I'm not sure how to feel about this chapter, but I think I balance everything well enough to keep it interesting. Hopefully you all think so as well, though I can't change your opinion if you don't.

Either way, there'll be more stuff in the authors note at the bottom. Enjoy the chapter!

Karkat figured that court room drama wasn't going to be a part of his life unless he needed to/got sued at some point in the future. Unfortunately, avoiding it was apparently going to be impossible.

At least when Vriska tried to leap over the table to strangle him, someone knocked her back to stop her from trying.

"Vriska Serket, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down. Outbursts like that will get you held in contempt of court." Redglare had shifted into business mode completely, no room for nonsense in her courtroom. She looked over towards the person that held the girl down. "Latula, have you talked with the defendants before the case, or do you need more time to prepare?"

"No mo- I mean, ma'am."

Karkat raised an eyebrow, wondering where the hell the new girl came from. It didn't take much thought to figure this was Terezi's sister. Same hair color, eye color, and she even had the same scales. The only real differences were the fact her hair was much longer, reaching down her back, and her outfit looked more like a jumpsuit in some cases. He couldn't help but get a real skater girl off of her, though he didn't know what that meant.

"Terezi, Phantom, seeing as how I had to start this very quickly, I will give you time to get your facts straight. While you do that, the Serkets will tell me their accounts of what happened." The courtroom seemed to shift subtly, the sound drowning out slowly as she continued to speak. "I'd also like to remind; I know when people lie. Get your stories straight and stick to it."

The two stayed silent as a bubble invisibly formed around them, as if hiding them from view and deafening themselves to the outside world. Terezi relaxed as it formed, sighing deeply.

"Thank god. I knew she was going to let us prepare, but I was worried for a second there." She brought out some papers, stacking them up as if to appear professional. "Alright, let's keep this simple. As long as we stick to the simple version of you finding Vriska causing chaos in the human world, we should get her under some kind of punishment that would keep her under control. I don't know about Aranea, but maybe we could-"

"Wait, wait." Karkat waved around, pointing at the translucent bubble they were in. "What the hell is this? How's your mom doing this?"

Terezi looked irritated for a second before waving around at not only the bubble, but the courtroom itself. "This place is part of her lair. It's not only the place they live, but their entire domain, something they can manipulate while inside. My mom happens to have a very precise control over hers that allows us to have some privacy."

"Shit, do I have one of those?" Karkat wasn't exactly excited about that thought, but he figured there would be some use for it. At least, maybe he could use it for storage? Something else?

"Maybe if you actually came in here more often, you might get one. Can we get on with the case, though, instead of talking about living arrangements?" She pointed at the Serkets, who were actively talking to Redglare, while arguing with each other about certain facts. "We need to plan things out so those two don't get off and they try to kill you for stopping them."

"Fine, sorry. Just new information." Karkat ignored the instinct to grab his notebook and write down the new information. He put his hands in front of him, getting serious. "It should be easy to get Vriska down, but what about Aranea? Wasn't she doing something wrong with, y'know, harvesting people's emotions?"

"Kind of." Terezi waved her hand in the air vaguely, a frustrated look on her face. "While Vriska was definitely going low-key obsession-crazy and abusing her power, the only times Aranea did anything with her powers that could be considered harmful was when we were fighting her."

"Then how do we get her under control then? She said that she was trying to stop Vriska, but she didn't seem to be actively doing anything about it." Karkat looked over the young woman, eyeing her. She seemed perfectly calm under Redglare's gaze, though her expression showed some level of frustration.

"Exactly." Terezi slammed her hand onto the table, grin widening. "By all accounts, Vriska is still an underaged ghost that hasn't physically or emotionally aged past seventeen years old. Aranea, seeing as how there's no one else around, is practically her legal guardian. We can force her to get more active in Vriska's life, preventing her from actively hurting anyone."

"Seems simple enough. It's better than nothing, I guess." Karkat looked around, a feeling of dread seeping in. "You know, this isn't going exactly as I thought it would. I've only watched court drama's on tv, so I'm not an expert, but I don't know if this is how human court is run."

"My mom tries to keep a fair and balanced system that takes into account all sorts of systems of law." Terezi wrote something onto her paper, not looking up from it. "We also have to consider that a lot of the people we sentence around here are spirits of the dead. Like I'm sure you've heard, ghosts are emotional creatures. Things can get dramatic easily, so some leeway has to be accounted for."

They talked some more about any strategies they could come up with for the trial, but before long, the bubble began to dissipate. Senses returning to them, the two looked up at Redglare, face neutral as it always was as she looked down on them.

"Do you believe you've had enough time to talk you two?" After Karkat and Terezi nodded, Redglare adjusted herself, sitting upright as she adjusted her own notes.

"Now," She tilted her head to the side, narrowing her eyes, which shined brighter as if activated to do so. "Please tell me your account of the incidents that happened in 'Amity Park.'"

"Do you think we should've let him go?"

"I don't know." Aradia tapped her foot against the floor, frowning deeply at Sollux's question. They'd both been pretty worried, despite trusting Terezi completely. "This is her mom. It's not like she's bringing him straight to an execution."

"I'm sure he'll be alright." Horuss piped up, working on the Serkets trinkets. "Redglare is known to be tough, but fair. She wouldn't do anything untoward towards him unless he legitimately did something wrong."

"I'm just surprised there is a law system. From what you guys told us, you guys don't have a unified government in there." Sollux tossed up a ball into the air, projects set aside. He was doing his best to keep himself busy. "Guess you got to have something, I guess."

"It's more of a territory-based thing. Redglare was a decently powerful ghost and only got more so when more ghosts decided to bow to her judgement." Horuss put down the eyepatch, lifting his goggles up to rub at his eyes. "No one will touch him either while she's in her territory. That's simply how it works."

"Wait, she got more powerful after gaining some territory? How does that work?" Aradia picked up a stray pencil. She figured when (if) Karkat came back, he'd appreciate some information they were able to get.

Horuss figured now was a good time to take a break, putting down the tools. He took a moment to gather his thoughts. "It's a bit complicated. There's a variety of ways to get power within the Infinite Realms, most varied and convoluted. Training and ectoplasm powered artifacts are a good way to do this, but there are others. In Redglare's case, it's getting people to recognize you as a leader, having them follow under your banner."

Sollux stopped tossing the ball for a second, thinking hard. "That sounds like a videogame mechanic. Is it like those Civilization games where if you take over a country, you not only get their resources, but all of the power involved with it?"

"Somewhat," The friendly ghost waved his hand in the air, emphasizing the vagueness of it. "In the short run, it does boost a person's power. It depends on what level of authority they figure you to be, whether you're the enforcer of the law or absolute ruler. Redglare is the former in this situation, meaning she has a modicum of power more than other ghosts."

"So, does that mean we sent Karkat to a very powerful ghost that he could easily piss off?" Aradia didn't like the silence that Horuss provided. "Pleas answer me."

"Like I keep saying; Redglare is tough, but fair." Horuss sounded pretty confident in that statement, a rare change to his normal cadence. "As long as Karkat is truthful and doesn't try to fool her outright, there's a miniscule chance she'd try to do anything to him."

Aradia tried to reassure herself with that, but that still didn't allay all her fears.

But Karkat was a good person. Maybe she was just overreacting.

It didn't honestly take too long to tell his side of the story, albeit with some things not mentioned. It honestly probably wasn't ethical court behavior, but as long as they told the truth, Karkat figured it was okay.

From the looks of things, Redglare was still digesting things. Vriska had tried to interrupt several times during the proceedings but was shut down by Aranea every single time. Latula, who'd been upbeat at first, seemed to already be tired of the Serkets.

"This is bullshit!" Vriska was finally able to get out, slamming her hands onto the table. "I'm not going to say I didn't do anything, but I was just making sure I stayed alive out there! It's not my fault this guy had a problem with it."

"We aren't judging anything about your survival methods, Vriska, we're judging how you handled things outside of it." Redglare's glare shut the girl up. It was obvious her patience was wearing thin. "And while I do have some issues with how Phantom here handled things, it does sound like you were starting to get out of line. I know obsessions are harder to control for younger ghosts, but that isn't an excuse."

"Uh, excuse me?" Karkat figured he should take the heat off of Vriska. "What exactly did I do wrong here? I did my best to make sure nobody got seriously hurt and all, so I don't know what you're talking about."

Redglare's patience returned, if only slightly. "Phantom, how long has it been since you formed exactly?"

The question caused him and Terezi to stiffen, though Karkat quickly answered.

"I've been dead a month." The answer caused the older woman to wince. "I'm coming to terms with some shit. I don't exactly know a lot of things just yet."

"Then your actions are understandable then." The judge leaned back, face morphing into a sympathetic one. "It's usually suggested that you go to someone in authority within the Infinite Realms before trying to do something like this. I don't know why you decided to engage these two instead of going to me, but I'm assuming you wanted to get them out of the human realm as soon as possible."

Karkat simply nodded, deciding not to add onto it.

"This does make me wonder who exactly is taking care of you at this time, assuming you're not already eighteen." Redglare narrowed her eyes at him for a second before deciding to move on. "Serket's, would you mind explaining your earlier statement on surviving out in the human world?"

"Ah, right." Aranea started, nervous now that the attention was on her. "It was actually not long after we formed that we started to figure out some strange aspects of our powers. Despite dying at different times, the exact time our formations were different enough that we formed together almost."

"We accidentally found a natural portal not long after," Vriska continued, frowning for a brief moment. "Figuring out what happened to us. Didn't exactly stay long enough in Limbo to actually learn much."

Karkat looked at Terezi at the mention of the new name. The scaly ghost shrugged. She wrote an explanation down quickly stating that every ghost had a different name for the Ghost Zone and that was probably hers.

"Either way, we just found ourselves in real world, dead, and starting to feel weak." Vriska shrugged. "Not exactly the best days in our lives. Well, after lives. We were scared out of our heads, pretty much."

"It was an accident that we realized how we'd survive out in human world." Aranea scratched one of her hands, treading down memory lane. "Vriska was trying to figure out her powers while also showing off to a few people. We'd started to… well, fade at one point and we were starting to get desperate. Apparently that was enough for her to stop fading, having people pay attention like she was the center of the universe."

"And in your case?"

Aranea stopped. "I was near a breakup when it happened. I was trying to focus and make sure I didn't just disappear on people when I heard a couple arguing. Something about one of them cheating, I'm not sure. Whatever it was, the end result was a really devastating split. I just… waited there near the partner that stayed behind. I was soaking in all of his misery, something I only figured out later."

"That's what we went with for a while. I picked up guitar again and started playing shows, and Aranea started working counseling jobs. Best way to soak up attention and misery." Vriska jerked a thumb towards Karkat, souring. "Then this idiot came along-"

"No name calling in my courtroom, Vriska." Redglare cut through the remaining insults. "What happened out in the human world is not something he's liable for. Can you honestly say that you didn't get out of control?"

"I was trying to find something permanent! It's not like I actually hurt anybody." Vriska slammed her hands onto the table again, ice powers acting up. She glared at the judge, frost seeping into the wood.

"…Nobody?"

Karkat didn't mean to say that out loud. It still came out though, indignant rage seeping out. Aranea seemingly recognized it, going stiff as Karkat's glare washed over the Serket's.

"You sent an entire crowd of people at a group of officers the first time I saw you." Karkat desperately tried to keep the ectoplasm away from his hands and was failing. "You're lucky those officers weren't armed because of some laws in our town preventing them from doing so. You're lucky that I stopped the crowd from tearing those same officers apart by turning on the sprinklers. You're lucky that no one got hurt at the mosh pits at your fucking concert."

He pointed at them, fist flaming with power. "You didn't hurt anyone. But that was because I was there to stop you from doing that. If I hadn't, somebody would've ended up dead. People from my town, who you would've HUR-"

Karkat suddenly felt a weight fall on him before he could take a step towards Vriska. The pressure caused his knees to buckle and his breath to catch.

"Phantom, I understand your anger, but my rules also apply to you." Redglare didn't sound as harsh as they did earlier, but they were just as heavy. "I'd suggest sitting down before letting your anger get the best of you."

"Actually, Mo- ma'am." Latula was doing her best and it was obvious this was a reoccurring problem. "This actually kind of segues to something Aranea divulged to me."

Now that confused him. Just what the hell was she talking about now? Hell, was this the first time she'd talked this entire time?

"It deals with Phantom's obsession." Latula flicked her eyes over to him and Terezi, face apologetic.

The two froze. Only Terezi said something after a few seconds.

"Shit."

"Is this all really necessary?" Heido looked over at the portable portal that Spades had brough in. She wasn't exactly willing to trust it. "I hope you tested this thing beforehand. Having it explode near a crowd of people is not going to help your reputation."

"I've tested this several times. You really think I'd bring something that could explode near a crowd of people?" At the silence, Spades glared at the Megido. "Don't answer that. Either way, you have nothing to worry about. It runs on a lot less power than the bigger portal and won't be on longer than necessary. Just enough to show that my theory works."

Xander kept an eye on the machine warily. "Just because you worked a miracle once doesn't mean you can pull it off twice." He debated kicking the damn thing before deciding that he didn't want to cause a meltdown at their local activity center. "How are you actually going to prove that this isn't some elaborate trick? It's one thing to open it in front of anyone, but…"

"I'm glad you asked, you skeptical shit." Spades ran over, grabbing a box to drag over to the other two. Grabbing the edges, he opened it with a flourish. "Take a look at my latest invention!"

The two adults leaned forward, squinting their eyes at the device he lugged over. It didn't exactly look that impressive to the untrained eye, looking more like a metal rectangle with events at the bottom and sides. Other than a pair of tanks full of air, a helmet, straps, and the interlaced gleam of green lines running around the steel box, it looked pretty simple.

"This doesn't answer my question, Spades." Xander adjusted his glasses, tilting his head as if a new angle would make sense of the invention before him. "It looks complicated, but I'm pretty sure it's just a box."

"A box that's likely to explode." Heido moved back from it, giving Spades a questioning look. "What is this, exactly? If you say it's a jetpack, I'm not sure I'll believe you."

"It isn't really a jetpack, but kinda close." Spades grabbed the device, putting the straps over his shoulders. "It's more like giving people an experience of a spacewalk. It'll make you float, is what I'm saying."

"You're kidding, right?" Heido skeptical brow rose at the declaration. "You've already made a portal to another dimension. You're really going to throw more shit at them."

"At least if the portal doesn't turn on, he'll have something to show." Xander took a step back just in case the prediction of the explosion came true. "Or he could land in the ceiling. Just as much as a possibility as any."

Despite the fact nearly all of them (even Spades) expected him to shoot up, when he turned the machine on, it only started to lift him up a little. He pulled out a remote, twisting and turning some buttons so that he started to rise higher, even moving around in the air a little.

"…Goddamit, he invented hovering tech." Xander was amazed, but this was starting to become par for the course. "Are we going to have flying cars in the near future? Are we finally living out science fiction?!"

"At least it'll be better than those motor scooters they call hover boards." Heido was starting to be really glad she called up her old boss for this. The look on his face if things went well would be priceless. She shouted up at Spades as he happily hovered, messing with his invention like it was a toy. "How exactly is this going to help your demonstration?"

"I said it was like a spacewalk, right?" He shouted down at them. Spades waved at a worker that was gaping not that far away from them. "I'm thinking that I go the magician route and have someone in the crowd volunteer to take a brief look in with a camera. I wouldn't let them go in far, but just enough so they can confirm its real."

"And the oxygen tanks?" That had set off an alarm bell in her head, even if it was most likely harmless.

"I checked the inside of the Ghost Zone for its atmospheric conditions. People can live and breathe in there easily, but I'd rather not risk some kind of ectoplasm contamination." Spades may have started getting lost in the novelty of his own invention, trying to do some tricks with it. "No one really needs a suit to step inside, but I don't know what'll happen if someone breaths in ectoplasm."

"I really don't know how people are going to react." Xander put his face in his hands, the pressure of the situation closing in on him. "They'll react, though. I can promise you that."

"That's exactly what I'm going for!" Spades laughed loudly, which honestly didn't help the mad scientist vibe he was giving off.

Xander did his best to take several breaths before Heido pulled him away from the scene. Spades still kept testing the hover box, messing with it while ignoring the looks from any passersby.

"Are we really going to let him do this?" Xander eventually asked after calming down a little. "I'm glad he's got the breakthrough he's looking for, but this is going to change a lot of shit. Not just scientifically, but philosophically, and maybe religiously."

"Yeah, you got me there. It'll certainly put this town on the map." Heido spared a glance towards their friend. "History books too. But that's neither here nor there."

"How?!" Xander waved his arms, borderline frantic. "Every religious leader is going to excommunicate his ass when they hear about this! Fringe science is going to be real science! Riots in the streets, dogs and cats living together-"

"Xander." Heido put a finger over his mouth, annoyed while still remaining stoic. "There's nothing we can do about that. If people can't handle the truth, that's their problem. Plus, Spades has set his mind on this. We both know he's not going to change it now, so we might as well be on the ground floor of all this when everything does change."

Xander wanted to argue with her so badly right now, but no real ones could come to his throat. She wasn't wrong by any accounts, and that honestly scared him even more.

He couldn't stop this. He might as well participate in what's going to become history soon enough.

Xander looked over at Spades, physically and emotionally exhausted. "He's going to be considered one of the greatest minds of our age. Isn't he?"

Spades was trying to do flips with the hover tech now, cackles reverberating across activity center.

"Yep." Heido sighed, the statement not lost on her. "God help us all."

Karkat figured the situation would come up, but he was desperately hoping he'd be wrong. It was weird being on the receiving end of a 'cross-examination,' though he was doing his goddamn best not to crack under the pressure.

"Okay, Mr. Phantom." Latula started and yeah, he was right about the skater girl vibe. He could've sworn that 'dude' was implied somehow in her voice alone. "Can you explain to me what exactly happened between you and my client, Aranea, here when you found out she was a ghost."

"I was looking for her as a way to stop Vriska nonviolently. I figured a relative would have a better time talking her down then a stranger." Karkat wasn't sure how to feel about being called mister, but he didn't dwell on it. "I didn't think of the possibility that Aranea could be dead too until she hypnotized me."

"And how was it that you broke out of her mind control, then?" She was doing a good job acting professional, though she clearly wasn't a fan of it. She adjusted the pair of blocky, red sunglasses on her face.

"I," Karkat stopped, thinking his next words over carefully. "I overheard a conversation they were having on the phone. I may have heard the fact they were doing for a while and it set something off enough for me to breakout."

"Was this 'something' involved with your obsession?" Latula tilted her head, looking into his eyes. He briefly wondered if Terezi or Latula had their moms' power too. "What exactly is your obsession?"

"Objection." Terezi stated, raising her hand. "A ghost's obsession is a private matter and does not relate to the matters today."

"Sustained."

"I do think it was related to my obsession." Karkat gulped. "I don't honestly know what it is, but I have some idea. Though I'm not sure how this plays out here."

"It plays out here because, according to Aranea, you nearly killed her in your obsessive state." The young woman tilted her head even more when Karkat winced. "I'm assuming that this is the truth."

"…Yes." Karkat sighed, balling his hands into fists. "But in my defense? Aranea had talked about how she'd been doing this for a while with Vriska. How Vriska even broke their routine. I also caught her on the tail end of talking to one particular student."

"Xefros Dammek." Terezi interjected, bring the attention onto her. "According to my client, this one particular human has a particularly difficult living situation, along with some personal problems that only make it worse. Aranea had supposedly used that as a way to recharge herself, in what we believe was a desperate attempt to make up for the bump in their schedule."

"Is that true, Aranea?"

Aranea tried not to jump at Redglare's voice. She sighed herself eventually and nodded.

Vriska seemed to get riled up as the blame was put on her sister. "She was just trying to survive, you idiots! So was I! Don't blame her for this shit!" She pointed at Karkat accusingly. "Plus, he almost admitted to trying to kill her earlier. Why is she getting blamed?"

"Vriska." Latula was the one to silence the blonde this time. "Sit down. I've been doing my best here and you're not helping your case."

"She won't need to do so much more, Latula." Redglare interrupted, causing the room to hush. "I've heard enough to give a verdict."

"Aranea Serket." The young woman nerves were sent on edge at the sound of her name coming up. "While you did fight Phantom and his associates in the human world, technically you started none of those fights. Neither did you abuse your powers. However, you have shown some neglect in controlling your sister and helping make sure her own powers did not go out of control. Those action fall under your responsibility has her guardian.

"Your punishment will be that you will live within the Infinite Realms until further notice. You may keep your job at the school for now and visit the human world, as long as your feeding does not worsen the conditions of the students. I would also suggest finding a better job that would lead to less moral dissonance in the long run." Redglare shifted her gaze to the younger Serket. "Vriska?"

"What?" The rockstar ghost glared at the judge with contempt.

"Even though it has been shown you were going mad under the power of your obsession, this does not absolve you of your crimes. Your willful harm against certain humans, attempts to take control of Amity Park, and increasingly antisocial behavior have shown that." Redglare intensified her glare. "However, due to your age, I cannot imprison you. As of right now, you are forbidden to leave the Infinite Realms unless chaperoned by a trusted ghost, and you will be monitored heavily. You will also have a dampener placed on your powers until further notice. Any more disruptions will result in your incarceration."

Karkat felt relief enter him at the verdicts, even if he felt Aranea got off light. Then again, she did need to feed in order to exist, so he could understand why Redglare chose to do that. Maybe he can try and extend an olive branch and find her a place where her misery eating wouldn't be a bad thing.

Those thoughts stopped as soon as Redglare, still in business mode, shifted her gaze to him. "And now I decide what I do with you, Phantom."

"Me?" The statement threw him off guard, causing Karkat to stumble on his words. "What am I being charged with? I didn't do shit!"

"You're not being charged with anything. However, I am planning on relocating you." Redglare didn't seem to register the outburst. "As far as what you and my daughter have been telling me, you've been living in the human world since your death. And with ghost hunters around and no obvious guardian, I can't let you live out there with a clear conscience."

"Objection!" Terezi jumped in. She wasn't expecting this turn either. "I never said he didn't have a guardian! He has a dad that live out in the human world. It's not like he's actually living alone."

"Yes, but that doesn't erase the danger of the ghost hunters, Terezi." Ms. Pyrope started to break out of the Redglare persona, her voice getting softer. "If anything, his activities and lack of control over his own obsession call into question his own abilities as a guardian."

"You can't keep me here. I came here to help with the Serket case and that's it." Karkat stood up from the table, chair scraping on the floor as he did so. "I appreciate the concern, but you have another thing coming if you think I'm going to let you do that shit."

The Redglare persona instantly overpowered Ms. Pyrope.

"You're in my domain, punk." She said slowly. "I have authority to all ghosts that pass through it. Including you."

Karkat turned to go, only to notice that the door outside of her lair had disappeared. Panic entered his system as he looked towards Terezi, who still seemed to be put off balance by the change in focus.

Focus, Karkat, focus. He thought hard on how to get out of here. Redglare had complete control of this place, along with a huge difference in power compared to him. Terezi wouldn't go against her own mother for a guy she'd known for a couple of weeks at best. For fuck's sake, think.

"What if I wasn't a ghost then?"

Karkat had thrown that out there on a whim, but he almost took some satisfaction on how it threw everyone else off.

"Excuse me?" Redglare wasn't angry anymore, having it replaced by pure confusion.

"What if I wasn't a ghost?" Karkat knew this would have consequences later, but fuck it, this was the only plan that would work. "You can't detain a human. Those are out of your reach. I mean, if you tried, you'd be breaking your own laws."

"Vantas, don't you dare." Terezi's hand was on his arm as soon as she caught on to his plan. "There are a lot of ghosts here. You do this, everyone in the Infinite Realms will know."

"If I don't, my dad will storm into the Ghost Zone looking for me, armed to the fucking teeth." He grabbed her hand and squeezed, silently pleading with her. "Just let me do this. I'll figure out what to do after this."

Terezi hesitated, shaking her head a little before growling and letting him go. Redglare's eyes narrowed seeing the interaction.

"If you were human," She finally started, slowly stating it. "Then I wouldn't be able to keep you here. Most of my laws cannot take you into account unless I revise them and get them approved by community review."

Karkat shrugged, all smug and confident despite what he was about to do next. "Alright. Then I'm not a ghost."

Rings of light appeared around his waist, causing everyone in the room to gasp. The change to his human form was quick and he couldn't help but not how the atmosphere felt different when compared to his ghost form. But that wasn't the thing to focus on right now.

He brushed his hair out of his eyes, smirking at Redglare with glint in his red eyes. "Am I free to go now, Judge Redglare?"

Ms. Pyrope opened her mouth several times, trying to find something to say to all of this. Her emotions were going through a game of roulette, switching from anger, shock, and several other unidentifiable ones in quick succession.

She eventually grabbed her gavel, hitting it against the bench.

"Case dismissed." Her voice was like gravel as she did, eyes never leaving the boy at all.

Neither did the other ones in the room.

Terezi hid him away after the case was over, turning them both invisible and hiding in a part of the lair that wasn't allowed to the public. They stayed there for a couple of hours, waiting out any of the ghosts that were waiting for him. It was starting to get pretty late in the day, though, so they figured it would be a bout time to take their chances.

"That was a real stupid idea. I get it, but still." Terezi massaged her temples. She hadn't been too mad at him for the stunt, but she certainly wasn't happy about it. "I hope you know what you're doing. You just invited hell to your doorstep, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Karkat had officially got off the high of shocking so many people, settling into pure anxiety at this point. It made him tense, weird, and even a little sweaty. "I'll figure something out. You don't need to worry too much."

"Too late for that." Terezi punched his arm as they finally walked outside the door. "Maybe if you stopped getting your dumbass into so many fucked situations, I'll stop."

The two laughed, but it was cut short as a voice cleared their throat not far away from them. They looked to see Ms. Pyrope leaning against one of the columns, stoic and reserved.

"Can I talk to you for a second, Phantom?" It came out politely, though it sounded more like a command due to how she spoke. She looked towards her daughter. "Alone, preferably."

Terezi didn't look to happy to see her mom right now, mostly because of the stunt from earlier. However, she backed off.

"I'll check if any stragglers are still left." She supplied, already floating away before Karkat could stop her. This left him alone with the older ghost, setting him on edge.

Neither said anything for a moment as they stared each other down. It was Redglare that broke it first, breathing out and easing her posture.

"I'd like to apologize." It was curt, but it was still polite. "In my attempt to make things safer for you, I've invited further disaster into your life. And for that, I'm sorry."

"It's not like I didn't get where you were coming from." Karkat shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "It would sound pretty bad to someone outside of this. But I couldn't stay here. They need me back home."

"Right, right." Ms. Pyrope adjusted her posture, standing straighter. The height difference was still imposing to him, but it didn't feel like she was looking down on him. "You said that you didn't really know your obsession was, correct?"

Karkat nodded.

"When you lost control, was it because the Serkets were hurting people?" Ms. Pyrope narrowed her eyes further, studying his expression while she questioned. "That people were in danger because of them? And that there was no one else that could stop it?"

Karkat took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Yes." He eventually said, feeling that all of it was correct.

"Then I actually think you know what is. And I honestly wish you the best in that." She clapped a hand on his shoulder, walking back into her lair. "I'll try and slow the spread of information. Hopefully, you won't have to deal with anything too badly going forward."

Karkat felt the urge to leave it at that but stopped. He had one thing to say first.

"Hey, Redglare?" The woman stopped, listening intently. "If you want to make it up to me, find someone called Lisa Littlemeyer. She was one of the first ghosts to appear in Amity Park and the first one I had to send back. I don't know what happened after she did. Could you find her and see if you can help her adjust?"

"I'll do my best." Karkat could've swore he heard a smile in that reply. "Make it home safe."

"I will." Karkat floated upwards and outwards to find Terezi.

It was time to go home.

From a vantage point not far from the courthouse, a half-constructed metal suit sent a recording. Skulker had made sure that he wasn't seen by Redglare and was thanking whatever gods were in the Infinite Realms that no one noticed him.

"Is this enough information, sir?" He asked it carefully, to not risk any possible anger. "It seems I won't have a lot more time. Does it work for you?"

"Oh, its more than enough, Skulker." The voice did sound satisfied, a low purr coming from it. "He's developing pretty fast. I certainly think I have a hold on his personality now. Are you sure you weren't able to find out where he was staying?"

"I only tried to stick around during the fights. Any longer and he'd just tear up this suit. Not to mention the lion's brat and dragon's kid are good at tracking." The robotic ghost grumbled. He couldn't risk anything until he could actually pay his mechanic. He had to make do for now.

"You won't need to worry about that anytime soon. Darkleer should be easy to convince to make you another suit." The voice's promises were usually kept, so Skulker sighed in relief. "I may even have him make several. Something tells me this town will keep us both busy."

"Thank you." The robot ghosts grin widened at that. "It's been so long since I've been on a proper hunt."

"And you'll be back on it in time, my friend." The voice chuckled. Some movement could be heard in the background, causing the laughter to die down. "I'll have to cut this call short. I'm going to be very busy soon, so I'll have to call you back."

"Understandable. Have a nice day, sir." Skulker clicked the communicator off, sighing.

He really didn't envy the whelp right now. He had no idea what was coming his way.

Two character interpretations that I need you to realize when it comes to how I characterize certain people;

Vriska: She's not one to learn lessons easily and can sometimes be allergic to developing as a person. She'll appear more often in the future, while also dealing with some hard truths as well.

Redglare: She's a woman of conviction and if she sees something wrong, she'll try to fix it. Karkat, as a random teenage ghost running around with no supervision as he fights people more dangerous than him, she's rightfully worried. Too bad in this case, this one happens to be half-human.

With that out of the way, I have two more playlists for you guys! I built them around Nepeta and Terezi this time. I'm not as sure about these ones, but I think I got it generally how I wanted it. I try not to copy songs between playlists, but some overlap should be expected.

Terezi: playlist/6eB2CCr8B73cmKUROq4UI3

Nepeta: playlist/5tyqffhmZgVN2r24dB1OMN

Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that you enjoy the playlists too! Recommend this to your friends if you think they'll like either!