Hey everybody! Hope you all appreciate this next chapter.
This ones a little more disconnected from the main story, but there's still some stuff in the background about it. Also, I'm kinda doing a thing with this new ghost coming up. I'm kinda combining two of the ghosts into one for this and any Danny Phantom fans will most likely recognize who I combined. Homestucks will probably get this character down pat too.
Anyway, I'll see you all at the end of the chapter!
Karkat figured that he had a lot of balls in the air right now. Not only was he going to school, but he was moonlighting as a superhero, trying to investigate a possible supervillain, and maybe trying to work out powers he still didn't fully understand. He even played part time rehabilitator if working with the Serkets counted as that.
So to say the least, he wasn't looking forward to his math test today.
Karkat grumbled as he sorted out today's books in the kitchen, moving them around before throwing them in there. He did have time to study for it, but the Box Ghost kept coming back out of the Ghost Zone, bring ectopuses out with him. It wasn't difficult to take him down, but that didn't mean the chase wasn't annoying.
He'd have to find a way to make him calm down at some point. Maybe learn his real name too.
At least the hours of wakefulness did give him time to talk to Horuss about the "accessories." They were done flip flopping on naming them and they stuck with that since they only activated when ghosts were wearing them.
Zahhak had made some progress on studying them since the incident with Johnny and Kitty. Said that whoever made them had a lot of skill and used plenty of tech based in the Ghost Zone. Borderline nanobot stuff. Horuss even said it looked familiar, which probably meant he'd find out who was supplying this 'hairy human' that the biker ghosts who was supplying them.
That was admittedly the thing that freaked Karkat out the most, honestly. He wasn't against the idea of giving ghosts way to blend in, but this guy obviously didn't give a shit who he gave it to. Johnny and Kitty were absolute shit heads with their powers, yet the guy decided to give them a way to do whatever they wanted, all while under the radar?
Just what was the game here?
Well, he'd have to save that for later. Terezi was supposed to give him the update on the Oberon situation. Plus, again, he had a test to stay awake through.
He was just about to leave when Spades walked in, mumbling something as he immediately went to the coffee maker. The man waved him down before the boy could leave, eye opening up blearily.
"Don't bother. I got an email from your school and apparently they canceled today." Spades turned on the coffee pot before slumping into his seat. "Besides, it's a mess out there. I wouldn't go outside yet if I were you."
"The hell are you talking about?" Karkat grabbed his own phone, dazed as he opened up his email. Turns out his dad was right since he apparently got it half an hour ago. He must've not noticed due to lack of sleep. "Why'd they cancel? Is this about the presentation?"
"Kinda. National press finally decided to double down on the whole town. Teachers are dealing with a lot people asking how they'll teach the kids about this." Spades took the pot of coffee off the maker, taking a sip before cringing. "Plus, there's protesters outside. Might want to stay inside for now."
"I'm sorry, protesting?" Karkat dropped his bag, moving to the window. He cracked open the blinds before jerking back. "Jesus Christ."
And there certainly were pictures of him about, mostly on signs of some very angry people. Some were accompanied by Christian bible verses and other holy books, a few people with crude drawings of his father as the devil, and other very unflattering things. The only ones that stood out where people carrying large camera's, most likely members of the press.
"I'm surprised it took them this long to get here." Spades didn't exactly look happy about it, but he didn't seem too disturbed. "Figured they'd come right down here after I showed a working portal, but they sure took their sweet time."
"Why are they so quiet? I would've thought they'd be shouting by now." Karkat moved back to the table, feeling a bit frantic. Having so many people around the house felt really dangerous. "Is the security system on? I feel like they're going to storm the house."
"It is, and they stopped chanting hours ago. The police came around and told them to be quiet since it's still a neighborhood." Spades cursed under his breath. "Lazy assholes didn't tell them to leave though. Surprised you didn't hear it."
They must've got here sometime after he got to sleep. He was probably too tired to hear them until it was too late. "At least they aren't throwing shit at the house."
"Don't tempt fate kid. Before the police got here, I'm pretty sure some of those Christian Warrior people looked ready to burn this place down." Spades laughed, though it was twinged with a bit of worry. "I am expecting a call, but I don't think it'll be much. Looks like a relaxing day at home today."
"Hopefully." Well, Karkat's day was shot. Maybe if his dad didn't notice him, he could take a look into the Ghost Zone and hang out with Terezi and Nepeta. He did get Redglare to round up the biker ghosts, so maybe he should get some information on that.
Of course, the universe probably sensed his plans, since Spades phone range immediately afterwards. The man picked it up immediately, raised eyebrows as he did.
"Ms. Ursama? I thought you weren't going to call till later." Slick moved the phone away from his ear for a moment before immediately trying to calm down the voice on the other end. "Whoa, hey, calm down. Did something happen? Okay, I'll head right over. Just wait, I need to get ready and I'll be right there."
Spades hung up the phone, standing up suddenly. "Looks like there's been a change of plans. Someone wants me to check out a possible ghost sighting and apparently something happened."
"How are you going to get out there?" Karkat was a little surprised to hear about this. Considering he was known as the local nutjob until last week, he honestly didn't expect to hear him go out on a legitimate call. "You're really going to risk the mob for this?"
"I've got something up my sleeve, don't worry. Did some work on the car." The man grabbed an apple from the fridge, munching down on it. "Besides, Ms. Ursama sounded really urgent. Rather not keep her waiting."
Karkat thought it over. If this were legit, either his dad was going to fight a legitimately threatening ghost that could kill him or hurt an innocent one in a misunderstanding. A part of him, most likely his obsession, flared up at that, though he didn't know for which person it was for. All his previous plans went out the window after a question slipped past his lips.
"Can I come along?"
The answer to that question had been a resounding "Hell yes!" His dad was then proud to show him his latest and, in Karkat's opinion, his second most terrifying invention.
He invented a goddamn hovercar.
"Dad, do you know how to drive this fucking thing?!" Karkat held onto his seat rests for dear life, the car wobbling as Spades recklessly flew the thing through the streets. There were thankfully few other cars around, though they wouldn't have been hit thanks to fact it floated. "Jesus Christ, slow down!"
"I just invented this, of course I don't know how to drive it!" Spades wasn't doing bad in his opinion, especially since this was the first time using it. He'd basically bought up an old RV, refurbished it, and then added hover tech to it, so it wasn't like it was that alien. The faces of those protestors were worth it anyway. "Besides, what are the cops going to do?! Take away my license?! You don't need one to drive a hover car!"
"That's exactly what I'm afraid of!" Karkat looked at the GPS before pointing at a nearby building. "This our stop!"
Karkat was glad that was true, especially when his dad finally smoothed things over into a stop. The car thumped to the ground as the wheels unfurled below it, causing the occupants to bounce inside. The teen honestly felt a disoriented while his dad just shrugged, getting out of RV with a stretch.
"Hey, looks like we're here early!" Spades went to the back, opening it to find some of the more discrete ghost weapons. "Let's get inside before they change their minds. Might actually catch a ghost this time."
Karkat slowly got out of the car, studying the place with some minute interest. He was kinda surprised to see what it was.
It was, of all things, a daycare/preschool. It had all the makings of one as it was a mostly white building with a red roof, a cutesy sign at the top saying "Maryam Children's Center." It was slight bigger than a normal daycare would be, as it was the only one in town, but the colorful decorations in the window sold it.
As far as he was aware, the place was technically a chain, though a reliable one. Any profits to the company usually went back to the employees and volunteers or just improving the facilities as a whole. This one happened to be run by Casper High alumni Bronya Ursama.
The young woman herself came out, blinking at the sight of the garish RV. Karkat didn't have enough shame to feel bad about it, but he did wave at her.
"It looks like you arrived on time Mr. Slick." Bronya watched as Spades closed up the RV, raising an eyebrow. "Sorry to call you so soon. I wasn't sure you would come out so fast."
"Eh, I needed to get away from home anyway. So, where's this ghost you called about?" Spades adjusted his hat, looking around. "Can't say I expected this place to be haunted. Looks too new to be."
"Can we please not mention the haunting outside of here? Or the children?" Bronya tried to keep the ghost talk down. She gave a brief glance towards Karkat. "Good to see you, Vantas."
"You too, Ursama." Karkat had been a freshman when she was a senior. She moved up to taking college classes part time during the second half of the year, but they had talked when she was around. "What happened? You sounded frantic on the phone."
"I'll explain on my office." Bronya gestured for them to follow her, looking around them. She clearly didn't want anyone to see what was happening right now. "Just come inside, please."
The two did wordlessly follow here, but Karkat did feel his dad shove a ghost weapon into his hand. A baton, most likely with a taser, was the item, which the halfa shoved into his pocket. Guess he didn't want to take any chances.
It was a short walk into the building and into Bronya's office. Everything was still relatively new and fresh, though the smell of plastic and the foam of the jigsaw floor coverings did give the feel that people were here. The father and son could hear a chorus of children in one room, though not anywhere else. The door had been closed and they had a feeling it wasn't an accident.
"Alright, I'm going to make this quick. I'm planning on having the kids out of here so you two can conduct your investigation." Bronya plopped down into her chair, the office itself being kid friendly, though somehow professional. She put her hands in front of her as she looked the two over. "I think a ghost attacked one of my workers yesterday."
Quick and straight to the point. It certainly caught Karkat's attention.
"What makes you say that? Did your worker claim that?" Spades may be a fanatic for ghosts, but there'd been plenty of fakes in his life he had to unmask. It came with the territory of being a paranormal investigator. "I'm not saying he's lying or anything, but he could be saying it to get out of something."
"I would've thought that too. The worker in question has come up with pretty interesting excuses before." Bronya held up a DVD, waving it at the two. "However, we were doing a performance review for him and those include videotaping him during work hours."
"Isn't that illegal or something?" Karkat raised an eyebrow. He'd look over it if there really was a ghost situation going on, but he was sure that violated something.
"It was all in the contract he signed. We're protecting children's futures here and we need to make sure it isn't in the hands of someone willing to abuse it." Bronya got up to grab a television she was keeping in the back of the room, putting the DVD into a connected player. "He alright, but that wasn't what caught my attention."
The television came on with a loud rush of static, the picture changing until it showed a scene from one of the classrooms. A name came and date came up in the bottom corner, showing it was late. The name was Lanque Bombyx.
The classroom itself was populated by a few rowdy kids, mostly being followed by a scrambling figure of a teenager, who was notably too dressed up for something like this.
"Kids, can you please calm down. Mr. Bombyx needs some time to rest!" The pleading wasn't working as the kids continued running around, ignoring the volunteer. "Seriously, you'll be heading out soon! We only have a few minutes to get ready."
It seemed like a standard scene to everyone. Volunteer, way out of his head with a bunch of rowdy kids, on a deadline that he might beat. At least he seemed to be handling it okay, despite the difficulties. He did eventually get some of them in order and packed up for the day.
"Alright, does everyone have what they came here with?" A chorus of yes's came along, much to the guy's delight. "Thank goodness. Alright, let's get you all out of here. Your parents are waiting~."
That got the kids excited, heading home seemingly welcome. Lanque watched them go with a smile, waving goodbye. As soon as the door clicked and the other volunteer got them out, it changed to an exhausted expression and he immediately decided to lounge on the tiny furniture.
"Thank god. Late pickups are always so exhausting." The teen rubbed his eyes, leaning onto the tiny furniture. "The kids are nice, but can they just relax for five minutes? I don't remember having that energy."
Nothing was said for several moments as Lanque looked around at the messy area. He sighed dramatically.
"And I certainly remember being a lot cleaner too." He grumbled as he got up, grabbing things off the floor. This was second nature at this point. "Probably rich kid brats. Spoiled rotten."
This is when one of the children's books decided to fall down from a nearby shelf. It was weird, especially since the window's weren't even open. Lanque didn't seem to notice that fact, just looking at the book, offended.
"Really, you too Goodnight Moon? You have to add to my workload?" Lanque tutted, grabbing the offending book off the floor. "Nobody ever behaves in this place. Seriously, they let Lynera in despite being and obvious snake-"
The rant was cut off immediately as he stepped on something. Whatever it was, it was painful enough that he immediately kicked it, sending it straight into a wall and breaking it. He cursed for several moments before eventually calming down, limping over to the broken toy.
"Oh dammit, it's one of the handmade ones." Lanque looked over it with a scowl, holding the two broken pieces carefully. "I knew they didn't pick up everything. Those lying little-"
Before he could finish, a book flew straight at his head, nailing him in the temple. It wasn't enough force to seriously hurt him, but it did cause him to stagger in surprise. Another toy flew at him, hitting him in the back.
"Who's there?!" Lanque grabbed a stuffed animal, holding it in front of him protectively. "Wanshi, if you're trying to prank me again, this isn't funny. It's only funny when it happens to someone else."
The bookshelf tipped over completely to answer him, causing him to jump. More books flew out of the pile, hitting him as he then scrambled away. Toys began to fly at him too, which finally tipped threw the teen over the edge before he cursed up a storm and ran out the door.
Bronya turned off the tv with a grimace. "I think that should be enough, as you can see."
"I'll say." Spades figured the video wasn't faked, especially since he doubted a daycare would bother using it as advertising. "Did something like this happen before? You called me before this, so…"
"There have been some strange things going on around here." She opened a drawer, pulling out a stack of drawings. They all looked crude and were most likely from the kids who went here. "For the past several years, the kids always seem to have the same imaginary friend. We didn't care much for it since we thought it was their imagination, but it was strange how universal it was."
Karkat grabbed a drawing up, looking over it carefully. From what he could tell, it depicted a bunch of kids hanging out with each other on a grassy hill. The only weird part about it was some thin stick of green with a big hat floating over them, arms spread as the kids seemingly cheered for him.
"All the kids are drawing this?" Karkat grabbed a few more drawings. She wasn't exaggerating apparently, the scenes depicted in each one having plenty of similarities. "Looks a lot like Peter Pan, honestly."
"That's what I thought too, but none of the kids seem to know who that is. They all just imagined him up one day years back and he's stayed ever since." Bronya smoothed over a page with fondness mixed with worry. "Some things have been moved around lately and the kids attributed it to him, which is why I called earlier. He's never done something like this before."
"Maybe something agitated him. Was this place something else before it was a daycare?" Spades wracked his own memory, but it wasn't like he got out much outside of his work. "Could be a performer or something."
"I think this place was built over a theatre or something." Karkat raised an eyebrow at Bronya. "I have a feeling I'm not making that up."
"No, you're right. Casper High used to run plays at the old building before it had to be torn down. Never figured out why." Bronya shrugged. She spearheaded building this place, but that didn't mean she necessarily knew the history. "I do want to keep all of this on the low right now. Though it is nice to have an expert on this, if this place becomes known to be haunted, it will get shut down."
"We'll operate under complete secrecy, don't worry." Spades got up from the chair, eager to get to work. "We'll move forward and get ready after the kids leave. Should be done within a couple days' time."
"Thank goodness." Bronya got up from the desk too, moving towards the door. She waved at them behind her. "Make sure to keep any damage to a minimum. I want to keep this place intact."
"We'll do our best." Karkat would work hard to keep that promise, especially if this all got violent.
He just hoped Peter Pan didn't want to take anyone to Neverland.
It didn't take long for Bronya to get the kids out on a fieldtrip, giving them plenty of time to prepare. Karkat and Spades decided to check everywhere else in the building first and set up any surveillance equipment before heading into the room where Lanque had been attacked.
This gave Karkat plenty of time to test something out.
Turns out, grabbing the cancer sign necklace from the ghost bikers stash had been useful. While some of his dad's inventions didn't detect him fully, some did put him on their radar, even when he was in human form. The necklace worked pretty much the same as it would any other ghost and hid his signature completely, meaning he wasn't in danger of being found out by his dad yet.
"And done." Karkat set up the last of the sensors, breathing easy as another failed to find him. "Now that that's over with, maybe I can try and find-"
A beep from his phone interrupted his line of thought. Without thinking, he pulled it out, checking Ghostian for the messages.
GC: K4RKL3S, W3 F1N4LLY GOT 3V3RYTH1NG ON YOUR N3W "FR13ND." PL34S3 R3SPOND.
AC: :33 and there's a hell of a lot to talk about!
Karkat sighed, expecting this. At least they sounded positive from their texts.
CG: THANK GOD. WHAT DID YOU TWO FIND?
AC: :33 i said a lot, didn't i? this oberon guy is involves with some serious shit.
GC: 1 R34LLY W1SH SH3 W4S JOK1NG.
CG: CAN WE SKIP THE GAGS AND GET ON WITH THIS? I'M WITH MY DAD ON A GHOST HUNT.
GC: F1N3, P4RTY POOP3R. 1 LOOK3D 1NTO 4 LOT OF MY MOM'S C4S3S 4ND 1T LOOKS L1K3 SKULK3R 1SN'T TH3 ONLY SH4DY GUY H3'S WORK3D W1TH H3R3.
AC: :33 he's in a lot messed up stuff that's happened. mostly involving looking fur powerful ghostly artifacts here.
CG: ANYTHING SPECIFIC?
AC: :33 theft, assault, technical grave robbing, and other purtty serious stuff.
GC: 4ND H3'S ONLY WORK3D THROUGH OTH3R P3OPL3. 4 LOT OF TH3S3 TH1NGS W3R3 DON3 BY "CONTR4CTORS" 1N S34RCH OF TH1NGS W1TH1N TH3 1NF1N1T3 R34LMS, 4LL UND3R 4 S1NGL3 4L14S.
GC: DU4LSC4R.
CG: DUALSCAR?
CG: ARE YOU SAYING THE GUY DECIDES TO DO SO MUCH SHADY SHIT UNDER THE RADAR BY HIRING OTHER PEOPLE, ONLY TO GIVE HIMSELF THE MOST SUPERVILLAIN SOUNDING NAME HE COULD FIND?
Karkat figured the news wouldn't be great exactly, but he wasn't really expecting it to be this bad. The guy had a literal crime name and made sure to hide any involvement like any white-collar criminal would.
CG: THAT ASIDE, ANY IDEA WHY HE'S DOING THAT? AND WHEN HE STARTED?
GC: 1 C4N ONLY S4Y H3'S B33N DO1NG TH1S FOR 4 F3W Y34RS NOW. 4S FOR WHY, 1 DON'T H4V3 4 FUCK1NG CLU3.
AC: :33 we don't even kmeow how he's getting into the infinite realms by himself or finding people that can. if he can do that without a portal like your dad, what else can he do?
That was an excellent question. Nothing about Oberon made any sense, especially why he was doing any of this. Maybe he was a lot like those random villains on tv that just wanted power, but that couldn't be it. Why not take him out now since Karkat could easily become a threat later if left to his own devices?
GC: 4S YOUR FR13ND, 1 SUGG3ST NOT FUCK1NG W1TH H1M JUST Y3T. 3V3N 1F 3V3RYTH1NG 3LS3 4BOUT M3 1S SCR34M1NG TO T4K3 TH1S GUY DOWN, 1 DON'T TH1NK W3'R3 R34DY TO T4K3 H1M ON.
AC: :33 think of it like you're stalking your pray! we just n33d to kmeow more about him befure we can strike.
CG: I'LL KEEP THAT IN MIND. THANKS FOR THE UPDATE, BUT I NEED TO GET BACK TO THE GHOST HUNT.
AC: :33 happy hunting!
GC: DON'T D13!
Karkat turned off the phone with a grimace, grabbing a portable sensor as he walked around the room. He did his rounds as he mulled over the information from the girls.
On one hand, his suspicions were now doubly confirmed about Oberon and it was probably in his best interests to stay away. He was obviously pulling some type of shit and even almost orchestrated their first meeting until Skulker turned up to ruin it. He wasn't afraid of getting others hurt, so that makes him a danger to every human in Amity Park.
On the other, he's also the only person in the entire world that would understand what he's going through. He went through an accident of his own and not only survived it, but even made it work with him, even if it was a bit shady. Eridan didn't seem a bad guy either, and if Karkat turned on Oberon, that means making him a possible enemy too.
Shit just really liked to be complicated, didn't it? He'd wait it out for now. If Oberon turned into a threat to anyone that didn't deserve it, he'd be taken down like any other ghost. If not, he'll leave him alone and figure out how to possibly make him stop.
Hopefully, he'd have the second option. He really hoped that it was on the table.
Karkat's musings did eventually stop, though, as soon as he tried stepping outside into the hallway. He almost ran into what looked like a punk nightmare, causing them to back up out of fright.
"Jesus fuck!" Karkat almost reached for the weapon his dad gave him before noticing who it was and relaxing. "Daraya? You work here?"
"Oh. Hey Vantas." Daraya Jonjet, one of the goths from school, waved at him halfheartedly. She didn't look exactly happy about seeing him either, but she was mostly as apathetic as ever. "Haven't seen you since your pranked some of the other goths."
"Yeah. I'd apologize for that, but that was mostly Aradia's idea." Karkat raised an eyebrow at the girl, putting on the sensor again. "You didn't answer my question."
"I'm doing some community service because of something that happened at the mall." She said it quick, as if to brush it off. "Didn't expect to see you here either. Taking over the family business?"
In more ways than she would ever know. Karkat rolled his eyes at the question. "Just helping him out today. Why are you still here?"
"Not important." Daraya looked away suspiciously and Karkat could've swore an actual bead of sweat formed on her brow. "You haven't heard anything weird lately, right? Just asking."
Karkat frowned, narrowing his eyes. "Shouldn't I be asking you that-"
The sound of something falling over down the hallway made the conversation come to a dead stop. The two teens looked down to see a door down the hallway was open wide enough to get a peek inside.
The halfa frowned. He didn't sense anything just yet, but that didn't mean his ghost sense was perfect. He was already down the hallway before Jonjet could ask him what he was doing.
Reaching the door and opening it, he recognized it as the place Lanque was attacked in. The place had been cleaned up since it happened, almost like it hadn't been touched.
"Hey, the hell are you doing?" Daraya looked inside too, raising an eyebrow. "Did Bronya actually give you permission to investigate this place? Or are you just doing this for fun?"
"She called my dad this morning." Karkat raised a hand to quiet her. His darted around the room, checking to see anything amiss. He noticed a cabinet door open slightly to one side of the room. "Hold on."
Karkat ignored anymore questions as he moved closer to the cabinet, trying to keep his steps slow. His ghost sense still wasn't going off, nor was the sensor, but he remained cautious as he moved. Reaching a handout to the handle, he slowly opened it…
…and a tiny ball zoomed out, revealing itself to be a tiny child.
"I win hide and seek!" The kid looked ready to do a little victory dance before noticing a very confused Karkat looking down at her. "Wait, who are you?"
"Wanshi!" Daraya scrambled to grab up the tiny girl, looking worried and furious. "Have you been in here the entire time?! We told everyone this place was off limits for today."
"I was trying to help you guys with the little ones. I suggest a game of hide and seek and might've gotten a little competitive." The girl didn't seem to mind being held up, despite being around eleven. Wanshi seemed annoyed that the teen was even questioning her logic. "I won, by the way."
"Wait a minute, you lost a kid?" Karkat almost barked out a laugh at the irony of it. "Jeez, maybe you aren't cut out for this job."
"Oh shut up, Vantas. Go look for your ghosts." Daraya looked over at Wanshi again, eyes narrowing. "Do you how much trouble you caused? Bronya's been worried sick!"
"She is?" The girl looked surprised to hear that, putting her hands to her mouth. It looked like her eyes were about to water. "I didn't mean to! I was just playing a game!"
Karkat rolled his eyes, wondering if he should intervene. He turned around at first, weighing his options, looking at the sensor briefly. He sighed, his mouth tasting of smoke…
…Fuck.
Daraya had been making her way towards the door before it decided to close on its own. It wasn't with a slam, though it was loud enough to get everyone in the room to stop and stare at it. Wanshi was the only one to lighten up and wave at whatever closed it.
"Hi, Pupa! How've you been?" Wanshi didn't seem to mind not leaving, though she looked confused. "Is something wrong?"
Pupa? Is that what this ghost called himself? Karkat would've felt sorry for it if it weren't for the fact he couldn't see it or didn't know how to fight it with those two here.
"Wanshi, who are you talking to?" Daraya looked around, trying to justify what closed the door. She even peeked at Karkat for answers. "What's going on here?"
"Relax, it's nothing bad." Wanshi continued to look directly at nothing, a confused look coming over her features. "There's no one else to play that, Pupa. Are you sure?" Another beat of silence overtook the room before she shrugged, putting her hands over her eyes. "Okay. One, two, three…"
The ghost took this as its cue to completely go apeshit.
It took the easy route, throwing shit at Daraya since her hand were full. The hits were awfully precise, as if not to hurt the kid. To Jonjet's credit, she wasn't allowing it and did her best to doge them despite the clear shock on her face.
Karkat didn't even think about it when he grabbed her. Looking over to the closet, he pushed her over there.
"Get inside." He felt a lull in the action as the ghost seemed confused by his actions. He felt a book hit his shoulder. "Don't get out unless I tell you too."
Daraya didn't have any chance to argue against it as he closed the door. He turned and had to move to the side as a goddamn action figure flew at his head. Karkat growled as he tried to find out where it was all coming from.
Blocks were thrown at him, causing him to dodge to the side, answered with a swing of the electrified baton. A tricycle was thrown next, causing Karkat to go intangible so it wouldn't hit him. The action seemed to surprise the ghost long enough for him to throw an ectoblast at his guessed direction.
The blast failed to hit, lightly burning a shelf in the back. Various other toys were sent his way in response, a lot more panicked. Karkat simply let them go through him, sending a larger arc of ecto energy that wouldn't damage anything else. None of it hit.
The ghost decided to change tactics then, as something invisible then hit Karkat in the face. It was a relatively weak punch, but it surprised him enough to knock him back a little. The halfa made doubly sure to jump back, to avoid a second.
"This isn't working." Karkat cursed to himself. A few more toys flew his way, hitting the closet door. He heard a shout. "Gotta change tactics. Might as well test something out."
Karkat stopped dodging, closing his eyes, and holding the sensor out. He tried pushing his senses outward, focusing mainly on the feeling he would get whenever a ghost came close. The sensor beeped helplessly, not able to focus directly on the ghost.
Something in his chest burned and Karkat could feel it wriggle toward his right. When it suddenly flared up, Karkat opened his eyes, swing the electrified baton instinctively.
A connection was made as baton hit and started electrifying a floating body. Karkat could've swore he heard a yelp as the thing backed up, causing him to grab it before it could leave. A flicker of the lights and Karkat briefly saw what looked like a boy his age floating there, wearing a bright green outfit, before it desperately kicked him in the stomach, throwing him back.
The halfa sputtered out a breath as the sensor soon died, the presence having most likely left. That last one would leave a bruise, that was for certain. He almost didn't register a door being swung open, the charge of an ectogun echoing.
"Alright, what the hell is going on in here?!" Spades had the decency to look around first before noticing his son on the ground. He almost dropped the gun before running over to him. "Kid! Holy shit, what happened to you?"
"Ghost tried to attack a volunteer. Fought it off." Karkat was able to get to his feet easily, not really needing his dads help. Not the worst fight he's ever gotten into. "I'm not hurt, but I got a few swing in at him."
"Thank god." Spades brushed off the dust from Karkat, looking around the room. "Looks like you two did a number on this place. Did ya' get a good look at the damn thing?"
Karkat blinked at that, looking at where he first and last saw the ghost. He narrowed his eyes and sighed deeply before answering his dad.
"I think I had my ass handed to me by Peter Pan."
You know, the best thing about writing fanfiction (or anything really) is that I can write lines like that. That's usually the best part.
Also, for any that reads my one shot series for this fic, feel free to send me a few requests on what you'd like to see as drabbles. I can't guarantee how fast I'll get to them, but it's fun to get ideas from you guys and interact with people who like my writing.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you all next chapter!