Well, this one was a doozy to write! Hopefully this meets your expectations, though I can't say that I fully enjoy what I've done with it. Could've done somethings better within, but it could be worse. At least I'll get some more practice involving action scenes from this fic.
Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter and that you review soon!
The little section of the library was completely silent as Karkat, Aradia, and Sollux stared down the catgirl ghost in front of them, receiving only a curious stare back. While the air couldn't be called tense, it did have a certain element to it that made it heavy.
The heaviness was lifted after Karkat groaned, putting his face into his hands. "Jesus Christ, how does my dad not notice any ghosts getting out of the portal? Is he that fucking unobservant?"
"Seems like it, because I got out of there with no one to stop me." Nepeta leaped off the shelf, landing on her feet with her arms behind her back. She rocked back and forth with a smile on her face. "So, I heard you wanted to send ol' Skulky out of town. A tall order, really, but I'm willing to lend some help."
Karkat narrowed his eyes at that, looking at her with a level of mistrust. "And why do you want to do that?"
"You do remember he was planning on skinning me alive, right?" She floated quietly to the shelves nearby, looking them over. "Besides, it isn't like there's anyone else that's purr-fect for the job like I am. My family has had a lot of scrapes with him before, and I certainly know how to leave a scratch."
"She does cat puns. Fantastic." Sollux muttered, straightening out seconds later. "Don't get me wrong, we'd love your help and all, but we've been having a pretty bad track record with ghosts."
"We'd like that to change," Aradia jumped in, waving her arms in front of her. "But so far, two ghosts have tried to kill one of us. It's kind of hard to trust anyone right now."
Nepeta looked a little concerned at this, eyeing the three. "Am I seriously the only friendly ghost you've met? Next you'll be telling me you haven't been in the Infinite Realms before."
The three didn't answer and gave each other nervous glances at her statement. The ghost seemed to realize the error of her statement and raised her own hands defensively. "Sorry. I'm guessing Phantom here hasn't been dead too long?"
"I'm not dead." Karkat said it sharply, denying it before she could talk further. "I just have ghost powers. Got them when my dad's portal opened on me."
Nepeta didn't look convinced but decided to drop it. "Whatever makes you happy." She shrugged and went back to floating.
"It's fine." Aradia sent him a look, but he ignored it, twisting at a loose piece of fabric on his jacket. "It's been a tough time on all of us. I kind of want to get back to talking about Skulker, please?"
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Sollux wanted to change the subject as much as Karkat did. "You said you can put a scratch on him if you need to. Does he have some sort of weakness?"
"You could say that." Nepeta floated closer to them, ignoring how they tensed. "It's less of a weakness and more of a way to ease everyone's conscience. You can pretty much do anything to his body as long as you don't do anything to the head."
"The heck is that supposed to mean?" Karkat had absolutely no idea if this girl could even be trusted at this point, but he might as well go along with the plan. "Is that whole thing just a suit?"
"Pretty much! I mean, he says his obsession involves being the greatest hunter, buuuut," She suddenly flew in close, hand moved to cover one side of her face as she whispered to them conspiratorially. "It's really overcompensation. Trust me, you'll understand if we can actually defeat him."
"If we actually defeat him? It doesn't sound like you know how to kick his ass either." Aradia felt irritation of her own settle in her. "Tearing him apart sounds fun and all, but that does require that we can get to him."
Nepeta did wince at that, moving away from them carefully. "I'm more of an on-the-fly type of thinker, okay? It can't be that hard to get to him, especially with four of us."
"You mean two people with ghost powers and two people who have only relatively weak ghost weapons." Sollux pinched the bridge of his nose. "He has an arsenal fit for a small army packed up in his body. I honestly don't like our chances here."
Karkat rolled his eyes and was about to say something else before noticing the time. He swore, noting that it was starting to get late and they'd have to start heading for the field trip soon.
"We're going to have to figure out things later. We're going to have to get on the bus soon." The teen looked up at the catgirl ghost, frowning. "You can follow us by flying around, but you got to stay invisible. If we can get some time alone, we can probably talk some more about this later."
Nepeta didn't look happy about this, but she only nodded. "Got it. Human stuff getting in the way. We really do need to get Skulker taken care of, though." She faded out of visibility, waving as she drifted off. "See you later!"
As soon as she was gone, at least from vision, the three visibly relaxed. However, they immediately straightened out, grabbing their stuff, and heading out to the school's courtyard.
They could all feel in their guts that the trip to the zoo wasn't going to be very fun at all.\
"Alright everyone," Mr. Lancer started, his tone giving no room for argument as he looked over the class he'd been put in charge of. "I'm expecting everyone to be on their best behavior for today. We'll be one of the first to see the new enclosures, so that I expect to hear any trouble that happens to not involve anyone here."
"Yes Mr. Lancer." The class said in tired unison. Karkat in particular rolled his eyes, attempting to look over the sky's. He couldn't see hide nor ghostly hair of Skulker, which was only a slight relief. That didn't mean he wasn't invisible or some other shit that would make it difficult to find him. As far as he could tell, neither of his friends could see anything either, but that didn't calm his nerves at all.
"This guy really isn't a fan favorite, is he?" Came a voice from his left, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin. The teen was glad he decided to hang at the back of the crowd, otherwise he was sure someone else would've heard that.
"He's not exactly the most interesting teacher, but he's mostly okay." Karkat muttered, making sure no one else could hear him. "Though I'm pretty sure he wouldn't appreciate you saying that."
"I can take him." He could hear Nepeta punch one hand into another, a challenge in her voice. "Maybe if I do, we can get the whole Skulker thing out of the way."
"Please don't attack my teacher." Karkat groaned. Lancer was on another one of his lectures again, starting to lead the class to a random enclosure. "I'd rather keep my list of problems down to a minimum, thank you." He paused before sending a look where he thought she was. "I'll keep that in mind, though."
Snickering, he felt a small wind move past his shoulders, causing him to shiver. "Y'know, school really isn't a thing in the Infinite Realms. I'm starting to understand why. It's just so boring."
Karkat frowned. He looked around him, noting that any of his classmates that were closest to him were too wrapped up in their conversations to pay attention to him, emboldening him. He might as well start getting some questions answered. "You keep calling the Ghost Zone that. The Infinite Realms. Is that it's official name?"
He heard a hum crossed with a purr at that, Nepeta taking a few seconds to answer. "I wouldn't call it official. There's no real name for the Infinite Realms that anyone can agree on, but that's the name I was taught. The Ghost Zone isn't a bad name, and you can sometimes hear people call it Purr-gatory, but that's with all the religious types."
Karkat really wished he had time to write all of this down. He wouldn't claim to be a scientist, but the fact that he was getting all of this information, second-hand as it was, was fucking mind boggling. His dad would've killed to have gotten this if he could. "And where do these other ghosts live? I get that it's a whole different dimension and all, but I got to imagine you guys don't just float around."
Despite not seeing her, he could tell that she shrugged just by the tone of her voice. "Every ghost or ghost family has a lair or something that they can call their home. I don't exactly get the science behind it- remember, no school- but they just sort of form for whoever needs it. My mom always said that it reflected everyone, from the good to the bad." She paused for a second, her voice turning wistful. "My family's lair is a cave we keep burrowing into. I really hope Muelin isn't getting lonely."
Karkat could feel a heavy wave emanate from Nepeta, creating an almost palpable disturbance in the air. He noticed a few other classmates of his start to wilt under it as well, though he must be more sensitive too it since it almost crushes him.
Time to change the subject. "You mentioned obsessions." He whispered it quickly, snapping her out of her mood. "You didn't exactly explain anything about that."
"Right." He had a feeling that Nepeta didn't catch his obvious attempt to change the subject, but welcomed it nonetheless. "Obsessions are a weird thing. Ghosts have plenty of meat and bone, but we are pretty much ectoplasm and emotion rolled into a horrible yarn ball. Obsessions are pretty much the core of what a ghost is."
That didn't necessarily explain things, but it was a start. He leaned into the subject more, giving her a wordless look to continue.
"Ghosts usually have something they focus on after they're formed, something they want and focus on for most of their after lives. It varies basically on what that is, and it can change too." Nepeta clicked her tongue, thinking it over. "It's sometimes the only reason a ghost exists. But it can be a bad thing if they indulge their obsession too much or too little. Too little, and you might begin to lose form and eventually fade from existence. Too much, and you can become like Skulker and end up hurting people."
"How long does it take to form an obsession?" As informative as this was, Karkat couldn't help but feel disturbed by the concept of it. He didn't consider himself a ghost, but that didn't mean his ghost powers couldn't cause an obsession to form. Would getting involved with that obsession make him more unstable? Or would it eventually go away if he stayed away from it?
What the hell would he even obsess over?
"It varies," Nepeta continued, interrupting Karkat's thoughts. "A lot of ghosts that form from the dead usually have one form right away. Others, like ghosts that form from ectoplasm alone or are just born into it can take a long time. I definitely don't know what mine is."
That didn't exactly cover his weird situation, but something about that did help him calm down. Maybe he wouldn't form an obsession for years. If he got this entire situation under control and got rid of these freaky powers, then he'd never get one at all.
Reassuring himself, he couldn't help but latch onto one other detail that Nepeta mentioned.
Ghosts can have kids?!
Mr. Lancer was snapping his fingers to get everyone's attention, annoyance clear on his features. They'd finally arrived at an unfamiliar enclosure, a wide-open area with several primates at the forefront. Karkat straightened up to make it appear that he was listening in.
"I'd suggest paying attention people, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see wildlife that could be gone tomorrow." Mr. Lancer looked as tired as you'd expect him to as he watched everyone continue to talk unimpeded. He rolled his eyes and moved forward, motioning to the enclosure. "What you see here is one of the few spaces dedicated to preserving the endangered purple-back gorilla. Seeing as how few of them are left in the wild, the Amity Park Zoo has volunteered their facilities in order to help create a breeding and reintroduction program."
As much as Karkat knew what Mr. Lancer was saying was important, it became way too easy to drone him out. A part of him couldn't help but let the old childish instinct take over and try to get a glimpse of the gorillas themselves.
Only two of them were down there and they were keeping their distance from each other. He wasn't sure how Amity Park Zoo landed this since this was located in a small town in Indiana, but he it was probably to rope in a few tourists. Two of a kind down there, probably only one of thousands left.
The feeling of an invisible hand landed on his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. "He's here."
So much for a pleasant day at the zoo, he guessed.
He wasn't close enough for him to trigger his ghost sense, but looking around briefly, he could see a flaming mohawk in the distance. Skulker was looking at the enclosure with a pair of binoculars, checking things out.
"Of course, he's going after endangered animals. And they're in captivity too and can't do shit about it." Nepeta growled, animalistic and enraged. An aura of malice, along with her flickering form almost solidifying right next to him caused him to grab her shoulder and pull her back.
"Don't do anything, otherwise you'll just bring him here." The class was ignoring him, thankfully, though he could tell that the emotions coming off of the Leijon was having an effect on them. They were starting to get twitchy, some getting impatient. One looked like they were getting ready to run.
He was about to say more shit until he noticed that Skulker was now looking in his direction. He froze up, noting that the robot ghost slowly moved down his binoculars before vanishing from sight.
Karkat could feel the amount of trouble he was in almost triple. He knew where he was now. They fucking met up at the zoo. He must've seen Nepeta flickering and looked in his direction and now he was screwed. And so was the rest of the class if they got caught in the crossfire. Mr. Lancer was boring, but he sure as hell didn't deserve to die because of some lunatic poacher ghost.
Speaking of the teacher, he was slowly guiding him away from habitat, guiding them to a building located nearby. He was talking about lizards or something that was brought in, he wasn't sure. He motioned at Aradia and Sollux, who noticeably tensed at his movement. While they tried to trickle to the back, Karkat leaned towards where Nepeta was.
"Make some kind of noise. Don't let anyone get hurt, but enough to cause some panic." He didn't waste time to check if she understood, hurrying forward to meet up with his friends.
Falling in line beside him, Sollux leaned over to whisper to him. "What the fuck is going on?" His hands were reaching for the ecto-gun he was able to sneak in, Aradia mirroring him. Karkat already knew they'd probably fail to scratch Skulker, especially with their capacity. Still, extra cover was extra cover.
"I saw Skulker looking at the gorillas and he spotted me." He could see the tense look on Aradia's face turn into a scowl. "I'm having Nepeta cause a distraction so we can slip on out and maybe take him down. I'll use my powers to make sure we're not seen."
"What if he overpowers us?" Aradia's hand twitched eagerly to reach her ecto-gun. She wanted to get that bastard back for trying to cut open one of her friends, but she was trying to be realistic. "This isn't exactly an elderly lunch lady we're talking about here."
"We'll figure it out if something happens." Karkat didn't actually have a plan for that, but he wanted to simply get this done. He'd make sure Skulker focused on him and Nepeta for the entire fight, but he was hoping that he could just suck him up in the thermos.
It wouldn't go like that, though. If it was that simple, then this would've all ended last night.
They made it inside with minimal effort. Karkat didn't sense Skulker yet, which only meant that he was taking his time. Lancer was still prattling on about what they could expect when a loud thump came from the back room, startling everyone. Before anyone could dare ask what was going on, everyone started to hear a loud popping as the lights suddenly went out.
Karkat grabbed Aradia and Sollux, turning invisible and flying them out of there as everyone screamed and started to run. No one saw or heard them leave as he took them to an area that was made to look like a bamboo forest. He put them down softly.
"I'm not going to say that flying isn't fun and all," Aradia started, trying to get her footing. "But it's also terrifying as all hell."
"Welcome to my life." Karkat turned into Phantom, floating above them. "I'm more worried about what the hell Nepeta did back there?"
As if right on cue, the ghost slipped in nearby. "I found some firecrackers and figured that I would scare some people off. The humans are scattered around everywhere, so I bought you some time. Have you seen Skulker anywhere?"
"No," Karkat said, while a small, steady stream of smoke started filter out of his mask. "But I have a feeling that he's going to show up soon."
It was a tense moment as the four looked around themselves, adrenaline beginning to spike. Aradia and Sollux had their guns ready, fingers on the trigger, while Karkat and Nepeta floated overhead. Nepeta's claws were out while Karkat held on to his own ecto-gun at his side.
Eventually, the sound of thrusters broke the silence, everyone turning towards it. Skulker lurked between some branches, phasing through them with barely any effort. He glared down at all of them, soon to be replaced by amusement as he looked over Karkat and Nepeta
"Well, it seems like you two decided come looking for me. I'm touched." His eyes ran over Aradia and Sollux, quirking and eyebrow. "And you brought friends too. Interesting choice. I suppose you would have some of those around here, whelp."
"I'd suggest cutting and running, Skulker. You could've just left with the animals and everything would've been fine." Karkat really didn't want to do this, but he did have back up this time. "Either that, or we send you back to the Ghost Zone in pieces."
"An interesting proposal, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline." One of his arms flicked open, the blade he used on him last night flashing out. "I was only out there to capture those before they got out, but I think I've found a much bigger prize."
Karkat could already hear his friends power their ecto-guns while he turned his on as well. "I'm guessing there's no way to change your mind?"
"Nothing is stopping me from making sure your pelt is on my wall." Skulker's other arm opened up to show guns of his own, which started to power up.
The teen let out a sigh, before narrowing his red eyes dangerously at the robot ghost. "Fine. Pieces it is."
Karkat was once again the first to fire, pulling the trigger faster than he could think. It was joined by a few volleys sent by Aradia and Sollux, who kept firing as the robot ghost dodged and weaved around the shots. Some came close, grazing the metal, but none were hitting him just yet.
Nepeta shot to the side, moving from trunk to trunk of bamboo in a flash before getting behind him and taking a swipe at the rockets on his back. Skulker did dodge it and attempted to slice Nepeta, but the shift in his focus caused a few shots to hit him on his legs and shoulders. He went back to dodging as soon as possible.
Karkat noticed the exchange and decided to switch tactics. Putting the ecto-gun back on his belt, he flew around above Skulker and nosedived, punching the robot with as much force he could muster. Flying back, Skulker was then kicked by Nepeta, receiving shots all over his body thanks to the two humans below.
The robot ghost growled, righting himself. The armor he was wearing was starting show visible damage, only growing as he started to get off balance thanks to Karkat and Nepeta. The two humans were not practiced shots, but anyone can hit a still target if they fire at it enough. He had to change tactics
He started to fire back at the humans, attempting to stop them from firing. This caused a reprieve from the shots as two ungracefully dodged, scrambling to get themselves upright. Skulker started to focus fire on Karkat, landing a shot to his side, but nothing else. Nepeta dodged a side swipe from his sword arm.
It was another volley of shots from the humans that set him off balance this time, causing him to take a swift move to the side. Nepeta took advantage of the distraction, leaping at him and embedding one her claws into him. She pulled, her claws deep in his exoskeleton as she wrenched it free, leaving a deep gash as he leaped backward to avoid being decapitated by his sword.
Skulker growled, floating away from the group. He assessed the damage briefly, sending another random volley of shots to the humans. He looked up at the two ghosts with a glare.
"You do realize it's very bad taste to gang-up on one ghost, correct?" While Nepeta's attack was the one that left the most visible damage, it didn't stop Skulker from taunting them.
"That's real rich coming from you." Nepeta spat in his direction, tense and ready for him to make the next move.
Karkat floated beside her, red eyes glowing as he stared down at him. He nursed the place where he was shot tenderly, the flow of ectoplasm being relatively slow. "And considering you want to skin me; I don't think fairness should fucking matter here." He upped the intensity on his ecto-gun to make sure the next shots hit harder.
Skulker frowned before taking a look at two other ghosts before him. He smiled deviously before firing himself at them with a high amount of force. "Then let me correct this error."
He grabbed the two of them, steering them away from the battlefield as his suit's thrusters boosted. The ghost could hear shouts and some more fire coming from the humans, but they never landed as he continued to go upward to the left.
Karkat cursed, banging on the armor ineffectually before looking down. Noting the thrusters on his feet, he aimed his gun and fired at one of them, hitting them with a loud bang. Skulker's flight was instantly disrupted, causing him to lose control as they took a sharp turn right.
What became a rocket-powered flight became a rocket-powered free fall as they started to head directly into the gorilla pen, falling towards it at high speeds. Nepeta and Karkat were able to slip out of his hold with some effort, floating as the robot hit the ground hard.
"I'll get close," Nepeta started, keeping an eye out for everything inside the pen. "I'd suggest staying back. Your punches aren't doing shit."
"No argument there." Karkat looked at the ghosts wounded foot and upped the intensity on his gun even more. "Hope you're right when you said he could be cut up."
"It's not like I'll give you the chance." Skulker switched out the sword to a saw blade, whirring in place. The gorilla's, thankfully, had evacuated the area.
Nepeta leaped to the side as Karkat opened fire once more, not even attempting to hold back from hitting the robot ghost. Only a couple hit, but due to the upped intensity, they caused a lot more damage.
Skulker lunged at the catgirl ghost when she came close, which she leapt over. Landing behind him, she sliced at his back with a growl, before moving to the side when he attempted to whirl around. A shot from Karkat hit his blade arm dead on.
Karkat made sure to keep moving, shots from Skulker missing him barely. He was doing his best to not leave evidence, to only take shots when he could. Nepeta was too close to the robot ghost, making him more wary.
The melee was getting intense as Nepeta dodged every attack Skulker sent her way, doing her best to give her own. Despite the robotic elements on his person, she was much faster. She was able to keep hitting him, slicing into his person.
Skulker let out a yell, shooting up his gun arm to fire at Karkat. The laser hit the gun in Karkat's hand, knocking it away from his hand. He turned his full attention to Nepeta, firing and attempting to slice her with all of his anger. She was able to land a final blow on his leg, damaging it and causing him to limp.
Karkat felt his hand burn at the feeling of the laser hitting his skin, but didn't think as he jumped in, attempting to land one final kick.
It seemed to be exactly what Skulker was waiting for, as he suddenly grabbed Karkat with his gun arm, throwing him against the wall of the enclosure. He swiped at him with the saw blade arm as well, embedding the metal into his skin before he flew the rest of the way into the stone wall.
Before Karkat could even process the pain, Skulker had all of his guns to his face and keeping Nepeta away at a distance with his melee arm. The three of them huffed, out of breath, even if it looked absolutely strange on a ghost like Skulker.
"Well," Said ghost started between breaths. "It seems that we're at quite the impasse here. A real Mexican standoff."
"Are you really using this time to gloat?" Karkat was in agony as he felt ectoplasm bleed out of him slowly, burning at his skin. He still wanted to make his possible last words sarcastic if he could. "It really doesn't make your dick any bigger. Attacking teenagers shouldn't be the main focus of your time."
"Says the whelp that can apparently turn alive at the drop of a hat." The guns charged up as Skulker said this. He sent his gaze over to Nepeta, who hadn't moved an inch. "And since both of you were able to put up a decent fight, even without backup. I'd say that made this a very good hunting story."
"What makes you think you're even getting out of here without me clawing you double death?" Nepeta turned her heel into the ground. Her own injuries were small in number but taking a toll on her as well.
Skulker rolled his pupil-less eyes and looked at her sardonically. "Injuries aside, I believe I'm the most fit one here. And with you barely able to stand and your friend at the business end of a gun, I do believe that I-"
Before he could finish gloating, a sudden being smashed into the robot with enough force knock it backward. Revealed to be one of the gorilla's in the enclosure, it began to wail on him with wild abandon.
Despite the shock of the situation causing them to freeze, Nepeta made sure the other one hadn't come to check on them as well and went over to Karkat. She brought out the flask again, handing it off for him to drink.
"Thanks." He said desperately, putting it to his lips and drinking half of what was left. He handed it back to her so she could get her fill. He looked over at the beatdown happening near them, getting to his feet slowly. "You think we should help him?"
"Nah." Nepeta didn't even bother concealing the tiredness in her voice, watching it with a quirked eyebrow. "Poetic justice. Besides, we try and fuck with that gorilla and it'll decide we're it's next targets."
"True."
They both went invisible and waited until the gorilla was done. They watched it lumber off, not detecting them at all. Floating over, they couldn't help wince at everything that remained.
Various limbs were strewn about and, twitching after they had been torn off by the gorilla in its rage, useless and pitiful. The main body was severely dented beyond repair, its craftsmanship ruined, and the finish stained.
Not far away, Skulker's head laid on the ground, rocking back and forth as something in it kept moving, a high voice cursing. A tiny, green blob started crawling out, looking around itself with a scowl before catching eyes with the two of them.
Karkat looked at it for about five seconds before bursting out laughing.
"H-Holy shit!" He almost started to cough as he looked over at the scowling blob, folding into himself. "You really are trying to feel bigger. It's not just-" He got onto his knees, laughing even harder as he hit the ground several times. It was possible that the feeling of surviving another deadly encounter was contributing to the hilarity of the situation, but Karkat didn't care. He needed a good laugh after this.
"I told you his obsession was overcompensation." Nepeta strolled over and picked him up, her smile smug and containing fangs. "Now, Skulky, I think you owe me and my friend here an apology. I could hand you off to the gorillas to play with, or I could just eat you, so I wouldn't get uppity."
"Don't you dare, you anthropomorphic pup!" The squeaky voice coming from Skulker only encouraged him to laugh even harder. "I will come back with an even more powerful suit! You think this is the last of me?! You haven't heard the end of Skulker, the Infinite Realms Greatest Hu-"
Karkat flipped open the thermos and sucked the thing inside, still chuckling to himself. He clapped the lid back on to the thing and looked at the wreckage of Skulker's suit lying around. "We really fucked this place up, haven't we?"
"Not more than it already was." Nepeta kicked at the ruined head, laughing herself. She sighed and started to grab all of the armor pieces. "I'll pick up all of this and take it back into the Ghost Zone for you guys. I'll need you to open the door later, but I think this might be the best time to go our own ways."
The ghostly teen frowned at that but couldn't help but nod in agreement. His dad would either be informed about this incident or he was already on his way after being notified by the ecto-detector. It would be bad if he came around here and found Nepeta carrying a bunch of ghost tech.
"You plan on coming back to the human world anytime soon?" He felt himself say, hoping she'd say yes. She'd been a valuable resource for information so far and he doubted he would have beaten Skulker alone without drawing it out for a few more fights.
"Maybe. Won't be for a long time though, after my mom figures out what I've been doing the past few days. She's going to throw a hissing fit when she sees all of this." She lifted up the armor and shook it to emphasize her point. She got a concerned look on her face, looking him over. "Are you going to be okay? I mean, does your dad know about…" She trailed off, not having to finish her sentence.
Karkat paused, shaking his head softly. "He doesn't. This happened only a couple of weeks ago." He didn't like the look of concern, but he understood why she did. He didn't know what would happen either if his dad figured out about this shit.
Nepeta nodded wordlessly, floating upwards and giving him a smile. "Hopefully next time we talk, it won't be when you're in trouble." She let out a free hand and threw Skulker's mangled at him before waving. "See ya'!"
He waved goodbye to her too before looking down at the robot head in his hands. He moved it around before floating upwards, and out of the gorilla enclosure.
It was when he got home that Karkat felt the adrenaline leak out of him all at once, leaving him absolutely exhausted. It wasn't as bad as the time he went after the Lunch Lady, but it certainly caused his bones to ache.
He was able to get out of the zoo just fine after finding his friends, explaining what happened. They wanted to check him for injuries, but he they didn't have time before Mr. Lancer had found them and got them back with the other students. The rest of the trip had been cancelled due to power outage and signs of fires in the bamboo forest, most likely a result from fighting Skulker.
His dad had been outside the zoo gates and took him and his friends' home, where Karkat was able to send Skulker back in and let Nepeta through. They hadn't exchanged too many words for the sake of keeping her from being found out.
Karkat still had work to do, though, and transcribed everything that happened and everything he learned in an old notebook he hadn't been using. Skulker's head, that he couldn't help but keep as a trophy, had been phased into one of the walls for safekeeping. He added pictures of it into the notebook for safekeeping.
He learned a lot today about what exactly he signed up for, he realized, finishing up the notes. Looking down, he couldn't help but think over that somebody had wanted him truly dead. They weren't freaking out over something, it wasn't a misunderstanding, they wanted him dead because of what he was now.
Just what was he, really?
He sighed and closed the notebook, figuring that he'd write more later. Guess he was becoming a ghost scientist after all, despite how he would've rejected the thought a couple of weeks ago.
This reminded him; he needed new weapons. The ecto-gun he had been working with was still fine, but it hadn't been enough during the fight. If there were more ghosts like Skulker out there, he would need something a little more painful on his side to help keep them off. Maybe something a little closer in range.
Karkat moved to the weapons vault, inputting the code and opening it as quietly as he could. While his dad had made plenty of ecto-guns over the years, there were plenty of melee weapons that were laced in ectoplasm, made specifically for ghosts. Spades apparently knew how to deal with knives better, for reasons he never explained to Karkat despite years of begging.
None of them interested him at first, especially since a large range of them wouldn't be easy to hide. There were some knives, some small enough to fit in a pocket somewhere, but he also wanted something distinct. He took one off the rack that he believed his dad wouldn't miss anyway, as a backup.
Eventually his attention was caught up by a pair of sharp weapons in the corner. He couldn't help but move over to them, mind blank as he picked them up and moved them in his hands silently.
A pair of sickles, glowing a bright green and weighing little in his hands, felt right for reason he couldn't explain.
Skulker wasn't taking the defeat well if he was being honest. Taken down by four teenagers, two of them not even being ghosts, put a large dent in his pride.
It didn't help that he had to hide and cower while flying throughout the Infinite Realms to reach his lair. He had to make sure to commission a new suit as soon as he physically could. Especially before he was asked to do any upcoming jobs.
He flew to the old remains of a suit, doing his best to access a communicator. He cursed himself for not keeping one of the full ones on standby, but that was his fault. He still needed to make this call.
Pressing in the numbers to reach his benefactor, he watched as the screen lit up slowly, until it eventually revealed the subject of his call.
"Skulker," The voice said smoothly, sending a chill up his spine. "It's not very common that I get to hear from you in this form. And through one of your old suits?"
"I ran into some trouble in Amity Park." Better admit to it now and hope it doesn't bite him in the ass later. He could see visible dissatisfaction come from him, which irked him. However, despite the fear, he couldn't help but grin. "However, I believe I have some information that will be of great interest to you."
"Do tell." The voice lilted, thus starting what would be a very interesting conversation.
I should've done more cat puns, but I haven't reached that level yet were I can make all of those. I think I got a few good ones in there, but not enough to reach Nepeta levels of cat pun. I think I got her level of sass right.
Yeah, Karkat isn't that strong just yet, but he's learning. Becoming a scientist on some level with all he's learning through my attempts at world-building. Also upgrading his arsenal. It's all going to go downhill from here, especially with other things coming into play. And I don't plan to give him a moment of respite.