else here right now." Aradia grunted as Sollux jerked forward. She could tell he was freaking out too since his face was perfectly blank, something that only happened when he really angry. "Sollux, we need to go. If we anyone sees us here after a ghost attack, we're going to be questioned."
Sollux seized at that, growling as he twisted out of her grip. He didn't attack Karkat anymore after that, though, just giving him a glare with a tear-stained face.
"Why?" Sollux shook his head, backing away before turning around completely. "Just fucking why?"
As Aradia followed behind, Karkat bristled and forced any energy that wanted to spark into his fingers down. He had two other issues to deal with right now.
Karkat flew fast, moving in front of Feferi and Kanaya. He must've done it too fast as they backed away from him enough to be noticeable. He felt his eye twitch, but he couldn't bring himself to care right now.
"I know you two probably have a fuckton of questions for me, but I'm not exactly stableright now." Karkat wanted to rip something apart, actually. He also wanted to scream. Maybe even cry a little bit. "I'll get to you when I can. There are some things we need to talk about that should be done sooner rather than later."
"Agreed. Take your time." Kanaya gulped, trying to lower the pitch of her voice. It sounded a little too shrill for her to feel comfortable. "We'll call you later. Or you'll call us?"
"Call us later when you're feeling a bit better." Feferi said, grabbing one of Kanaya's arms tight. She figured it would be good to clear the area before something happened. "Hope to see you back soon?"
Karkat didn't bother responding to that. He flew upward and then forward to get into the forest before they could so much as question where he was going. He didn't plan to go in too far, but he couldn't stand to be around here anymore.
He needed a place where if he started screaming, no one could hear it.
"...They're going to be fine, though." Still unsure about that, Karkat figured he should move on. "I've actually been meaning to ask you a few things considering halfa's. And maybe this little prophecy too."
"I'm not sure what I can say that you don't already know. As long as you practice your core powers, they shouldn't negatively affect you in any way." Frostbite was still unearthing all he could. Considering the prophecies had to deal with Phantom, he figured it was important to find anything he could. "Your powers should expand more as time goes on, especially if you collaborate with ghosts of differing power sets. While some of them can't be learned, they can be understood."
"Anything about my form changing? So far, I've stuck with the hazmat and gas mask, but apparently it's been... moving." The gas mask mouth thing was something that bothered him. He still had a face under the damn thing, and it was really weird that it started doing that. "It mostly happens when I'm really leaning into my obsession, but I can almost feel like I can do it on command."
"That should get more under control as time goes on. Think of it this way; most ghosts find it hard to change their form at all. You might find yourself able to do duplication much easier than most. The world could do well with more of you around." Frostbite chuckled. He at least seemed to mean it too. "Though, as for the role you might play in the future."
Frostbite shrugged. There was a hint of worry in his gaze, though it wasn't all that present.
"As long as everyone acts carefully, there shouldn't be anything to worry about. The Muse was a scare that might ruffle some feathers, but it's better to play it by ear." Frostbite stopped, remembering something. "You're dealing with the situation with Scratch, correct? He's in a seat of your worlds army right now, as I've heard."
"Yes, and all I can really do is see how this GIW is really like in action and make sure nothing gives him any more power as is." The upside to this was it was a new branch, meaning a lot of regulations needed to be made. On the other hand, which meant there weren't any clear rules either stopping him. "I'm not sure how to get him down, or what he plans on doing, but we might have to wait until he starts making bases to figure it out."
"Not ideal, but I suppose it is how it is." Frostbite felt ill with that information, but it wasn't incorrect. They would just need to wait. "I will warn you; one of the branches of the timeline will come to pass. It's our actions that will decide what comes next…"
"…so choose carefully. Yeah. I get it. I've seen movies." Karkat sighed. He started floating towards the door, giving the yeti a lazy wave. "I'm going to check in with Horuss and the others. He's made a breakthrough on the accessory thing and wants to show me a few things."
"Good luck!" Frostbite waved him out, letting himself relax when he was gone. He tapped his foot at one of the cabinets below, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know which one you are, but I would suggest getting out of there. You got stuck there last time you hid there."
There was some shuffling as a green hand reached out, Calliope's face peeking out with it. She looked embarrassed as Frostbite laughed, helping her out of the small crevice. She really was too big for that.
"Now, should I know why you were trying to eavesdrop on me and Phantom?" Frostbite patted the top of her head. "It's a little rude. You and your brother know that."
"…Is everything going to be okay?" Calliope grabbed her dad's hand. At least she still loved him. "Was it something I did? I'm sure I can fix it."
Frostbite sighed, pulling her in for a quick hug. He gave a look towards the stairs leading to the twin's room. He wondered what Caliborn was thinking right about now.
"It'll be fine, little one." He said. "Hopefully."
"I really don't know why we need this app." Kanaya looked over Ghostian, having it recently added to her phone. The idea that a phone app was key to their communication and coordination was… frightening to say the least. "It looks a lot like those old messenger apps they have on old computers. Is it really safe to use too?"
"I've run a battery of tests on it, and it's never done anything before. It also should be undetectable to anyone trying to listen in on the conversations, so it's perfect against the GIW." Sollux rubbed his fingers against his temples, biting back an insult. "Make sure to pick a color and a typing quirk before you post anything. It makes it easier to tell who's who."
"How many people are on this that we need to do something like that?" Feferi wasn't complaining, but this was apparently a larger operation than she thought. "And what's up all the names too?"
"It's just something we started as a joke, and it ended up being unironic." Aradia rubbed the back of her neck, laughing awkwardly. "It just seemed like a good idea at the time and none of us know how to change it."
There was an awkward pause as everyone sat at the bench with the remnants of their Nasty Burger meal. Sollux, despite having put the app on their phones and explaining what it was for, hadn't said much other than a few words and had been checked out of the entire conversation. Aradia had been keeping things up, but it was just getting harder considering he was taking down the mood.
"Hey, uh, Sollux? You mind getting something else for us some milk shakes?" Aradia figured nothing would get done with him just glaring at anyone trying to talk to him. "And maybe a coffee for you too. I know you didn't sleep last night."
"Fine." Sollux stated, standing up and heading towards the restaurant. "I'll be back in a second. Or not. Don't wait up if it takes a while."
When he got a good distance away, the girls sighed softly.
"He's not dealing with the wish being reversed well at all, isn't he?" Kanaya sipped the last of her soda down, frowning. "I understand why he's angry and all, but it was the logical choice. That ghost wasn't going to stop unless something was done about it."
"I think it's a lot worse than making a quick decision, considering Karkat had to die. Again. That really doesn't become any easier to process despite knowing about it for so long." Feferi bit her lip. It was all still very disturbing, with their last meeting with Karkat helping it all settle in. "I can't imagine he was dealing with it well when we were left."
"I'm still a little angry at myself for leaving, even if he looked ready to knock someone's head off right then." Kanaya knew it was the smart option, especially since she doubted his powers wouldn't have gone off sometime soon. "Especially if he still remembers that alternate timeline."
"I'm sure he didn't do anything too drastic after you left. Karkat can get emotional sometimes, but he wouldn't do anything about it." Aradia might've been leaving out the obsession-crazy moments, but those were a different ballpark altogether. "I've been messaging the other ghosts and he's in the Ghost Zone right now to report on the situation."
"Right. Other ghosts. We're going to have to meet them at some point." Feferi sipped her drink again, taking a long one to think over her next statement. She put the cup down gently when she finally had something. "Are we going to meet them? I know we kinda intruded on all of this, but…"
"Someday. Probably sooner than we think too. We just need to smooth things over first beforehand." Aradia waved off those concerns. It wasn't like they'd stop them from joining their crew if that was what she was asking. "Don't expect to get it all in one day, though. There's still a lot that we're learning about ghosts and halfa's every day, and it's a stressful job so far."
"I wonder if ghosts have differing psychology due to their biology. They are powered through their emotions." Kanaya had several theories of her own that she would've loved to test out. Ethically, of course. "Is this what it feels like to pioneer a new branch of science? Ecto-psychology is not something I've considered before."
There were some dings on their phones, causing the conversation to stop. They looked quickly at Ghostian to see where it came from.
FAA: feferi, kanaya, meet up with karkat at the park later t0day.
FAA: karkat and s0llux will s0rt things 0ut later. trust me.
"…Is this saying this is from-"
"Yeah. Future self. Technically I'm a warlock with some kind of time powers." Aradia sometimes forgot it herself. At least it looks like she'll get more success with longer messages later. "That might be one of the few things we bar you from unless you're willing to risk possibly losing your mind to an alien religion."
"…That's still really tempting for some reason. I don't know what that says about me." Then again, Feferi had thought about what dating a ghost would be like barring any philosophical talks on whether it's necrophilia or spectrophilia. She might not be as normal as she thought. "Anything else we might need to learn before we deal with this? I still want to help with Sollux and all, but it looks like we'll have time."
Aradia thought it over for a few seconds before snapping her fingers. "Right! Eridan's dad is a supervillain trying to kill Karkat's dad."
"…Excuse me?"
Karkat wasn't sure what exactly he was looking at when he'd arrived at Horuss's workshop, considering the device in front of him with scrutinizing eyes. On the other hand, it wasn't like Horuss had been vague about what project he was working on.
"Zahhak, you're going to have to talk slower for me to understand what you're saying, otherwise I'm going to keep being lost." Karkat understood some of what he was saying, but only every third word. "I understand that you're excited and all, but still."
"Sorry, sorry." Horuss's hands went through his hair, his attire messier than usual due to constant work. Karkat still wasn't sure how much sleep ghosts needed compared to humans, but it was obvious that he wasn't getting enough due to the bags under his eyes, and he didn't appear to realize he was getting motor oil in his hair. "I've been working on this for a while, and I think I've finally got it. It took longer than it should've, surprisingly, since my own father's work is usually shoddy-"
"Horuss, no insulting your dad. Focus on the presentation right now." Muelin patted him on the shoulder as she passed by. She sorted out some of the messier parts of the workshop, putting them away in some semblance of order. "He's a busy man, after all."
"Right! I finally figured out how to make reliable versions of those accessories, if not better than my own father's work." Horuss grabbed one of the examples he had off the table, waving it around in Karkat's face as he gestured wildly. "You know how the source of their power comes from the Void Aspect, correct?"
"Yes, I was made well aware of that before your dad tried to kill me." Karkat winced at his harsh tone, standing straighter as he tried to force himself to be more polite. "You said that you weren't able to force your powers to work on them, though."
"That's because my father didn't put his own powers into it. He made the actual Void surrounding everything be forced into it." Horuss twirled the necklace in his hands until the little orb at the end was in his palm, pointing at it. "While there's some scientific terms involving the words Dark Matter and such, the simpler explanation is that he was able to force what should've been hidden into a visible form. That's why this little trinket here can do something a little like…"
Horuss put the necklace onto himself, the changes happening over the course of a few seconds. His skin became a recognizable human tone and the glow disappeared as his feet hit the floor. Any unnatural fangs or teeth disappeared, and Karkat could see an iris and pupils form in Horuss's gaze. He looked completely human, despite the messy clothes he was still wearing.
"You can recreate the accessories now. Great job, Horuss." Karkat whistled as he flew around the ghost. He wouldn't have been able to tell it was Horuss if he had walked past him on the street. "You don't feel any different, right? Nothing too strange, I hope."
"No, though it is weird to walk on my own two legs." Horuss stretched one out before he made a stilted walk over to his desk. He took off the necklace shortly afterward, eliciting a sigh of relief. "I suppose I'll have to get used to it, much like the others."
"…Right. You want to help me patrol Amity Park." Karkat felt something stir in him at that. He wasn't sure what it was, exactly. "Are you sure you and the others are willing to go along with it? With the GIW planning on coming into town, it might be dangerous if someone gets caught."
"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine. I don't plan on being out there too much, and Terezi and Nepeta seem to be the only ones gung-ho about this type of thing." Horuss figured the hesitance was understandable. It took a lot in order for a ghost to allow someone access to their obsession. "All we're going to do is report to you and take down a few interlopers that don't require much effort. Of course, we can do more if you'd like."
"I'd appreciate that, I guess. I'm just the only one here that can escape ghost hunting equipment without too much trouble." Karkat eye twitched at that. Why was he arguing this? This was the plan after all. "Then again, a few hands in various places might be good…"
Horuss tilted his head at that, silence stretching for half a second. Karkat hated that it made him almost twitch more.
"There is a point where you will need more hands on deck, Karkat. Even if you feel a bit possessive about of your city." Horuss hit the nail on the head. The halfa wasn't sure why, but it felt like he was right. "I'm guessing this Muse woman caused a few things to go wrong while she was visiting?"
"A few things. A lot of things. Or nothing, depending on your view of time travel." Karkat shrugged. The Muse had done quite a lot to the town, even if it was reversed each time. The people there probably didn't remember, but they wouldn't be the same. "She just kept fucking with everyone. Messing with their dreams, changing the city at a whim- it was nightmarish."
"It is your town and I do understand that you want to keep it in your hands," Horuss licked his lips, feeling Karkat's gaze bore into him. It was frightening to be in his presence, sometimes. "But I do think having us help would be the best course of action. This is only going to get worse. If you do it alone with only what you have now, it's more likely you'll die again."
He already died again. He died every time he turned into Phantom, every time he went to sleep at night and dreamed of the portal. He died a thousand times when Fright Knight stabbed him with that sword.
"Don't be too concerned if we happen to become part of that possessiveness either." Horuss chuckled. "It's not uncommon for a ghost with an obsession over a place to consider its people theirs."
"…You sure you're all comfortable with this?" Karkat hated getting Sollux and Aradia involved, and he hated Kanaya and Feferi were soon to be next. "It's not a fun job."
"Well, no one said it was going to be." Horuss turned back to the table, planning to make more accessories. "There should be more of these later on. I want to make sure none of them are faulty. Can't have us start changing in front of anyone, right?"
"…My dad is looking for interns to work in his lab with his crew." Karkat saw the ghost perk up at the mention of it. "If you keep an eye on what tech he builds and what leaks to the GIW- if my dad lets any go into their hands- I'll put in a good word for you."
"It'd be much appreciated." Horuss was eager to work on that tech as soon as possible. His goggles were back on, but Karkat could tell. "I'll see you later, Phantom."
As Karkat disappeared, he felt himself sigh in relief.
At least it would all be on his terms.
There really isn't anything clever I have to say right now. Like I said before, it's going to be an intermission that should only last three chapters, but hopefully you enjoy it either way.
See you next chapter!
