Mutated Ectoplasm

28. Paternal Instincts

While this may have come out on time for you guys (probably) I actually had this ready on Christmas. I figured this is a late present for some of you who've been reading thus far. Hopefully it's a good present for all of you!

Anyway, hope you all enjoy!

Karkat figured there'd be some kind of ramifications from the fight with Fright Knight. Considering there was a strong possibility of gaining more powers after making a borderline warlock pact, the fact he saw himself die in many possible ways, and the fight had more collateral damage than usual was one part of it.

The more immediate one, though, was the fact that he now had a goddamn tattoo on the back of his neck. Something that Aradia and Sollux now shared with him.

"Jesus Christ, I figured I'd get my first tattoo after one of you pushes me to do it after we turn twenty-one." Sollux griped, poking at the brand. It looked much like the Doom symbol, grayed out compared to the rest of his body. The other two's tattoos were similar in design, each with their own symbol in the same color. "Then again, a cult ritual was my second guess, so I probably shouldn't complain."

"I think it looks nice. Wish it were the same color as the symbol, but I'd say it's at least tasteful." Aradia could only shrug, giving the mirror back to Karkat. "Probably shouldn't say anything to our parents, though. My dad is cool with some things, but I'm pretty sure he'll kill you both if he figures out we have tattoos now."

"Yeah, like how we got them isn't already bad enough." Karkat kinda liked it too, but the fact this was related to the borderline religion of the Ghost Zone did irk him a bit. It was a brand, pure and simple. "If that's the only weird thing to happen because of our pacts though, I think I can stomach it."

"We all know that isn't he only weird thing that's going to happen." Sollux rubbed at his eyes, grumbling to himself. "I'm not the only one who had some weird dreams last night, right? I don't remember them, but they definitely kept waking me up."

"I don't remember having any dreams last night. Which is weird because I usually dream every night." Aradia didn't seem bothered by that fact, but she did spare a pitying glance towards Sollux. "Anything happen to you last night, Karkat?"

The halfa almost wanted to mention that his sleep was either interrupted by nightmares or the Box Ghost appearing in the middle of the night but decided to keep that to himself. The fight with Fright Knight may have been a win by all accounts, though that didn't negate the fact Karkat knew he could die ten different ways on their way to school.

"I slept fine. Box Ghost kept coming out of the Ghost Zone, but it's not like he's hard to deal with." Karkat shrugged, fighting down a shiver. He still needed to make time to research that guy's origin if only to let him get some more sleep. "I'm just hoping that today will be a normal school day."

Karkat realized he said the cursed words once again. Wishing for a normal school day always ended up causing it to be anything but, something he knew by now, but kept engaging in.

And this time, the monotony was broken up with a text on his phone.

With a certain amount of dread, he looked at the screen with a sigh. A text from Eridan, containing a link to a website. One that he was familiar with and run by a someone who he'd had the pleasure of running into in his goddamn ghost form.

"Guys," Karkat sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose with annoyance. "Jude's website made an update."

The halfa would admit that he'd forgotten some very important elements of the fight due to how hectic it truly was. In all fairness, the fact he even remembered everyone's part in it was a miracle. To say the least though, you couldn't really blame him for forgetting about the Claire kids.