This chapter came out a little faster than usual, but I like it how it is. Hopefully it moves things along a little to make sure you guys still enjoy it. Though, as a note before we begin, I would like to say that remembering to do the typing quirks is hard to do when you have to focus on a lot of other things. At least Karkat's is easy.
Either way, I hope you enjoy the chapter and that you have a nice day!
Karkat knew bad signs when he saw them. Sometimes they were obvious and waved red flags like they were at a football rally. Sometimes they were subtle, flying under most people's radar.
Horuss disappearing during what should've been a friendly outing? Big fucking red flag.
"Great. First time we can actually get to a ghost without violence, and he fucking disappears." Sollux seemed the most irritated by this. He was actually enjoying the talk about tech beforehand, but he should've figured something would go wrong. "KK, can you find him with your ghost sense?"
"I've got nothing." Karkat would've tracked him down the moment he vanished. "I don't know if Horuss is going to do anything, but I doubt he's nearby. Just what the hell happened back there?"
"We got to do it fast. I don't know how long your dad won't notice him, but he'll find his ecto-signature eventually." Aradia moved from one foot to the other nervously, looking around. She stopped and brought out her phone. "He gave us the chat app, right? Nepeta's on there, right?"
Karkat stopped and pulled his own phone out. "Right! The username is arsenicCatnip, I think." He punched it in Ghostian, finding the name fairly easily. However, he couldn't message him until he made an actual account. "Shit. We'll have to make an account or something. Give me a second."
All of them picked out their own phones to make their own accounts. It didn't take long, though they may have spent more time on making their accounts than they should've. However, after finally getting in, one of them sent a message.
CG: Leijon? We need to talk.
TA: Please pick up.
AA: Are you there?
They waited a for about ten seconds, silence reigning over them as they waited for an answer. Before they were about to give up and find another avenue of thought, a ding came from their cell's.
AC: :33 new phone, who dis?
They all sighed in collective relief and irritation. Karkat already started typing up his reply, rolling his eyes.
CG: It's Phantom and company. We kinda need your help on something.
AC: :33 seriously? how did you get this chat id? or the app?
TA: We met Horuss. Nice guy for the most part, until he vanished on us.
There were a few seconds where she didn't respond, but she sent a couple in a sequence afterward.
AC: :33 oh.
AC: :33 oh shit.
AC: :33 i should've known he'd do that. he got so curious about the human world when i mentioned it. is he okay?
AA: We don't know. We tried to introduce him to some local tech and he just vanished after trying to connect to the internet.
CG: Other than that, we don't know. Said something about "information" and left.
AC: :33 ok, ok, good start. furrst question. what's an internet?
They all collectively groaned at the cat pun and the question.
TA: In simple terms, it's a huge repository of information where people could put anything on there. A pretty big place, honestly.
AC: :33 huge. great, that's not good at all.
AC: :33 from what my mom told me; ghosts can get pretty overwhelmed when dealing with their obsession. especially if they make it outside of the Infinite Realms.
AC: :33 his is learning all about technology, which tracks with the others. he connected to this "internet," he must've overloaded his obsession.
CG: Anyway, we can knock him out of it? Preferably without hurting him?
AC: :33 probably. he might listen to reason, but i you might have to take him down before he does anything too rash. he doesn't have his meowrail with him, so he could get violent without my sister to calm him down.
The trio looked at each other with apprehension, feeling themselves tense up. They weren't exactly happy to do that since Horuss, despite being a little bit weird, wasn't a bad guy. But they couldn't let him run free either if he could become a major problem.
AA: So, we can't do anything except fight him. Great. Really hoped that we wouldn't have to hurt anybody.
AC: :33 sorry about that. i'd have some better suggestions, but i'm grounded until further notice. having skulker's body as a trophy is cool and all, but that didn't get me out of trouble.
TA: Parents, right?
CG: For fuck's sake, everyone focus. Nepeta, you said your sister could calm him down, right? Something about being his "meowrail or something?"
AC: :33 moirail. sorry, i was doing a cat pun thing. you know, moiral, meowrail?
CG: I'm dying all over again. Please, you're killing me.
AC: :33 fair enough. It's related to a thing called "quadrants." it'd take forever to explain, but for now, a moiral is like, platonic soulmates. the person that can take you from the brink of insanity, specifically if a ghost's obsession gets out of control.
AC: :33 my sister is Horuss's moiral. if you distract him long enough, Muelin can eventually make it there. i don't know what else to tell you.
Karkat looked away from the screen and pinched the bridge of his nose. God, this wasn't really ideal, but at least they had a semblance of a plan. Worst comes to worse, they store Horuss in the thermos until Muelin comes in to save the day. They'd just have to avoid hurting him as much as they could until then. Hopefully.
He typed in another question.
CG: It's a good enough plan. Not like we have any other ideas.
CG: Just one more question, though.
CG: What powers does he have/?
AC: :33 he controls all types of technology.
…Fuck.
They'd spent the rest of the day patrolling, eternally glad for the fact that it was a Friday. They essentially combed over what they could of the town, checking online for anything weird posted on social media websites, and even breaking out an old police radio Spades had hidden away. There was no indication that Horuss had appeared anywhere, even after grabbing the ecto-detector from Karkat's home.
They made it a point to only split up when they thought it was needed, and never far away enough so they couldn't find each other again. The Skulker incident had set everyone on edge.
Since the search was had been fruitless so far, they'd been messaging Nepeta to occupy themselves. It mostly varied, drifting between inane nonsense to something informative from moment to moment.
One of them involved giving "typing quirks" to themselves, along with typing colors.
CG: I STILL DON'T SEE THE NECESSITY OF DOING THIS. SHOULDN'T OUR NAMES AND COLORS BE ENOUGH?
AA: i think this fun
AA: at least we ch0se better typing quirks than making 0urs capsl0ck
TA: ii kiind of liike iit. iit'2 pretty fiitiing con2siidering who we're talkiing 2.
CG: AT LEAST ONE OF YOU RECOGNIZES MY GENIUS. PLUS, MINE IS AT LEAST EASY TO READ.
CG: AND EXPLAINABLE. WHAT EXACTLY IS UP WITH YOURS, NEPETA.
AC: :33 it looks like a cat.
CG: I'M NOT SURE WHAT ELSE I WAS EXPECTING.
CG: I GUESS IF I HAD TO SAY ONE NICE THING ABOUT IT, IT'S DISTINCTIVE. GOD FORBID IF ANYONE ELSE JOINS IN ON THIS, THOUGH.
CG: I CAN'T IMAGINE WHATEVER CRAZY SHIT THEY'D HAVE TO TYPE TO STAND OUT.
TA: amen 2 that. by the way, ha2 anyone 2een Horu22 yet? ii've got nothiing on my end.
AA: i haven't heard anything either
AA: what ab0ut you, karkat
CG: AGAIN, NOTHING. I'M STARTING TO THINK WE'RE NOT LOOKING IN THE RIGHT PLACE.
TA: you got a poiint. Maybe he ii2n't iin town after all.
AA: that d0esn't really make me feel any better ab0ut this
AC: :33 it's probably related to his obsession. if he connected himself to the internet, then maybe it's something with a strong signal.
Karkat had been flying over a small neighborhood when he got these messages. He made sure to stay invisible when he could, only switching out when he couldn't possibly be seen. It was difficult to think about how much damage Horuss could do unattended, especially since it was reaching about 9 p.m. by now.
He couldn't necessarily think about what place he could be. Tech shops were the most obvious, both high and low end. However, nothing was messing with the electronics there. Pawn shops and other similar places were also untouched.
Then again, it was less about the tech and more about his new connection to the internet. He was probably looking for a stronger signal so he could gather information faster…
They were fucking idiots. Of course, he would go for something like that.
CG: I'M ABOUT TO MAKE US ALL FEEL LIKE HUGE FUCKING IDIOTS RIGHT NOW.
CG: DOES ANYONE REMEMBER WHERE WE GET OUR INTERNET FROM?
TA: our II2P? ii'm pretty 2ure that building is on the edge of town
TA: oh
AA: why we didn't we think 0f that first
AA: i think that's near the l0cal junkyard
CG: SOUNDS LIKE THE WORST PLACE HE COULD GO TO THIS SITUATION, SO IT'S MOST LIKELY CORRECT.
CG: NEPETA, DO YOU THINK YOUR SISTERS CLOSE TO THE PORTAL YET?
AC: :3 she's most likely not that far. one of you is going to have to open the portal for her.
CG: THEN I GUESS ONE OF YOU IS GOING TO HAVE TO ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS FOR TO JOIN ME. OR GO TOGETHER. I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE HOW HORUSS WILL DEAL WITH ANTI-GHOST TECH.
TA: we'll rock, paper, 2cii22or2 for iit.
AA: give us a sec0nd
It took them a few seconds, but the answer was written down not that long after.
AA: l00ks like i'm up
TA: alriight, ii'll make 2ure your dad doe2n't 2ee me. wii2h me luck.
CG: GOD SPEED, YOU LOVABLE BASTARD.
Karkat didn't exactly like the idea of bringing someone else into the fight, but he knew that it wasn't entirely possible to defeat an enemy alone. Especially since he only had a baseline knowledge about the guys powers. Of course, he also wasn't happy that they would have to fight Horuss at all.
Then again, there was no telling what would happen to Horuss if he connected to the internet as a whole. Or what he could do in his obsessed state.
Karkat just sighed and decided to deal with it, already heading to the junkyard nearby.
It didn't take Karkat and Aradia long to meet up again, and it also didn't take long for them to fly there. Their destination wasn't far, but the both of them figured out one crucial fact while making it there.
Flying when you didn't have resistance to temperatures was cold as all hell.
"How do you not freeze while you're up in the air?" Aradia was rubbing at her arms as she walked the rest of the way on foot, shivering all the while. "I know the ghost powers thing protects you or something, but you got to feel a chill or something."
"I don't really feel much of anything, Aradia. Kind comes with the territory." Karkat lazily floated next to her, eyes scanning the terrain. "Hell, I don't even know if fire can hurt for all I know. I mean, do breathe out smoke."
"True, but I wouldn't go testing that. Yet." Aradia's smile became threatening for a second, sending phantom shivers down Karkat's spine. "I do wonder why you breath smoke, though. Kind seems ominous, don't you think?"
"I'm just hoping that I don't start doing that shit in class. I'd rather not get a suspension for smoking." The teen righted himself from his position, floating a little higher to get a better view. "At least it kind of looks cool. I'm wondering if I can trigger that shit, you know? Someone just pisses me off and I can go like…"
As if on cue, some smoke rose out of the gas mask, making them both stop. Aradia brought out her weapons as Karkat suddenly rose higher to see where Horuss was, looking over everything with a bit of panic settling into his bones. He really hoped they weren't too late.
He did eventually spot him and much to his relief, Horuss hadn't made it to the internet providers building, meaning he wasn't already hacking into the servers or something. He was on the outskirts of the junkyard though, floating ominously, his body mostly still.
His appearance was unsettling to say the least. While he looked mostly the same, one of his arms was covered completely in circuitry and metal, makeshift and cobbled together from broken parts. Most likely from whatever technology he was able to find on his way here, which was hopefully not a lot. He didn't appear injured or have anything on him showing he was in a fight, but he did occasionally twitch, something that worried him.
The phone they had given him was still at his wrist, glowing brightly.
"He's not far," Karkat said, voice low as he motioned to Aradia to keep quiet. "If we can't talk him down ourselves, I'll draw his fire. Make some potshots at him if you can."
"I have been dying to test out my whip anyway." She kept her hand on it carefully. "I'm sure he'll listen as long as you're calm about this. Make sure to be patient."
"Since when am I not calm and patient?" Karkat waited a second before waving off the question. "Don't answer that. I'm heading towards him. Message the others."
He moved in, floating towards Horuss cautiously. When he was five feet away, Horuss's gaze snapped to him, blank and unmoved. Every movement Karkat was making was critically observed, something which he could feel in his bones. He really needed to snap Horuss out of this, for both their sakes.
"Hey, man." Karkat almost slapped himself for how lame that sounded but continued. "I'd apologize about not finding you earlier, but you did kind of flake on us."
It wasn't a great start, but Horuss didn't appear to be offended. He didn't appear to register it, to be completely honest since his face didn't even change. He was just floating there, remaining as utterly quiet as the dead usually are.
"Not really your fault that you flaked on us, I guess. Things got a little out of hand. Probably should've taken some baby steps when introducing you to the internet." Karkat rubbed the back of his neck. "Should've taken your obsession into account. We didn't even ask, for fucks sake."
Horuss was ever silent, staring at him with empty goggles.
The ghostly teen couldn't help but feel a little frustrated by the lack of response. "C'mon, man, at least threaten me or something if you're gonna stand there like that. I don't want to fight, but I'd like some kind of reaction."
Horuss twitched at that. "Move aside." He said it mechanically. No emotion.
"Not the reaction I was hoping for, but fine." Karkat muttered to himself. He straightened up, attempting to be imposing. "I can't do that, Horuss. You're not yourself right now. I need to ask you to stop before you hurt yourself or others."
The other ghost wasn't moved. "Negatory. I will have access to the information of this world. It is not optional. Move aside."
"Look man," The teen didn't raise his voice, though it did become firm. He could already feel the urge to grab his weapons, but he suppressed it. Horuss was nice and it pained him to do this. "You can't do this. I don't want to fight you, but you're not moving another inch until we can snap you out of this. Do you understand?"
There was a brief moment of silence as Horuss digested this information.
"Understood." Horuss finally stated, making Karkat relax by just a degree. "Then be prepared to move yourself."
As Horuss lifted up the mechanical arm, glowing brighter, a shot rang out and him at his back.
Karkat moved quickly, pulling out a sickle and his ecto-gun. He set it at the lower settings and fired off several shots, landing a few before Horuss started to block. As he got close, he swung his leg at the ghost's head, connecting.
Horuss was sent back a bit by the blow, discombobulating him. He was quick to react though, throwing the metal hand out to blast at Karkat with prejudice. It went out in a long beam, something Karkat was able to dodge easily. Karkat continued firing himself but was only able to hit once before Horuss started dodging himself.
It was almost a free for all as Karkat did most of the shooting, an occasional beam coming from Horuss. Aradia popped in and out of cover, shooting occasionally and landing them at least half the time. Just as many of Karkat's shots were hitting, only getting grazed by the beams.
Horuss, obsessed state or not, seemingly realized the state he was in and changed tactics. He suddenly shot forward, moving past Karkat's shots. When he got close, he swiped at him with the metal, getting Karkat in the side.
Thankfully, it was the blunt side and the surprise hurt him more. He certainly felt his ribs bruise at it, though. It was easy to dodge the second blow, along with blocking a third with his sickle. He tried pushing back, but it was clear Horuss was much stronger physically. Karkat instantly moved back, sending him careening over him.
Horuss was unable to right himself as his foot was suddenly wrapped up in Aradia's whip. Karkat kicked the ghost in the chest at the same time Aradia pulled, sending Horuss right into the junkyard.
Aradia let out a whoop after that, cheering. "Holy shit, I actually got him with that. I thought that was going to fuck up or something."
"Nice to know that you have such faith in your abilities." Karkat checked his sides, frowning behind his mask. Nothing broken, but certainly bruised. "I really hope he's down for the count. I don't think we hurt him that much."
"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Aradia brought the whip back to her, looking over the junkyard. She plucked out her phone to send a quick message. "It'd be a good idea to suck him up now. I highly doubt he's in a conversational mood right now."
"Probably." He looked over at her, eyes narrowing. "Any idea when those two are gonna get here?"
"About five minutes. Muelin's arrived and Sollux is flying with her." Aradia put the phone away. "We should hurry up. He could get up-"
They were interrupted as a rumble came from the junkyard. They froze, looking at the dark expanse of trash as something came out of the shadows, rising slowly.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me." Karkat mumbled, shoulders drooping.
It was practically a mecha made out of trash. A bulbous torso was the base of a small command center, with Horuss inside a class glass. The arms were made out of long, green wires connected to tiny drills in the form of hands. The legs were very much the same, except the feet were made out of small cars. The entirety of it glowed a sickly green.
"…Aradia?"
"Yeah?"
"Take cover. Switch to highest setting and only fire if you think you can hit and not get noticed." Karkat stared down the being, holding the weapons in his hands tightly. "Otherwise, wait until the others show up."
"Got it." Aradia didn't like it, but she knew that was the better option as she moved back into the shadows.
Karkat mentally prepared himself for what was essentially the second form boss fight.
"My life is fucking weird." He said to himself, upping the levels of intensity on his ecto-gun and opened fire.
The shots didn't necessarily do much other than set Horuss's mini-mech back a bit, but he recovered fast. It moved forward, lunging at Karkat with arms elongated into a large swipe. Karkat narrowly dodged it, finding that the robot was faster than he thought. He had to dodge another strike before trying to fire at the center console where Horuss was.
It was enough to hold back what could've been another barrage of blows. Some damage was done to the glass, but not enough to break it. Karkat backed off, making sure to keep firing. He didn't notice any ranged weapons on the thing, so-
Before he could think further, Karkat felt something slash across his back, along with a loud buzzing. He flew upward, turning to see some floating appliances rising out of the junkyard. He specifically noticed an electric razor that, while broken, was buzzing with life. There was also some ectoplasm dripping from it, which he could feel dripping down his own back.
"That's what I get for running my mouth." He mumbled to himself, beginning to dodge the appliances. He heard another shot ring out, Aradia landing a hit on Horuss's back.
The man in question was about to turn her way before Karkat sent a few warning shots of his own.
"Keep your eyes on me, asshole!" It was probably not the best time to insult someone, but the teen couldn't care. "Nice job with the razor, by the way! If I didn't have back hair before that, I certainly don't now!"
"As I stated before," Horuss's voice sounded more robotic this time, filtering through the glass. "Step aside or be moved aside."
"And I said tough shit." Karkat stopped to pull himself back from the scarier voice. That was not what they needed right now. "And you know what? I'm think that since you gave me a close shave, I should give you the same."
Karkat suddenly dove in, avoiding various tools thrown at him. He fired at him as he did, narrowly avoiding various sharp objects as he did. The shots hit hard and fast on Horuss, who barely had time to react as they hit the torso of the mini-mech.
Karkat landed on the glass dome surrounding Horuss's body. He twirled the sickle in his hand and hit the butt of it against the glass, causing it to crack under the pressure. He did so a few more times before Horuss, in a fit of rage, swung the ends of his limbs at his location.
Karkat was able to dodge it by mere seconds, the ends hitting and shattering the glass hard. This caused the mech to stumble back. A familiar whip shot out from somewhere, grabbling onto one of the limbs and pulling hard enough to cause it to straighten out.
The ghostly teen took it as his cue, shooting forward once again. Moving the sickle into the more traditional position, he swung downward onto the wires of the captured arm, cutting through it like paper. The limb fell uselessly as it was separated from the main body, dropping to the ground.
Karkat almost celebrated that small victory before the onslaught of electronics began again, causing him to fly off and away from the mech. Horuss looked almost enraged, or as much as he could be for someone still having a blank face. From his and Aradia's standpoints, they could see the part of the broken mech start to slowly glow green again, along with floating upward.
"He's fixing himself?" Karkat cursed under his breath, trying to form up a plan. They couldn't let him regenerate the mech anymore, otherwise they'd eventually run out of energy. Unless Horuss tired out first, they'd most likely get beaten before the night ends.
They just needed some kind of distraction…
"Hey," A familiar and extremely welcome voice came in. "You assholes need some assistance?"
Sollux, rolling in from nowhere, didn't even bother waiting for an answer before letting out a shot beam from his cannon. A stream of ecto-energy flowed out of hit, with Horuss defensively blocking it with his remaining arm. It seemed to take most of his attention, as the dismantled part he tried to repair stopped glowing and fell to the ground.
"I'd suggest doing something now," Sollux shouted, putting all his focus on keeping the beam going. "I don't know how long this'll keep up! Try to get his legs or something."
"Got it!" Aradia's appeared out from cover, throwing her whip out again to catch one of the mech's legs. She pulled hard after it found purchase on the wires of the left leg, sending Horuss down onto one 'knee.' Karkat move forward as well, sickle in hand as he cut off the right leg for one final blow.
Without the support, the mech completely crumbled as Horuss flew out of it. His body language was agitated, as clearly seen by all in view. The three teens surrounded him, adjusting their weapons power levels. Karkat brought out the thermos too.
"What will it take for you to step aside?!" Horuss looked like someone had pushed him over the edge at this point, almost frothing at the mouth. "If I have to eliminate one of you to do this, I will! Do not test me, you-"
"Horuss!"
The sudden tackle of the ghost was out of left field, interrupting the monologue before it could come into fruition. A blur of green and blue stopped eventually, spinning out to reveal another ghost had joined the fray.
Honestly, it wasn't hard to guess that this one was Muelin by looks alone. She had plenty of the same features that Nepeta had, with the blue cat ears and all. Strangely enough, though, she actually dressed in a more normal way, which was a first considering the ghosts they'd seen so far. Dressed in a green shirt with the Leo symbol on it over a black long sleeve shirt, a skirt, green thigh high socks and black shoes, she was the most normal one they've seen.
Excluding the cat features, of course.
"Horuss," Muelin held onto the other ghost furiously, petting his back slowly and carefully. She moved so her face was looking into his. "I think it's time to stop now. You're letting your obsession get the best of you. I thought people with your power aren't allowed to do that."
"Muelin?"Horuss's voice wavered at first, surprised at interruption. "What are you doing here?"
"I was called over by your friends! They were worried about you after you went a little obsession crazy." She flicked him on the nose, which would've been cute if she hadn't done it during such a high stakes situation. "I heard you were being a bit of sour puss, so I figured I'd help them calm you down."
"But Muelin, you haven't seen what kind of information is available here!" The waviness of his voice was becoming a little more stable, turning from scary to warbly whine. "There's so much to learn!"
"Shoosh," Muelin patted his face, the shoosh coming out long and sounding like a waterfall. "You've done enough right now. It's time to calm down now."
She continued to pat and shoosh him, floating them downward. It was almost awkward for the others, who tried to not look directly at the two. They didn't know why per say, but it felt too wrong to watch.
Eventually, the glow in Horuss's eyes diminished as the metallic arm fell apart, the original smartphone along with it. He went a little limp as he folded into Muelin's arms, exhausted. It was almost like he fell asleep, honestly.
None of the others dared to move until he fully calmed down. Muelin eventually stopped and waved at them to approach, which they did with immense caution. Horuss blinked, dazed with a dash of exhaustion clear on his face.
He looked around himself slowly, seeing the destruction left in his wake. The mech itself wasn't far from where they stood.
Horuss, chuckling in an embarrassed tone, looked at the ghost hunters warily. "I suppose I have a lot to make up for?"
"Not really," Karkat sighed, rubbing the back of his neck guiltily. "But we do have a lot to tell you about today."
It didn't take too long to get back to the lab and wasn't too difficult to get in. Spades had gone in early for the night due to the garage sale, planning on working heavily on his projects in the morning.
"I am so sorry about my behavior earlier." Horuss was filled in on the way back about how things went, especially during the fight. "It was one thing to worry you, but I can't believe I attacked any of you."
"Relax, man, none of us were that hurt. I got hit worse when I had to fight Skulker, so I'd say that was easier than that." Karkat was in human form now, swigging some ectoplasm from flask Muelin had brought with her. He was starting to wonder if he should get one of his own. "At least we kept damage to minimum. The other ghosts destroyed some shit while they were here."
"Still, I could've hurt some people if you had left me to own devices." The ghost almost shrunk into himself, refusing to look into anyone's eyes. "Especially if I connected myself directly to the worlds internet. I would've ended up causing some real damage."
"Well, we did a pretty good job in stopping that, so don't worry about it too much." Aradia relaxed in her seat, a little sore from the heavy lifting she had to do. "I mean, I don't know if you remember anything from the fight. Karkat was chopping away at wires, I was taking you down with my whip, and then Sollux just bursts in! It was pretty kickass."
"I'm just hoping we don't have to fight like that for a long time." Sollux sipped on some soda, lounging lazily on a random seat. "That shit looked scary from far away."
Muelin rubbed Horuss's back still, trying to not to laugh herself. "At least it was pretty fun before that, right? I mean, giant robots aside."
"I suppose," The ghost groaned, getting to his feet softly. "It's probably a good time for me to head back into the Infinite Realms for now. I think I've overstayed my welcome."
"If that's what you want," Karkat understood, though he did feel a stab of disappointment at that. "You can come back out when you want to, but again, I'd give us fair warning next time."
"That's fair." Horuss floated up and moved towards the portal, waiting for Karkat to open it. He did stop before entering though. "I do ask if there's any way make-up for this."
Karkat opened his mouth to say no but stopped and thought about it. After a moment, he started talking. "I… I got a couple of ideas I guess."
"Shoot." Horuss floated upward, looking eager to have something to do.
"First thing," He pointed to the drone project his dad was working on. "I need you help finish one of my dad projects."
"Wait, why that one? I thought we were trying not to let your dad know too much about ghosts." Sollux straightened up and looked at his friend like he was insane, which he almost had a right to.
"As long it stays as camera footage or something, I'm fine with that. And considering what we're planning on doing, it'll be better if he has data than nothing." Karkat turned to Horuss, receiving a nod from the ghost. "Okay. The second thing is a lot more complicated."
"I highly doubt any machine is too complex for my skills." It was the most positive thing he said since he came to his sense, something that made Muelin very happy apparently.
"Good," Karkat swallowed his spit before saying his next command. "Because I'm going to need your help to shut down the portal."
Horuss was taken aback by this, smile traded out for a more perplexed look. "Really?" He started, looking between the teen and the portal itself. "I would think you would want to keep this open. Considering what you are, shouldn't having a consistent gateway to get into the 'Ghost Zone' be beneficial."
"Maybe to some people, but that things been more trouble than it's worth." Karkat leaned against the wall, looking at the device with suspicion. "Some pretty nasty things have slipping out of it, and I'm not just talking about Skulker. We've had to fight some tentacle monsters from time to time and those things can be pretty vicious if you give them enough room. Not to mention the property damage happening to the town."
Karkat sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I just don't want anything else slipping through and hurting anyone."
Horuss stayed silent for a moment, looking between the boy and the portal. He sighed but nodded. "I suppose that is a fair concern. I'll help out as much as I can."
The ghost moved away from it momentarily, looking at Spades current project. "I do believe I can do something about this. It's a pretty good start and it looks like he's close enough. Are you sure you don't want him to continue on his own?"
"It'll be better if we can get a few less explosions in the house before he makes it work." Karkat mumbled. It elicited a laugh from Muelin, which only made him blush.
Horuss only shrugged before cracking his fingers. "Then I think it's about time I get to work."
Spades will admit that he was an idiot sometimes and that he could be pretty much half blind. He usually blamed his missing eye for that, though, as a way to live with it.
He was pretty sure he didn't know how the drone got finished, though.
Spades looked over the finished design of the drone. It honestly looked almost cool, made out of a sleek metal and ectoplasm flowing through it. It certainly looked like something he would make, but he couldn't help but be suspicious over it.
He admittedly had a few to drink last night when he got to a particularly frustrating roadblock with it and may not remember a part of what happened. Not exactly something he was proud to admit, especially since he usually worked with volatile machinery.
However, Spades had to say the drone looked good.
Which made him ultimately afraid of the test run.
"Alright, you little metal son of a bitch." He grabbed the controls and turned it on with the flick of a switch. "Time to see if you work."
With a brief hum, the machine turned on, lights turning the eerie green of ectoplasm he was used to. Moving a dial, the machine hummed louder as it began to float into the air. Not a single hiccup could be found as it glided upward in a smooth arc.
Happy to confirm that, Spades moved a small joystick to see if it would move in a more third dimensional way. Again, it moved in the air with little issue. It moved like a dream and operated like one too.
Spades smiled. Maybe he was a fucking genius after all.
At least Horuss is okay, though Karkat might want to be careful what he wishes for in the future. At least he moved forward on how to deal with the portal problem, though they'll have to wait and see about that. At least they have typing quirks set up.
Hopefully you all enjoyed and I'll see you all in the next chapter!