This was inspired by some fanart I saw once where Karkat was in a Danny Phantom scenario (don't remember who made it though). It'll start a like the show, but I'm not going beat by beat. Will be my own thing and will generally take plots from the show but in a more overarching story concept.
While it may be the first chapter, I'm not fully satisfied with this. However, I do think it'll get better when it starts moving along and stuff, especially when it comes to the worldbuilding. Hopefully you all enjoy and I ask that you leave reviews, positive or negative, whenever you can. I can't get better without proper criticism.
Karkat Vantas knew immediately it was going to be a fantastic day the exact minute he woke up. Why you might ask?
Was it because he only got four hours of sleep last night because he had to redo a paper because he read the prompt wrong? Maybe.
Maybe it's how he had a crick in his neck after sleeping at his desk after finally finishing the damn thing? Quite possibly.
BOOM
Or could it be that he was woken up from said slumber after another of his dad's experiments decided to go FUBAR and explode at the ungodly hour of six o'clock in the morning? Abso-fucking-lutely.
Karkat jumped, hitting his knee on the bottom of the desk with full force. A slew of curses flew out of his mouth as he slid away from the offending piece of furniture, cradling his leg. He glared at it for several seconds before sighing and putting his foot down on the floor.
"What in the Christ did Dad fuck up this time?" He muttered to himself ruffling his black hair, wishing desperately that he could go back to bed. Hopefully the damage was minor, otherwise he'd have to help clean it up.
Straightening out the bomber jacket he was still wearing from the night before and wiping off his jeans, Karkat got up from his chair, cracking his back slowly. Running his hands through his black hair, red eyes scanning the room, he surveyed the damage.
From the looks of things, nothing was knocked too far out of place. The few band and movie posters remained on the wall, with the strange mix of rom-coms and band names clashing together. Some of the weird inventions his father gave to him as 'gifts' over the years were unharmed as well, though his collection romantic-comedies were scattered all over the place, along with the dusty computer programming books flopped face down on the floor.
"Fuck." Karkat fought the urge to start scrambling to pick his shit up off the floor, otherwise he'd be late for school. Besides, might as well figure out if he needed to take his dad to the hospital for the third time this month.
He got out of his room and stomped downstairs, keeping his eyes and ears open for another explosion. He followed the sounds of rampant cursing coming from the basement, whose door was wide open. "Everything all right down there?"
The response with met with more cursing, which he could only take as a yes. If his dad was cursing, then that means he's breathing.
As Karkat marched down the stairs, mentally preparing himself for the disaster zone, he couldn't help but count the steps where the transition between wood to metal occurred, slowly changing from its welcoming facade. The temperature in the room dropped with each step he took, the cold metal sending shivers down his spine.
It always felt like that when he went into the lab.
The cold feeling only lasted seconds, though, as he could feel the leftover heat of the explosion waft past him. He could already smell the burnt wires and metal, causing his face to wrinkle in disgust. He could also smell something almost chemical too, but not something he could immediately place in his tired mind. The cursing got louder as he finally caught sight of his dad moving through the wreckage of the latest experiment.
Spades Slick was not someone you would consider a scientist judging from his face. He looked too rough for that, with scowl set on his face and a deep scar over one eye. There was also the matter of the eyepatch he decided to wear and the fact he wore pinstripe suits when he wasn't working in the lab.
However, he was one. He had the jumpsuit and lab coat to prove it.
And a degree in physics and astronomy, but that was less important than the lab coat.
"Hey, Dad, not to ruin your fun here," Karkat swept an arm, gesturing to the wreckage. "But please tell me we aren't going to have the place decontaminated again. I'm sure the guys who do it are starting to recognize us."
Spades turned around to his son at the sound of his voice. "Kid, I told you to wait ten minutes before heading into the lab after an explosion. You have no idea what I could be doing down here!" He looked around, dazed. The force of the blast must've caused him to hit his head. "Besides, isn't it late? You should be sleeping for school by now."
"It's six o'clock in the morning, Dad. You worked all night again."
"I did?" Spades looked at his son incredulously. "Damn. Time must of flew by again. Had 'nother breakthrough, you know how it is."
"Yeah," Karkat rolled his eyes, kicking away a piece of wreckage near him. "I've made a lot of coffee to 'know how it is.' You didn't answer my question."
"It ain't radioactive or something like that, relax. I learned after the first three times."
"Tell that to the neighbors." Karkat looked around. "Well, not sure what you were expecting to happen, but clearly this wasn't it. You at least eat?"
"Maybe." Spades was immediately disproven when his stomach let out a hearty growl, somehow surprising him more than the explosion. "…Ok, maybe not. I was planning on it, but I think the food in the basement fridge is contaminated."
"Again?!" It looked like the teen would raise up a bigger fuss, but he pushed down the complaints. Pick your battles, Vantas, pick your battles. "You know what? Whatever. Is the food in the upstairs fridge still fine?"
"Last I checked."
"Okay." He raised his hands up in defeat. "I'm going to make breakfast. Take care of the leftover fires down here and maybe clear out the fridge." He turned around and made headway for the stairs. Grumbling curses and avoiding debris, he was already preparing.
"Got it." Affirmed Spades, who Karkat could hear start moving heavy metal already. "Oh, and kid? Make sure you and your friends are available later. I got another test planned later and I want some witnesses just in case that it works."
Mentally groaning, the sullen teen couldn't bother responding. Taking one step at a time, he trudged upwards to the living area. He was already counting the damage up in his head and planning out the day he was most likely going to have.
Sniffing, he couldn't help but finally place what the chemical smell was.
Burnt ectoplasm.
God, living with an ecto-scientist was weird.
After the fiasco that was this morning, Karkat couldn't help but think the rest of his day was fitting as it was almost just as stressful.
Thanks to a mishap involving the bus, he was almost late for school. While he did finish the paper that was supposed to be due today, it turned out to be moot as the teacher failed to show up, meaning the all-nighter was worthless. Not to mention there was a pop quiz in chemistry that while he was confident in, wasn't welcome.
Just another day in Casper High, really, but that didn't exactly lift his sour mood.
Least it was lunch time with his stupid, albeit close, friends. Hopefully they wouldn't be planning any too wild today.
…A hope that was instantly dispelled when he saw Aradia grinning madly at whatever nonsense that Sollux was typing up on his computer.
If Karkat could describe his friends, he would describe them very briefly. While he wasn't exactly someone to put people into categories or summarize them too broadly, he would describe each one as this;
Aradia Megido was a short, slightly chubby, manic pixie dream girl that seemed to grow more morbid as the years go on. While over her goth phase for a year or two now, she still carried the style as she wore skulls straight from Dia de los Muertos, along with dark eyeshadow and ragged clothing. The only thing separating her from a normal goth girl was the overtly positive attitude that masked what Karkat was sure was deep sadism.
Sollux Captor, on the other hand, was the pale, skinny nerd that you'd find in almost every teen movie. While probably in better shape, he still looked stick thin compared to him and Aradia but was taller than the both of them. It was matched up with a sarcastic personality and an overall pessimistic demeanor. He was also dressed like he was going to a rave judging from the dual colors of red and blue on his clothing, not to mention the 3D shades that he always wore.
His friends were fucking fashion disasters.
Karkat loved them to fucking pieces though, so sucks to be him, he guessed.
"Why do I have the feeling you guys are doing something I won't like?" Karkat said, sitting the seat opposite to Aradia. He raised an eyebrow at the line of code that Sollux was working on and took a bite out of what he could only identify as meatloaf.
"Since that could be virtually anything, then yeah, we probably are KK." Sollux didn't even look away from the keyboard as he said this, fingers continuing to clack away.
"We're planning revenge on the goth kids." Aradia said, manic grin never leaving her face. It would have creeped Karkat out if he wasn't used to seeing it. "They spray painted my locker pink again, so we're putting a virus on their computers."
"And I'm already not liking this." Vantas shook his head, putting down the fork. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he exhaled. "You do realize the more you guys throw back at them, the more they throw back on us."
"Isn't that half the fun though?" Sollux seemed to have a small smirk, checking over a line before moving on, satisfied. "It's not like you don't join in half the time."
"That's because if I don't, you'd get your asses handed to you virtually every day of the week." Karkat flicked a couple of fries at the two, earning a glare from Captor and a snort from Aradia. "At least tell me that you're doing it remotely, because I'd rather not have to run away from a horde of kids that smell like hair dye and graveyards again this month."
"Partially," The ex-goth clicked her tongue. "We've already changed their phones wallpaper to just some flowery stuff- y'know, kittens, rainbows, puppies- but we're missing one final thing."
Vantas narrowed his red eyes. "And what exactly is that?"
"I'm going to put 'Friday' by Rebecca Black on their computers and have it play on loop continuously." The programmer had a full-blown smile on his face by then, matching the manic grin of his compatriot. Karkat was justifiably horrified.
"Dude, that's not a prank. That's just torture."
Aradia laughed maniacally. "That's the point! Maybe then they'll finally learn not to fuck with my locker." She banged her hand on the wooden table as she said this, drawing few stares. At this point, people were just used to it by now.
"Remind me why I'm friends with you two lunatics again?" Karkat rolled his eyes, noticing the full tray by Sollux. "Dude, eat right now. You can plot your revenge later, otherwise I will shove this unhealthy crap down your throat."
Sollux scoffed, finally closing the laptop. "Okay mom." Grabbing a handful of fries, he stuffed them into his mouth, taking a big gulp. "You're grumpier than usual. Did somebody shove that stick up your ass even more or are you trying to get a more 'positive' outlook on life."
"I'm surprised that you can even tell." Propping herself up on her elbows, she tilted her head to look at said grump. "Your dad blow up another of his inventions?"
"Yes, and I hate that you can tell that right off the bat. Didn't help that I had to redo that paper for Creative Writing last night." Karkat shrugged. "He said he had another 'breakthrough,' but all I could see was some more burnt ectoplasm."
The red and blue teen shook his head. "Where does he keep getting that stuff, anyway? Not to mention the funding too. You guys should be broke after all the stuff he keeps destroying."
"The government's funding him, right?" Aradia questioned. Nodding and answering her own question, she snapped her fingers. "Right! The governments making him look up how to make it a source for clean energy or something."
"That still doesn't make sense to me." Sollux shook his head.
"The ectoplasm producing energy thing, ectoplasm being an actual existing thing, or the government looking for clean energy?"
"All of the above."
Karkat looked miffed, frowning. "Can we please stop talking about my dad's weird experiments? Bad enough he's planning another test tonight."
"Another one?" Aradia voiced, his surprise mirrored by Sollux's. "I thought he was going to wait a little while since the last one caused all of us to get covered in ectoplasm."
"I still can't believe that stuff isn't toxic. Are you sure that stuff doesn't cause health problems?"
"Only in large quantities." Karkat rubbed a hand down his face. "Can we please stop talking about ectoplasm? You know what, tell me how you're going to do the whole prank with the goth kids. Especially without getting caught."
Aradia smiled. She moved her hands, ushering them to move a little closer to her.
"The plan here will require a little grace..."
"HOW THE FUCK DID ANY OF THAT REQUIRE GRACE?!"
"IT WENT A LOT BETTER IN MY HEAD, TO BE HONEST!"
Karkat, with feet beating fast on the floor and turning down each hallway with little hesitation, thought over how the plan went wrong. Then he figured that the reason that the plan went wrong was because it was made by Aradia and Sollux.
Sneaking into the lockers was relatively easy since Aradia (creepily enough) knew all of the locker combinations. Uploading the virus was even easier since Sollux knew what he was doing when it came to computers. Hell, Karkat even made things smoother by distracting anyone that thought to question things with the most obvious lies known to man.
Of course, they were caught by the last goth kid right after they finished uploading the virus to his computer. Who then called every other one that hadn't head home yet.
Which led to the three of them running for their lives through the halls of like hell was on their heels, which was kinda true judging from some of the looks in the goth kids' eyes.
God, they looked pissed.
"Why did I let you guys talk me into this shit again?! God I should've known this would go wrong."
"Oh, shut up KK, you were having fun until this." Sollux was already out of breath, way too out of shape for this type of exercise. "Besides, we got a plan out of this."
"Really? I don't remember making one up. What is it?" Aradia asked jovially, apparently not taking the threat of the goth kids seriously. She immaturely stuck out her tongue at them before shifting her gaze forward.
"It's run like hell and hope we don't get tired first." Karkat's confidence in that plan waned as he heard the struggling breath from his friend.
"You sure that'll work, Usain Bolt? Remind me to sign you up for the next marathon then." The sarcastic reply was unwarranted, but Karkat was too focused on finding a way out of their stupid predicament to particularly care. He looked around carefully, noting his surroundings. Some kids up ahead hanging out at the vending machine, a branch in one of the hallways, a crowd in the hallway on the right...
"Hey," The two friends perked up at the sound of Karkat's voice. "I got a plan. You guys head right, and I'll find a way to get them coming after me on the left. Just run and try not to look back. Meet me at the entrance in ten minutes." It wasn't a great idea, but frankly it was all he could think of.
A couple of eyebrows were raised, but the two nodded along. "It's your funeral KK." Sollux gave a salute, getting ready to make a turn.
"They'll sing songs about you, Vantas." Aradia seemed to be getting ready to follow suite.
Karkat snorted, but kept a serious face, counting the steps before he made it to the group. He noted a sophomore holding an unopened soda can.
One,
Springing forward suddenly, he grabbed the soda can right from the sophomore, shaking it up quickly.
Two,
Turning around, he closed one eye and held up the cans lid at the goth kids. He slowed, making sure they moved a little ahead to catch up. A part of couldn't help but smirk.
Three.
When the goth kids were about three steps away from him, he pulled the tab of the can open, the spray suddenly moving outward towards the kids. Stopping, he made sure to wildly wave it around, spreading it so all of them could feel his fizzy wrath. Sputtering from the group could be heard and hands were raised to protect themselves from the onslaught.
When the last of the soda pop trickled out of the can, the red-eyed kid looked into the faces of every enraged goth kid, noting the running makeup.
"So," Karkat sarcastically began, looking over them with a bored look. "I guess we all learned a lesson about wearing waterproof mascara."
Sensing their hostility rise instantly, he turned tail and went into the left hallway. As he heard the footfalls of the incoming horde, he made sure to look into the crowd on the other side. He noted the sight of his friend's head bobbing up and down in
Sensing their hostility rise instantly, he turned tail and went into the left hallway. As he heard the footfalls of the incoming horde, he made sure to look into the crowd on the other side. He noted the sight of his friend's heads bobbing in and out of the crowd.
The things he did for love.
Getting away from the goth kids was surprisingly easy after a while. He wasn't a track star by any means, but that didn't mean he wasn't quick. However, hiding out in the parking lot wasn't exactly his idea of a wonderful school afternoon.
Ducking between several vehicles and noting the sound of the goth kids' voices being drifting, Karkat sighed as he slowly stood up. Well, that was at least over with.
Even though the goth kids would most likely forget about it before the day was over, that didn't mean that they wouldn't retaliate later. He'd probably have to keep an eye out for the next few days. He was gonna kill those two later.
Then again, he thought to himself, he'd have to find them first.
Walking between the cars, he moved to make sure that any stragglers wouldn't spot him. "If anything else goes wrong today…" He muttered to himself, diving into an open clearing…
And almost getting hit by a monstrously pink car seconds later.
Seeing the flash of pink, he jumped back, waving his arms frantically. "WAIT!"
Thankfully, the driver stopped with a jerk, causing Vantas to sigh in relief. Which, as he noticed was becoming a pattern, was promptly ripped away from him as he noticed the driver.
Trizza 'Motherfucking' Tethis.
"Vantas, you dumbshit." Great, she was getting out of the car. Good for him, he thought. And she was dressed in that stupid overtly pink crap again, wasn't she? "The fuck are you doing out here, trying to find ghosts for your dad?"
"No, but it appears I found something much worse." Vantas said easily, not even bothering to look in her direction. "Honestly, I'm starting to wish you hit me with that car. Wanna try again?"
"Nah, just got a new paintjob. Ain't gonna fuck it up by getting your poor ass blood on my hood." She frowned, sipping from the milkshake in her hands. Nasty Burger, he dully noted. God, he had to get out of here.
"Yeah, good to hear." He turned around, already trying to plan his escape. "Look, glad to talk to you and all, but I got shit to do at home that isn't this. So-" He made a strangled noise as he was suddenly pulled back by the collar, turned around to meet Trizza's eyes.
"Nuh uh. You're going to tell what the fuck you were doing running around in a parking lot. I mean, not like you have a fucking car." She tapped her foot on the ground, taking out her phone. She nonchalantly started typing in something he couldn't see. "I mean, didn't your dad blow up the last one?"
"Don't remind me." Karkat mumbled. The police were not happy to be present at that particular incident. "Just looking for my friends. They wanted to meet up here for some dumb reason." It was a lame lie, but it was the best one he could think up.
"You sure?" Trizza raised an eyebrow. She turned the phone to him, showing a video that was already looping.
Taking a look, Karkat couldn't help but gulp.
It was him spraying the soda on the goth kids. And judging from the sadistic little smile on her face, she was about to blackmail him.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
Karkat sighed and just decided to get along with it. "What exactly do you want, Tethis? I got shit to do."
At this, Trizza only shrugged. Minutely, she switched into a more businesslike persona, which was a little put off by the smirk on her face. "I need my chemistry homework done for a month, and maybe some editing for my English assignments. I got other guys for the rest of the stuff, but your the only guy here getting A's so far."
True, but that was honestly because Mr. Faluca was a horrible teacher. "And I'm guessing that if I don't do it, you'll show everyone in the school and I'll get detention?"
"Nice to know that you're catchin' on." She laughed a little. "Not gonna' lie, it was kinda funny watching it. Looks on their faces were priceless." She watched the video appreciatively. "Too bad that if anybody else sees it, they'll kill your stupid ass."
"Not if we have anything to say about it."
Sollux's voice, followed by the sound of Friday being played out of Trizza's phone was the most beautiful thing he'd heard all day.
"What the- Wait, Vantas get the fuck back here!" Karkat was already running like hell, snickering to himself. He slipped past a truck, noting that Aradia and Sollux were behind it. They followed him soon after, laughing loudly.
Knowing Sollux, the virus would last all day and the video would be deleted somehow. It was a scary skill, but a welcome one right now, Vantas thought as they made it to the end of the parking lot. Noting the buses hadn't arrived just yet to take them home, they stopped to catch their breath.
"God, why is today full of us running? I hate running." Sollux complained, leaning over himself and supporting himself on his shaky knees. Aradia only laughed, slapping on the back and sending him over.
"You just need some exercise." Her laughter was dying down slowly, but almost reignited when the downed kid looked up to glare at her. "Don't look at me like that, you're the one that sits at a computer all day!"
Receiving only grumbles, she continued to laugh.
Karkat fought down a smile. God, his friends were idiots.
And despite everything, it was a good day. Ups, downs, and everything in between.
Before he could think further, or even thank his friends for that matter, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Fishing it out as his friends bickered, he looked over the message and frowned.
It's ready. Make sure to bring your friends.
He sighed. Looking over at said friends, he couldn't help but wonder if he could just skip and hang out at the Nasty Burger with his friends. It would certainly be a bit better than watching another experiment go wrong.
He thought better of it though. His dad would be disappointed that, on the off chance it did work that no one got to see it. Especially if it was him that missed it.
"Hey," he said suddenly, grabbing their attention. "Dad's expecting me for the experiment tonight. Wanna' watch it explode again?"
Aradia shrugged, jerking Sollux up. "Might as well. Everything else today's been stressful, it'll be fun watching your dad talk about ghosts again."
Sollux snorted "You think it'll work this time? Who knows, maybe he'll pull through with a miracle or something."
"Doubt it." Karkat pushed down the feeling of guilt on doubting his father, just focusing on this moment. "But hey, he's done some cool stuff before."
Leading the charge, Vantas and his friends rushed to the buses. He couldn't help but shake his head, thinking one final negative though about his father before pushing it deep down into his mind.
Why the hell does he want to build a ghost portal?
