Here's the final chapter dealing with this particular arc! Hope you all enjoy, especially since this after the next two-chapter arc, we'll be heading into new territory. If you're following the episode list closely, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Also, if you haven't heard already, I've got updated the drabble series. Feel free to check it out and request a drabble if you feel like you want to know more about something. It'll continue to be updated randomly.
Karkat knew things had gotten out of control. It was a very clear concept.
This was supposed to be a calm conversation. One where he got answers and he figured out a solution to all of this. Stop Vriska, calm her down if possible, and lower the property damage to hopefully zilch. Aranea would possibly be the key to that and, maybe, be a possible adult he could talk to in a situation like this. Possibly even understand how ghostly psychology works from someone who may have worked closely on one.
But no. She had to not only be a ghost too, but one preying on people in histown. On hispeople. Possibly his friends. Using teenage angst to fuel herself and possibly cause irreversible damage if she went overboard.
So, he knew this situation had gotten out of control. But he didn't fucking care.
"You're going to tell me where Vriska is and what you're doing to my town." Karkat felt the ecto-energy flare in his hands to emphasis his point. "Now."
"Ok, I know how this looks," All the bravado and irritation were gone from Aranea as she slowly backing away from the teen standing before her. "None of this was supposed to happen this way. We were just supposed get into town, get what we need, and get out."
"By sucking out their misery?" Karkat took a step forward, growling. Smoke continued to billow out of his mouth, the smell taking over the room. "Mind controlling them? Using them like cattle?"
"The mind control thing is usually only used in emergencies!" The woman in blue tried to wave it off, though it mattered little to him. "My sister- my sister is just going a bit overboard and I am doing my best to get it all under control."
The ghostly teen grunted, taking another step. "To say the least, you failed at that." He looked around the room carefully, casually. "Answer me when I ask this; if that little riot is what happens when she gets out of control… what happens when you do?"
"What?" Aranea's back hit the wall. Fear was clear on her face as she tried to get away.
"I asked you," He leaned forward, sharp teeth bared at her as the smoke continued to fill the room. "What happens when you lose control?"
Aranea gulped, leaning into the wall further.
The confrontation was interrupted when a knock reverberated from the door. Karkat twitched, looking behind him at it with fury.
"Ms. Serket? You wouldn't happen to be smoking in there?" Mr. Lancers voice cut through the silence his interruption created. "Great Expectations, it almost smells like a campfire in there! I know things have been stressful lately, but make sure to use an air freshener."
Karkat paid the interruption no mind, turning back towards Aranea…
…slipping through the wall.
Another burst of rage and he jumped after her, rings of light washing over him as he did. From office, to concrete, to fresh air, he flew up into the air. From a distance, he could see Vriska flying close to the ground. She moved to take something off her finger.
Another puff of smoke. Involuntary. Another concealing artifact.
Unimportant. Need to catch her before she gets away.
She started flying towards the trees, Karkat sending a few shots her way. Ectoplasmic energy flowed easily out of his hands, missing her by a hair. It caused her to pick up the pace, barely looking back for to keep dodging. He dove after, sickle in hand.
She eventually did turn around, firing a few shots his way. They were inaccurate and meant to scare him off, but they didn't. He barely had to maneuver himself in order dodge them.
When he got close enough, he attempted to slash her with the sickle in hand, hitting solid ground instead. Aranea flew faster as every swipe of the blade came closer and closer, almost nicker her dress.
She made it into the tree line before he could land a hit, moving into the darkness of the woods. He lost her briefly, causing him to take a pause, floating his feet back onto the ground.
Karkat tilted his head and listened for her. He started to walk forward, slowly to let the crunch dead branches to emphasize his arrival.
"Do you think you can hide from me?" Tone even, the words echoed within Amity's forest. He could almost hear a catch of breath not far from him. "With everything you and your sister are doing to my town? To my people?"
Branches continued to crack under his weight. A small part of him would've felt guilty about needlessly scaring someone like this. It was drowned out by that blinding rage. Just ceaseless, unending, and terrible rage.
"I've lived here for most of my life, you know. I know mostly everyone here by name, occupation, and even some details about their personal lives." Another step forward, more branches cracking. Some of those branches were parts of the roots that somehow got above ground. "Xefros, that kid you were talking to earlier? Severe anxiety disorder and confidence issues. You most likely read about that in your files. Tell me, how has his behavior changed under your 'guidance.'"
Heavy breathing not far from where he was walking. Aranea's ecto-signature practically sung to him, the energy around her acting like a light house.
"This is why," Karkat said it in a loud whisper, carrying through the utter silence of the woods. "I can't let you stay here."
He reached through the tree, grabbing her throwing behind him. He fired another shot at her, hitting her in the stomach as she did.
Aranea was quick on the draw, though. She fired an ectoblast of her own, hitting him in the shoulder. It caused him to slow, which was enough for her to fire two more shots his way, aimed for his legs and his head.
Karkat's leg was hit, but he was able to dodge the one aimed at his head. The shots did little to impede him, launching himself forward. He slashed at her with the sickle, grazing her side as he fired another shot into her shoulder.
Aranea stumbled back into another tree. She looked around frantically for another place to escape, firing more shots at him to get him to back off. They were all wild, hitting only a third of the time. They didn't seem to bother Karkat in the slightest, which scared her even more.
The teen was growing tired of this. Lunging at her, he grabbed her neck and slammed her up against the three before she could get away. She struggled, digging her hands into the suit, hands still alight with energy.
End her.
Karkat didn't bother questioning that little voice in the back of his head. He raised the sickle up, readying slash aimed at her head-
"Karkat!"
-Which immediately went to the direction of the new voice. Nepeta, who was floating behind, swerved to avoid the sharp object, moving back. She raised her hands defensively in front of her, claws retracted at the moment.
"Hey, hey, it's just me! No need to gut me just yet, I've only committed pun related crimes!" The ghost blinked, looking into Karkat's eyes. Her own widened in horror. "Oh shit, you've gone obsession crazy. Not good. Look, maybe if you just put down the sickle-"
"Not an option." The halfa's voice remained deadly calm, shutting her off dead. He squeezed Aranea's throat, gloves digging into her skin. "She could hurt more people. So could her sister. She needs to be stopped."
"You're not in the right headspace right now, dude. This isn't you talking, it's your obsession." Nepeta moved slowly towards him, hands still in front of her. "Are you really willing to go this far? She hasn't seriously hurt anyone right now and probably won't."
"Why do believe that? You don't know who she is!" He raised the sickle at Nepeta this time, waving it around. "She's been here for days! Weeks even! She's been sucking people's emotions out and leaving them to dry, and god knows what that's doing to people!"
"Fine, that's true. But we don't have proof that anyone's hurt." The ghost stepped forward one last time, just out of striking range. "We can just use the thermos and- shit, look out!"
Karkat swiveled his head back to Aranea, getting a full ectoblast to the face. He flew back from the force of it, letting the blonde ghost go. The young woman vanished from sight and fled from the scene as fast she could.
Nepeta debated on whether to track her or not before she heard a growl come from Karkat's direction. She turned to see the boy get up, looking around frantically at their surroundings, trying to use his ghost sense to find her. He must not have felt Aranea's presence anymore, because his face contorted into rage once more, this time at her.
"You let her get away."
It was the only warning she got before he launched himself at her suddenly, hand in front of him, crackling with ectoplasm-
-and then shot down, wires encasing him. Karkat yelped as volts of electricity went through him, knocking him out quickly.
Nepeta took a deep breath, claws going back into her. She looked up at Terezi with a glare. "Couldn't you have done that in a better way?"
"Sorry, I kinda went on instinct there." Terezi went down to the boy, looking him over quickly. "He doesn't seem to be hurt. That blast to the face wasn't powerful enough to cause anything permanent and his obsession state probably prevented him from taking too much damage. At least he'll snap out of it when he wakes up."
"Hopefully." Nepeta relaxed. She hadn't realized how tense she was until this very moment, having to force those muscles to wind down. It was just those last few moments…
…Well, at least they knew that he formed an obsession now. One that made him really violent, but that was a hurdle they could get past.
Hopefully.
Nepeta really hoped the humans knew how to calm him down if they had to deal with it on their own.
Karkat was having the most peaceful amount of sleep he's had in weeks. He was in a comfortable position while face down, his breathing came at a steady rhythm, and he was almost snoring too. He wasn't even having nightmares either, which made things so much easier.
Aradia almost felt guilty slapping him awake, but they were on a schedule.
With a quick hit, the boy was up, eyes wary and almost in a fighting stance. Unlike earlier, where he was terror rolled up in a hazmat suit, he was a bleary eyed, graceless teenager who looked ready to stumble over air. He deliriously held his hands up in front of his face, looking around the room before realizing no one had attacked him.
"Good, you're awake." Aradia's smile was strenuous, patting him on the back. "Sorry to wake you up like that, but we are kind of in a pickle here. Especially if what Nepeta and Terezi told us is true."
"What?" He looked around himself, his intelligent response followed up by something actually coherent. "Wasn't I just in Serket's office? Wait, shit, did she-"
"Yeah, she got away." Karkat looked to find Nepeta floating close to the ceiling, ears downcast. "Sorry about that. You were kinda getting obsession crazy and I needed to make sure you didn't do something you'd regret."
"Had to drag you all the way from your school to here, by the way." Terezi's voice was a shock to hear as well, seeing her wave around a net. "Had to steal one of my mom's tools to get you. The electricity was kind of needed to stop you from trying to kill us."
"The fuck are you all talking about?" Karkat looked around at everyone, finally getting his bearings after the moment of delirium. He was in his room, all of his friends scattered around the place. "How long was I out?! I don't remember shit after Aranea hypnotized me."
"Yeah, that's the thing." Sollux nervously started, wincing as his friend's gaze moved his way. "Are you sure you don't remember anything, KK? It sounds like things got a little hectic over there."
"I just said I don't have any idea what you're all talking about. Does that clue you in?" The gap in his memory was really freaking him out. He sure as hell didn't remember getting out of there, nor did her remember fighting Aranea and her getting away, and he definitely didn't remember needing to be sedated. The last things he remembered was her talking on the phone and…
…Did Nepeta say he went obsession crazy?
"Okay, let's get some facts straight here." Terezi pointed at Karkat, serious mode on. "Apparently Aranea somehow set off an alarm in your head that set you off enough for you to chase her down. As in, full blown murder crazy. Nepeta found you when you when you were about to execute her on sight."
"Bullshit." He didn't know why he said that so quickly, but it came out all the same. "I wouldn't try that! I don't want to kill anyone."
"Karkat," Aradia reached out, squeezing his arm. He almost flinched at the contact. "We know that isn't you. But it happened, okay? Something happened to trigger your obsession and it caused you to go a little haywire. It's alright."
"But I don't have a…" Karkat rubbed at his temples, eyes closed tight. "Can we- Can we just get back to the main problem here? We've got two ghosts out there that are either eating emotions or mind controlling people and they're both loose. We need to have a plan here."
"Alright, alright, let's back up here. He's got a point." Sollux knew the conversation was going to go nowhere if they kept going like this. KK was too far in denial right now to actually talk about it. "It doesn't seem like we're going to get access to them before tomorrow night. Vriska's holding a concert at the tv station and is going to broadcast to anyone in the country."
"That's true. Really wish we could've had more time to set things up before then, but here we are." Aradia ran her finger through her hair, trying to sort out the tangles. "Then again, we didn't expect a second ghost. Especially that they're apparently doing this together."
"The Serkets have apparently been doing this con for a while now. Aranea called her sister about how the plan was supposed to be that she knocked them and Vriska brings them back up. Apparently, one of them is off script." Karkat accepted the change in subject, beginning to pace. "Vriska seems to be borderline obsession-crazy, but Aranea's in control right now."
"And obviously enabling her, even if she doesn't really want to." Terezi tapped her cane on the floor, frowning deeply. "How long have they been out here? Things are a mess in the Infinite Realms, so we don't exactly have a registry of ghosts, but someone would've noticed them missing."
"They probably slipped out of a natural portal. I can kinda get why they decided to come here, though." Nepeta shrugged at the incredulous looks sent her way. "Hey, it makes sense. Go to small towns where people are less likely to know current events, blend in for a bit, harvest some emotions, and leave before something negative happens. Switching their hunting grounds isn't a bad strategy."
"Until they decided to fuck it up by coming here." Sollux typed something into his computer, squinting at the screen. " I have the time when the concert will most likely start. Unless Vriska actually listens to her sister, we won't have to worry about when she'll show up. It's probably the best idea to attack her there."
"What about any people around there? I mean, I doubt she's not going have some kind of audience there to cheer her on." Aradia raised a good point. There was a lot of people at the concert they'd gone too, and that was in an abandoned warehouse. "That's a lot of witnesses and we're trying to make sure ghosts don't become common knowledge."
Karkat slumped into a metal chair, putting a hand to his chin. After a moment of silence, he decided to pipe up. "Sollux, do the ads say anything about there being a special show for anyone that shows up before the broadcast starts?"
Sollux scrolled down further. He stopped after finding what he was looking for. "Yeah, it looks like Vriska will be singing a few singles that she's 'never released before' to specific buyers. After that's over, the broadcast starts up."
"You think we should back off and only jump in after she enthralls her audience?" Terezi squinted at the halfa, deeply unsure. "That'd just make her more powerful by then. You did an okay job fighting her alone, but that was after one concert and she was away from the audience. She'd be getting power directly from them."
"But they wouldn't be able to register us. Aradia and Sollux didn't remember anything after they got out of her mind control." Nepeta's claws came out, a confident grin on her face. "Plus, he's got back up now. A halfa, two ghosts, and two humans armed with ghost weapons should be enough."
"Exactly. I don't exactly know Aranea's fighting skills just yet, but even if she got put in a corner, they're both outnumbered." Karkat definitely didn't like the idea of facing a powered up ghostly rockstar, but that seemed like the only way to do this discreetly. "We just need a way to prevent anyone from getting hypnotized."
"I was able to find some kind of headphones from your dad's storage. I think it might actually protect us from the music." Aradia pulled out the notes related to said invention, reading them over carefully. "I mean, we don't actually know that, but I guess we'll figure it out when we get there."
There was an unsettling implication about what would happen if they didn't. Terezi then tapped her cane on the floor once again, catching everyone's attention.
"I personally think this'll be fun." Terezi's feral smile came on full view. It honestly made everyone move back due to the number of teeth apparent in her mouth. "I mean, this'll suck if it goes wrong, but taking down supervillains sounds awesome."
"You just think that because you want to live out those little roleplaying games we did back when we were kids." Nepeta leaned in conspiratorially to Aradia. "Did you know she used to hang her stuffed animals after doing mock trials? I used to be a witness in all of them and she'd just keep them up there until her mom asked her to take them down."
"Hey, that's private!" Terezi blushed, waving her cane at the cat ghost. "You're the one likes to go LARPing!"
As the three girls began to banter, Karkat let out a breath, rolling his eyes at the chaos. He felt a presence move beside him, looking over to find Sollux plopping down in a chair. The Captor raised an eyebrow at him, expecting him to say something.
"You know that's not how I'm like, right?" He didn't mean for it to sound so desperate, but that's how it came out. "That's not me at all."
"It isn't." Sollux agreed with him immediately, sliding the laptop over to him. He started playing random videos involving Vriska. "Let's just get some research done, okay? We'll talk about that obsession shit later."
Karkat was almost tempted to say they didn't need to talk about it at all, but he figured that'd only make the conversation be pushed up to now. He simply grabbed the computer, pressing play on whatever video he could find.
…Admittedly, he couldn't help but think that it sucked that Vriska was doing all of this. He actually couldn't help but like her music.
The television station was more packed then it had been any other night. Even though it was mostly word of mouth, it appears Scourge Sister would bring in a packed house tonight, something Karkat had been afraid of. It was what they planned for, though, so it wasn't surprising in the slightest.
The three living teens silently went through the crowd, Karkat with a hood up while Aradia and Sollux let Terezi and Nepeta use them as human taxi's again. They made sure to come in there with their weapons as discreetly as possible. Karkat felt weird not going in with an ecto-gun, but since he can use ectoblasts now, that naked feeling was abated.
"It should be starting up at any minute. We should get into position before things can kick off." Sollux watched as several camera crews set up things up. Some of them looked positively zombified. "Hopefully, we can avoid Aranea until after the sabotage."
"I'm more worried about how well the headphones will work against Vriska's music. We haven't been able to test it." Aradia fiddled with said headphones warily. They tried using old videos of Vriska's concerts, but it turned out those didn't have any hypnotic effect to them. "They haven't exploded, but that's the only consolation we've got here."
"It'll work. We just got to make sure the plan goes smoothly." He turned towards the two, narrowing his eyes. "Remember, you two head into the back and try to sneak past anyone that doesn't appear to be zombified. I'll stay out here and after she finishes hypnotizing people, I'll attack her. Terezi, Nepeta, come out only after the sabotage is finished or if you need to help either of them fight."
He got nods from the two humans, with a weird flash of color appearing in their eyes. He took it as confirmation from Terezi and Nepeta, turning back towards the stage. He felt dread seep into his stomach as everything seemingly finished up, lights dimming.
"Here we go." The halfa mumbled to himself, letting out a breath he was holding in.
Vriska strolled in, right on cue, as applause thundered out. The outside venue thankfully prevents it from becoming deafening, sparing Karkat's ears. He also couldn't help but think it gave plenty of room to fight, so small miracles all around.
The applause eventually stopped when Vriska raised a hand up, silencing everyone within a few seconds. She really did seem to have a presence among the crowd. Of course, some of these guys were people he recognized at the last concert, so that may have just been here powers at work. She cleared her throat, grabbing the mic.
"Well, I'm certainly glad to have everyone here tonight. This place is certainly packed, that's for sure." Despite the fact it wasn't a joke, a chuckle rose through crowd. "It really is! Definitely the biggest crowd I've played for yet. Didn't think I'd be on tv either, so there's that."
Another chuckle came from the crowd as Karkat groaned. Could she get more self-absorbed.
"You know, I've had a lot of people tell me throughout my life that I wouldn't be able to make it up here. Always calling me some kind of attention grubbing bitch that'd get kicked out of the first record label I apply for." Vriska smirked, sharp teeth poking out. "Wonder what'd they say if they saw me now."
She suddenly grabbed her guitar, swinging it in front of her as she put the mic back on its stand. "I'm going to play a special song for you tonight, just for you. Nobody else here but us is going to hear it." She gave one last smile before moving closer to the mic. "Hope you enjoy~."
With little hesitation, she started slamming the notes out of the guitar.
(Note: Play "Ignorance by Paramore starting now.)
As the guitar came on, Karkat motioned for the humans and ghosts to begin. He barely noticed them leaving as kept a close eye on the crowd around him, watching as Vriska worked her magic.
Aradia and Sollux were already moving into a side door of the building before Vriska started the first verse.
"If I'm a bad person, you don't like me,
Well, I guess I'll make my own way.
It's a circle, a mean cycle,
I can't excite you anymore."
The two humans let out a sigh, noting that nothing was happening to them right now. Guess the headphones actually worked. They worked their way inside, checking everywhere for guards while they moved.
"Where's your gavel? Your jury?
What's my offense this time?
You're not a judge, but if you're gonna judge me,
Well, sentence me to another life."
Karkat moved around the crowd himself, checking to make sure Aranea wasn't out there herself. Couldn't let her catch him and throw them off the plan now. Plus, it worked to make sure that crowd control was kept up so no one got hurt.
"Don't wanna hear your sad songs,
I don't wanna feel your pain.
When you swear it's all my fault?
Cause you know we're not the same (No).
We're not the same (No).
Oh, we're not the same."
Speaking of the devil, Karkat made sure to grab an idiot before he tried to jump on drink stand set up. The idiot didn't appear hypnotized, but he was starting to be, and god forbid if that table broke under him. He glared at Vriska, even though she didn't pay attention to anyone in the crowd.
"Yeah, the friends who stuck together,
We wrote our names in blood.
But I guess you can't accept that the change is good (Hey),
It's good (Hey),
It's good."
The chorus started after Aradia and Sollux noticed two guards in the distance. They held back, making sure to look around to check if anyone else was around.
"Well, you treat me just like,
Another stranger.
Well, it's nice to meet you, sir,
I guess I'll go,
I'd best be on my way out."
Aradia made a hand motion, signaling the other ghosts to come on out. Terezi and Nepeta turned invisible, floating towards the guards carefully. When they got into position behind them, they slipped into them, possessing them completely.
"You treat me just like,
Another stranger.
Well, it's nice to meet you, sir,
I guess I'll go,
I'd best be on my way out."
The ghosts led the guards away, letting Aradia and Sollux get to the door. The two looked it over, reading the signs. The two high fived and jumped inside when they found it was the broadcasting room and nobody was inside yet.
"Ignorance is your new best friend,
Ignorance is your new best friend."
Karkat, meanwhile, was trying to slow down the hectic crowd, checking in and making sure some rando didn't do something monumentally stupid.
"This is the best thing that could have happened,
Any longer and I wouldn't have made it.
It's not a war, no, it's not a rapture,
I'm just a person, but you can't take it."
A poor attempt a mosh pit was starting to form and Karkat couldn't help but notice some poor girl his age getting dragged in. He growled, feeling his eyes burn as he noticed her get jostled around. He turned invisible himself, adding intangibility as he moved into the crowd.
"The same tricks that, that once fooled me,
They won't get you anywhere.
I'm not the same kid from your memory,
Well, now I can fend for myself."
Karkat grabbed the girl before she could get too lost in the crowd. He thanked the fact that the crowd and the girl were dazed and starting to slip under Vriska's mind control to notice him dragging her out.
"Don't wanna hear your sad songs,
I don't wanna feel your pain.
When you swear it's all my fault?
Cause you know we're not the same (No).
We're not the same (No).
Oh, we're not the same."
The halfa made sure to put the girl somewhere near a snack bar, moving on when she didn't appear to be injured. He glared up at the stage once more before going back into the mosh pit to check if anyone else was in there.
"Yeah, we used to stick together,
We wrote our names in blood,
But I guess you can't accept that the change is good (Hey).
It's good (Hey).
It's good."
Karkat kept pulling people out of the mosh pit whenever they struggled, discreetly pulling them out when they didn't notice. It was beginning to settle down, the mind control going into effect on them.
"Well, you treat me just like,
Another stranger.
Well, it's nice to meet you, sir,
I guess I'll go,
I'd best be on my way out."
Karkat grabbed the last struggling person, some idiot that had somehow arrived her drunk. He set him back at the snack bar too with the other victims, cursing to himself in angry whispers. He was going to kill her after this.
"You treat me just like,
Another stranger.
Well, it's nice to meet you, sir,
I guess I'll go,
I'd best be on my way out."
Karkat looked around the area one final time, deciding that most of the crowd was docile enough for him to stop doing crowd control. Looking over at the speakers, a small part of him couldn't help but think up of something particularly devious just in case the original plan didn't work.
"Ignorance is your new best friend.
Ignorance is your new best friend.
Ignorance is your new best friend.
Ignorance is your new best friend."
As the guitar solo started, the door to the broadcasting room opened up, alerting the two humans to another presence. The two blinked owlishly at Aranea, who couldn't help but stare back.
"Mr. Captor? Ms. Megido? What are you two doing here?" Aranea didn't appear to be in a good mood, looking at the two with suspicion. "Shouldn't you two be at home."
The two humans were desperately coming up with excuses before Terezi and Nepeta slipped through a wall.
"Hey guys, we knocked out the guards! Any idea how long it'll take till…" Nepeta trailed off as soon as she noticed the other ghost in the room, who just stared open mouthed at them. "…Well, shit."
Aradia pulled out and her ecto-gun and opened fire as Sollux frantically worked on ruining the broadcast before it could officially start. The room, along with the rest of the building, fell into chaos as the ghosts and human fought.
Vriska started the last lines of her song, fully unaware of the sabotage.
"Well, you treat me just like,
Another stranger.
Well, it's nice to meet you, sir,
I guess I'll go,
I'd best be on my way out!
You treat me just like,
Another stranger!
Well, it's nice to meet you, sir,
I guess I'll go,
I'd best be on my way out."
As the last lines of the song went out, the fight broke out the building in a flurry of ectoblasts, swearing, and clawing. Aranea was thrown on the stage with a yell, the music cutting off abruptly at her entrance. She rose up quickly though, her hair a mess and looking positively enraged.
"Is this entire town infested with ghosts?!" She waved her arms in the air, frustrated. Aranea turned towards her sister, pointing at her and snarling. "Of course you had to go nuts in the one town where we can't brainwash some people. Where a ghost hunter, of all things, lives. You couldn't just wait one more town before pulling this."
"Hey, I'm not going nuts here. I'm actually securing us a permanent place. Isn't that something you wanted?" Vriska started flying too, looking over at the newcomers. "And just who are you assholes?! Can't you see we're doing a concert here?!"
"They're with me."
The Serket's flinched, one in slight fear, one in annoyance. They looked up to find Karkat, fully transformed, was floating above the stage, eyes narrowed. He flipped a sickle casually, looking down on them.
"Nice to see that I won't have to look for one of you after this is over. Knocks out two problems for the price of one." Karkat growled, disdain clear in his voice. "I'll give you one more chance to stop this shit, but after that, we've got no choice to take you in."
"Like hell I'm doing that. I've worked way too hard to get here and I'm not going to let some jackass with a gas mask ruin it." Vriska held her guitar with a death grip, ready to hit the strings. "I'd like to see you try and beat me with a crowd nearby."
Karkat lazily turned his head towards Aranea. He couldn't help but take a small bit of satisfaction when he noticed her shiver. "Any thoughts on that Aranea?"
She jolted at the change in his voice but gulped. "Sorry. I don't agree with any of this, but I'm standing by my sister." Ectoplasm crackled around her fingers, watching everyone carefully.
Karkat fought the urge to sigh. Couldn't ghosts just listen to him at least once when he wants to talk them down?
"Fine then." He motioned towards Sollux, Aradia, and Nepeta. "You three. Take down Aranea with everything you've got. Terezi, you're with me."
The blind ghost flew to his side, unsheathing the sword from her cane. She twirled it absentmindedly before sending a vicious grin Vriska's way.
It was a tense few seconds before Vriska started the fight with a strum of her guitar. The crowds started cheering her name, temperature dropping all the while.
Shockwaves were instantly sent their way, easily dodged by the duo. She kept sending them, one after another in quick succession, only stopped when a blast sent her way causes her to dodge. Karkat sent volley after volley, letting Terezi get close.
When she was close enough, Terezi did her best to slice Vriska, who either blocked it with her guitar or made sure to fly away from it. Karkat made her falter occasionally, almost getting caught by the blade several times.
Vriska made an immediate move to start firing ice attacks, creating min glaciers in seconds. They were immediately counteracted when Karkat switched to melee, flying in, and kicking her in the back. Terezi started breathing fire, necklace flashing as she melted the ice.
On the other side of the stage, Aranea was doing her best to avoid getting scratched by Nepeta's claws, only to eventually switch that out for avoiding getting shot by the humans ecto-guns. It appeared to be a losing battle before she eventually growled, shooting Nepeta back.
"Enough of this! Teenagers or not, I'm not being taken down tonight!" Aranea's yell was followed up by her flying into the sky. Her body, head to toe, turned into a shadowy black, growing twice her size. Two eyes turned to eight as she moved back into attack.
"Okay, that's just bullshit." Sollux moved back, moving to assemble his beam weapon before she could get the upper hand on them. She tried to get to him, but Aradia pelted her as much as she could as Nepeta tried slashing into her shadow form with little purchase.
Karkat and Terezi made a little more progress in fighting Vriska, though it wasn't much. They'd kept her on the ropes due to numbers, but not by much.
Terezi did her best to remain on the offensive, though she was starting to get tired. Swinging her sword as randomly as possible to confuse the Serket was draining her stamina. When she fumbled a swing of her sword, Vriska took it as an opportunity to hit her in the head with her guitar.
Sending the scaled girl back, she only had a second before Karkat was throwing even bigger blasts at her. She flew upward, much faster than their last fight and immediately send a large soundwave to him.
Karkat paused, realizing the blow could hit the cheering crowd. He looked toward his sickle and came up with a quick plan. Imbuing it with ecto-energy, he swung so it met with the soundwave in the middle, exploding it.
Vriska was blinded by the explosion, forcing her to cover her eyes. Before she could recover, Karkat swept in swinging the sickle at her full force. She tried to protect herself with the guitar.
He cut it in half with his swing.
Vriska stared down at the ruined guitar for a second, blinking at it. The shocked look quickly turned to rage, hands lighting blue as she started sending waves of ice at him at every opportunity.
Meanwhile, Aranea was starting to overpower Aradia and Nepeta, taking swipes of her own. Her shadow form gave her an extra edge, making her more agile. She slipped from one place to another, taking pot shots at the two every time she could.
Before she could successfully knock Nepeta out, a solid beam of ecto-energy hit her in the back, throwing her across the stage. She tried pushing back the beam coming from Sollux's beam cannon, failing as she did. The other two combatants took shots at a distance to keep it up.
Vriska was staring to have enough of the fight, throwing ice every which way, only to get it melted by Terezi. Karkat was swerving around her, only ticking her off even more. She was eventually kicked in the stomach by Karkat, sending her crashing onto the stage.
Terezi took this opportunity to grab the shock bola her mother used, throwing it at Vriska. The ghostly rock star saw it, throwing up a shield to protect herself. Karkat immediately responded by throwing himself at her, catching the bola, and turning human.
The satisfaction of watching her face turn from confidence to shock was satisfying as he lodged the sickle into the wood next to her neck, the curve facing him and stopping inches from her throat. As the shield dropped, he threw the bola at Aranea's struggling form, catching, and shocking her at the last second.
Everyone stopped, taking a moment to breathe. The silence was almost eerie, as the crowd had stopped cheering. Karkat stared down at Vriska, eyes narrowed and angry. His eyes still glowed an eerie red.
"Are we done here, Serket?" He eventually growled, getting closer to her face. She shrunk back, eyes narrowing back. "Entertainers usually now when to play the final song, and I'd consider this a showstopper."
It looked like Vriska was about to make another sarcastic comment, but a groan to their side stopped her. She turned her head as much as she could, seeing her sister groaning and curled up, the bola still wrapped around her. Aranea looked almost pitiful, having shed the shadow form she took up for the fight.
"…Fine. You got me." Vriska lazily raised her hands, looking up at Karkat with visible disdain. He couldn't help but think the glow in her eyes at diminished somewhat. "You happy now?"
"…No. But it's not like I was going to give you a choice." Karkat grabbed the thermos, sucking her up before she could move anymore.
The group officially began to relax, forms slouching, and weapons slowly being put away. Karkat sucked up Aranea, picking up the bola's left behind. He handed both off to Terezi, gait swaying.
"Take these into the Ghost Zone. I don't know what you have to do to keep her in there, but please try. Maybe even get the two of them some help or something." Karkat waved off the concerned look on the ghost's face. "My dad made more thermos's, so I'll just take one until you return this."
He looked around at the stage, searching for something. He found the Vriska's eye patch and Aranea's ring, grabbing and throwing them to Nepeta. "Have Horuss analyze these. Maybe he'll find something so you two can hang out in the human world undetected." He looked between the two ghosts and giving them a thankful nod. "Thanks for the help today. We wouldn't have won without you. And if you have to tell your mom's anything, feel free to tell them as much as you can."
The two ghosts nodded, vanishing from sight as soon as he was finished. Karkat stumbled over to Sollux and Aradia, keeping an eye on the crowd. They still hadn't moved since Vriska had been defeated.
"What are we going to do about them?" Sollux motioned at the silent crowd. "Can't just leave them here."
"I'm surprised Vriska's mind control hasn't lost its effect on them yet." Aradia scratched her head. She looked exhausted, but so were the rest of them. "Is this like sleep walking? Should we try and wake them up."
"Relax, I got it covered." Before the other two could ask what Karkat meant, he pulled out a button from his jacket, pushing it. It caused a shrill noise to suddenly rip from the speakers, startling the crowd out of their trance.
As the field began to light up in shouts of confusion, fear, and maybe anger, Aradia looked between the two boys.
"Next we decide to go out for something," She started out authoritatively. "I'm picking the venue.
The boys respond in under a second, in unison.
"Agreed."
Two ghosts neutralized, an obsession discovered, and some drama set up for the upcoming chapters. Hope this intrigues all of you, especially since I can't wait for them to come up.
Either way, I'll see all of you in the next update. Cheers!