Again, this came out a little later than I'd like, but it still did. Again, this is a three parter, so it's not ending here at all. A lot of wordbuilding is coming up and some foreshadowing too (for the stuff I do have planned). Hopefully it's all good for you guys.
Anyway, let's head on to the chapter!
Karkat wasn't sure when the hush of the battlefield settled, but it certainly did after the ghost in the coffin had opened his eyes. While it didn't move, he had a feeling he wasn't the person there keeping a close eye on the suit of armor.
It was when the ghost took a thundering step out of the coffin when activity started once again.
He felt a tug on the back of his suit, Terezi jerking him back before the knight ghost could get a look at him. They were already moving a good distance away before his mind finally caught up with his body.
"Hey, where the hell are we going?" Karkat tried to swat away the girl's hand, but she only tightened her grip. "Shouldn't we figure out who that is? What if he's dangerous?"
"That's exactly why we're getting the fuck out of here." There wasn't a lick of humor in her voice, making him shut up. "We are not fighting that thing. We need actual help on this one."
Karkat stifled a comeback, seeing Nepeta holding onto Aradia and Sollux flying just as fast out of that scene. Vriska looked just as reluctant to leave as he was but decided to err on the side of caution for once and followed them.
As they left the cluster of islands, Karkat could've swore he saw the ghost turn to look in their direction. The halfa caught the things gaze as he did, red meeting green.
Karkat felt a shiver go down his spine as he looked away first.
"You still haven't explained to me just what the hell is happening with that halfa thing."
Redglare knew how to deal with many different things in her life, having lived so long. Her life had been just as insane as her afterlife, so it wasn't like she was unprepared for a lot of stuff that was thrown her way.
Still, a pissed off cat-woman was a pissed off cat-woman. That was really hard to handle.
"I keep telling you, there's nothing much else to tell. I'm sure Nepeta told you everything already." Redglare took a sip of her coffee, checking on her itinerary for today. "Hell, Muelin probably filled you in on some more details Nepeta didn't, Nebs."
Nebit Leijon wasn't a woman you'd really want to mess with, but Redglare wasn't one to follow warnings very well. Built like a brick house and as graceful as a leopard, she was the best legitimate huntress in the Infinite Realms. With untamed black hair parted only by ears like her daughters, slit, yellow eyes that were predatory in nature, and claws sharp enough to rip Skulker to shreds, she wasn't one to be messed with.
It was only proven more by the fact she was wearing her hunting outfit today. A black long-sleeved shirt ending in a tattered skirt, black leggings, both with accents of green, a Leo symbol drawn out on the shirt, going around her shoulders and over her chest, nearly covered by the dark green coat with the fur around the neck. Knives adorned her belt in a simple bandolier.
"I'm trying, but Nepeta's been having a huge independent streak lately. I get that, but it makes it really hard to get any information out of her." Greatest huntress or not, she wasn't immune to pouting and putting her head in her hands. "Muelin doesn't really talk to anyone about her problems outside of Horuss. And we both know I'm not going to talk to his dad about this."
"If you really want to know anything, it's that the kids are okay. I've actually met him, and he doesn't seem like much trouble." Redglare took another sip of coffee, muttering under her breath. "Trouble loves finding him, though."
"These ears aren't just for show, Redglare." Nebit sighed, grabbing her own cup. She hated the taste of coffee, always having hers smothered in cream and sugar. "Two of the most successful women in the Infinite Realms, and we're having a tough time raising kids."
"Mine are doing just fine, thank you." It was all normal teasing between them, even if Nebit had a point. "Excelling even. Terezi actually nabbed several criminals the other day and brought them here."
"Aww, I remember when she was burning down her crib with her fire breath." The cat-woman laughed at the memory before finishing off her coffee in one final swig. She put down the cup with a slam before getting up. "I don't know about you, but I think I'll meet up with them at the temples. Get an actual look at the kid."
"Honestly, you probably won't have to. If anything, they'll come to us." Redglare leaned back in her seat, steepling her fingers. "Hopefully with nothing following them."
As if the fates were masters of comedic timing, this is when Terezi decided to slam the doors open, flying in with haste. She swished past, barely giving the two any notice.
" ,himom,somethinghappened,needabooktoexplain."
The jumble of words was undecipherable, even to Redglare. Neither adult moved before Nebit looked slowly at the other woman with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, looks like something followed them." Nebit felt insanely smug for finally having the upper hand. "Whatever could it be?"
"I never said I didn't have future sight, okay?" Redglare didn't, but she felt some embarrassment at being proven wrong. The draconic woman looked down at the body her daughter left behind near the door. "How's it going Vantas?"
"Not well." Karkat had been left to fall face first after Terezi had flown in. He didn't bother getting up, wishing he could blend in with the wood right now. "Might've had a run in with something bad. Not sure what it is though."
"Well, I'd be happy to hear it if you're willing to stop getting to know the floorboards." Redglare was happy to see Karkat comply, slowly floating himself off as he rubbed his head. "Also, someone here wants to meet you anyway. Two birds, one stone, you know how it is."
"Who wants to- oh." Karkat immediately backed up at the sight of Nebit, apprehensive. Looking her over, he couldn't help but mutter. "I thought Nepeta only had one sister, Jesus Christ."
"Hey, don't flirt with my mom!" Nepeta had decided to make her entrance, Aradia and Sollux in tow. "That'll throw the shipping charts way out of order!"
"Yeah, KK, don't you have any shame?" Sollux added, brushing off the cat-girls hand. He shook his head with visible disappointment, clucking his tongue. "Just when I think you can't sink to a new low."
"Can I flirt with your mom?" Vriska trailed behind, looking Nebit up and down with a raised eyebrow. "That shouldn't throw your charts or something out of order, right? I might do it anyway."
"Nobody's allowed to flirt with anybody's mom right now. Hot or not, we've got bigger problems." Aradia waved her arms to catch everyone attention, sighed before face palming her helmet. "This conversation is goddamn weird."
As Nebit couldn't help but just blink at the chaos going around her, Redglare leaned to Karkat with blank face. "Am I not the hot mom in this situation?"
"I have no idea how to answer that without receiving immediate retribution for it." Karkat really didn't want to go down this avenue of conversation longer than he had to. He whistled, catching the rest of the teens attention before continuing. "Aradia's got a point. Shit's kinda hit the fan here and we need to focus right now."
"What's happening?" Redglare did get serious, despite the funny business.
"This." Terezi came back carrying a book, a lot calmer than she was before. Slamming it down onto the table, pointing at the page that it was opened to. "This is happening."
The text was thankfully in plain English, though the subject matter was confusing to the outside observer. Two expertly illustrated drawings were on it, showing the coffin that had been destroyed in its complete form, the other being an etching of the figure. On the top of the page was the words "Fright Knight" on it.
"Terezi, sweetie," Nebit raised an eyebrow at the page before looking up at them in concern. "You might want to give us a little more to go on than that."
"It happened right after we figured out my Aspect." Karkat figured he'd take charge on this one, starting things off. "I saw a guy in a robe watching us and tried talking to him. He left right after and when I tried finding him- and several other people apparently- they disappeared after we made it to a cluster of islands. I still don't know how none of you guys saw them..."
"It's because you were hallucinating." Nepeta patted the teens back, despite the fact the boy was giving her an outraged look. "After all of us caught up with him, we heard Skulker yapping on about something. We didn't know expect him there, so we hid out to see why."
"He had a human with him, mom." Terezi paced the floor, deep in thought. The encounter was making her brain go into overdrive. "Just some random guy he apparently decided to pick up."
"Not to burst your bubble, but those two are human too." Redglare waved at Aradia and Sollux with an awkward smile. "Welcome to the afterlife, by the way. Weird to see someone alive."
"We're glad to be here." Aradia smiled politely, though the tenseness of it was not hard to discern. "But we didn't know that guy either. He was a complete stranger."
"And Spades isn't doing an expedition into here yet until he can get some help from the government." Sollux remembered overhearing that conversation. His dads had been raving about it too when Spades mentioned it to them. "He hasn't got the clearance, so it can't be a government guy."
"Didn't the guy have an orb that gave him superpowers or something?" Vriska received some nods at that. She mentally noted to destroy that thing the next time she saw it. "Yeah, so not a normal dude. Bastard is going to have his nuts bashed in next time I see him."
"Okay," Redglare's interest had been peaked, though she didn't really get what this had to do with the book. "I'll have some people look out for a human, but it looks like you guys are okay. What exactly was he here for?"
"To open that." Terezi pointed at the illustrated coffin with a grimace. "The human let Fright Knight out of his cage."
There were a few moments of silence as the two adults looked back at the page, studying it for a while. Digesting the information with serious fervor, Redglare eventually got up from her chair, face unreadable.
"Do you have Skulker in your thermos, Phantom?" Redglare gave Karkat a look that caused him to stand at attention.
"Yes ma'am." He said, pulling said item off his belt. He moved closer to the table, the tension in the room rising a little bit.
"Open it."
Karkat figured it'd be best to just comply, twisting the cap off the thermos with a flourish. Pointing the thing at the table, he pressed the button to release the blob that called himself a hunter, a stream of light followed by the tumbling off Skulkers form. The little ghost steadied itself on the wood of the table before glaring at the halfa.
"Whelp!" The blob ghost pointed a finger accusingly at the teen, glaring. It wasn't an impressive display, given his current form. "I have no idea where you've taken me, but I assure you, once I get a hand on one of my backup bodies- hey!"
The tirade was cut short as Nebit grabbed Skulker's little leg, holding him up to eye level. Skulker immediately changed his tune as his eyes caught sight of the woman's slit ones.
"Nebit Leijon!" The realization of his position was finally dawning on the little bastard, causing him to squirm. "I-I didn't realize you were here. I was just doing a bit of work when I happened to run across-"
"Yeah, yeah, save it for now you goddamn poacher." Nebit rolled her eyes, flicking the tiny ghost upside the head. He swung from side to side from the hit alone. "A little birdy told me that you might have fucked up a lot of things for everyone. Mind explaining what you were doing with that human?"
"He was paying me to find some coffin! He didn't explain what was in there." Skulker did not want any more trouble coming his way. This was already a bad situation for him, and he knew it. "That's all he asked for. Said he already had a way back too."
"That's not what we're concerned about, Skulker." Redglare's voice put the blob even more on edge. Things somehow got even worse. "Your friend decided to apparently open the damn thing. You know what was inside?"
"...No?"
Nebit raised an eyebrow before turning her hand, letting him see the page. Redglare even turned the book around so he could read it more clearly. The blob ghost squinted, reading the title before jerking back, as if struck. Skulker started waving his arms around, panicking at the two women narrowed their eyes at him.
"I didn't know what that was, I swear! He just told me where he wanted to go, and I took him there." Skulker was bobbing to and fro thanks to his movements. "Please tell me he didn't open it. If he did, that wasn't my idea!"
"He did, and whether that was or not matters little. You did bring him there and that's it." Redglare sighed, rubbing at her eyes with a hand. "Nebit, mind transporting him to one of the smaller holding cells?"
"Can do. Though I'd rather just eat him now and get him out of our hair." Nebit laughed a little at the joke before shrugging. "Eh, he'd probably taste terrible anyway. Later, Skulky."
One of the claws on her hand started glowing, which she dragged across the wooden table. A tiny portal formed, big enough for Skulker to pass through. Nebit dropped him in it immediately, brushing her hands off of him as the portal closed.
"I could practically feel the slime on him." Nebit sighed, getting up immediately afterward. "We need to deal with this now. Redglare and I are going to hunt down and see if we can try and limit the damage."
"What do you want us to do?" Karkat immediately floated slightly upward, already eyeing the door. "If that guy's dangerous, should we set up a trap first? Or is it possible to take him out quickly?"
"We're going out to get him while warning every ghost we see to find safety. You kids are going stay here." Redglare grabbed her cane from the table, quickly checking the blade hidden within it. Satisfied with its sharpness, she headed towards the door. "Fright Knight is dangerous and we're not sending teenagers to fight him."
"But-" Karkat felt a hand grab his shoulder stopping him, once again being pulled back by Terezi. Redglare and Nebit headed out before he could speak up anymore. Once the doors closed, Vriska stomped a foot on the floor to get everyone's attention.
"Can someone explain what the hell is going on here?" Vriska didn't seem to care about the tension in the room. Then again, this was confusing as all hell, so it was understandable. "I don't know who Fright Knight is, but he sounds too much like a B-movie villain to be considered this scary."
"You might want to reconsider." Nepeta picked up the book, looking through the page with a concern. "Considering this guy used to be the old ghost kings right hand man, we should definitely be scared."
"You guys had a king?" Aradia raised her eyebrows at that, moving to get a look at the book too. "I didn't expect you guys to have monarchy set up. I thought the Infinite Realms were divided into different territories."
"We are. Lord English hasn't exactly been active for a long time now. Only reason we know about him is because some of his shit is still around to cause trouble." Terezi sighed, moving into her mother's chair, rubbing at her eyes. "He was basically a huge tyrant that wanted to take over the Infinite Realms and eventually the human world."
"I'm guessing he wasn't able to do it?" Sollux joked, though he made a mental note to take some time to research later. "And what exactly did Lord English and Fright Knight do that made them earn an eternal rest."
The two ghosts looked at each other before shrugging, Terezi handing the book off to Karkat.
"Everything about Fright Knight is in here. It's not comprehensive, but it's a good summary." Terezi didn't know what else to say. This was a huge topic, and she didn't really know how to cover it all just by talking about it. "It's not a fun read, though. And not because it's boring."
Karkat raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he looked down at the page, ignoring the presence of the others as they crowd around him...
Fright Knight: The Omen of Lord English.
Fright Knight is easily considered one of the most mysterious ghosts recorded in all of the Infinite Realms known history. While many accounts have been taken of his deeds as Lord English's right hand, nothing is known about his life, death, or anything else until Lord English started gathering power.
Only three things are concrete; one is that he was working with Lord English since the beginning of his reign. Two, he has been known to discorporate entire armies of ghosts with little effort as long when at his full power. And three, his Aspect is Doom.
Fright Knight is only one of many names for him; The Walking Omen, The Dreaded Sword, Conqueror, etc. were all names prescribed to him, though Fright Knight is the only name Lord English seemed to call him. As for why he earned those other titles, this was mostly because of his actions during the ghost king's take over.
This man (or monster, depending on who you ask) is responsible for large military campaigns that have led in mass slaughter, intermittent fear, and a horror that has lasted for hundreds of years. Tales of a sword that, if it cuts you and you survive it, will show you your imminent death. Some have been said to have discorporate almost immediately from its touch, never to be seen again.
The end of Fright Knight's destruction was not long after the imprisonment of his master. It was said that several Doom Aspect ghosts had found a way to entrap him in the coffin pictured above. The exact method behind it is said to have been written down in case of his escape, but it undecipherable to those who aren't connected directly to the Doom Aspect.
It is unknown what exactly would occur if Fright Knight escapes from his prison, but it is expected to cause great discord in the Infinite Realms if it comes to pass. Aspects of Doom, Time, and similar have claimed many things, but nothing has been proven at this time.
[LINE BREAK HERE]
"...This is fucking bad." Karkat didn't know the full history behind it, promising himself that he'd look into later, but this was enough of a warning. "This is really fucking bad."
He put down the book, moving into the other seat while the others grabbed it, trying to read further. He could only imagine what would happen if that guy actually made it out into the human world.
"This has gotta be exaggerated. Ghost king or not, you don't just raze armies by yourself." Vriska shrugged. It was an interesting story, but it wasn't like any of this could be real. "If he was really that bad, why not just get rid of him themselves. Make sure there isn't any possibility of him coming back."
"That would've been the smart option, but the Time Aspect ghosts had a problem with it. Said if they did, it would cause doom to everyone else." Terezi did agree with her, irritation flitting through her form. "And it's always a good idea to listen to Time Aspect ghost when they're talking about doomed timelines."
"Doesn't that mean we shouldn't let you and Nepeta's mom run out there alone?" Aradia's question brought dread amongst the party, making them still. "I'm not saying they probably wouldn't put up a good fight, but if Fright Knights as powerful as they say..."
"He's gotta be weak after being trapped for so long, though. Maybe if they get to him in time, they can just take him out." Nepeta didn't sound sure of herself, but it did make sense in some way. "My mom's pretty fast when she wants to be, and Redglare can turn into a dragon. I'd say that's plenty of firepower."
"That's if they do it quickly enough. And just because he was trapped doesn't mean he's going to be powerless." Sollux rubbed the bridge of his nose, thinking things through. "We should just wait here and keep an ear out for anything. If they need backup, they'll come for it."
The room was starting to devolve into chaos as they all started to bicker and argue. Karkat remained silent for a few moments longer before deciding to stand up.
"Guys." The halfa swallowed a little to make sure his next words came out clearly. "I think I have a plan."
"I really don't know why you guys think I'll be able to help." Tavros twiddled his thumbs as he followed the other ghosts at a slower pace. "Especially if this guy is as bad as you say. This'll let me go back out to the kids again, right?"
"It will. All you have to do is hang back and blast at a distance. You can bug out if things get too dangerous." Karkat sent a look towards Aranea after he finished talking to Tavros. "I'm surprised you agreed so fast. Not a lot to do while on house arrest?"
"Considering this lowers my sentence and lets me learn more about the 'Infinite Realms,' I can play along for this." Aranea, in her shadow form, rolled all of her eyes at once. "Not to mention Vriska has little to no self-preservation, so it's best I keep an eye on her."
"Hey, I can take care of myself! We've done that whole 'knock em' down, bring em' up' skit for years." Vriska hmphed, keeping her guitar at the ready. "I also kicked a cyborgs ass today, and I didn't need your help on that."
"No, you helped me try and capture a human with a magic orb. And you didn't even get that to work." Terezi stuck out her tongue at the blonde's offended face. "The other did all the work taking that asshole down. Not to mention we can finally book him too."
"Alright, let's focus on something else please." Nepeta didn't want to hear some more arguing from those two, poking at Karkat instead. "Do you really think it was a good idea to leave Aradia and Sollux at the portal? They didn't seem happy about it."
Karkat could only nod, thinking through the plan once again. "Yeah, but they'll have time to get over it. Besides, the hover packs aren't built for speed, so it's not like they can dodge all that well with them."
Karkat's plan was relatively simple. While they wouldn't dive headfirst into a fight with a possibly powerful ghost, they would be backup in case things for Redglare and Nebit start going south. They'd picked up Aranea and Tavros as backup to make up for the lack of Aradia and Sollux, who were guarding the portal with Muelin.
He would've brought them along, but he figured some firepower should be there in case this fight led to portal at all. Hopefully Horuss and Latula would come along to back them up to, maybe set up defenses if things didn't go great with them. As long as Fright Knight didn't make it out into the human world, things would hopefully be okay.
That didn't mean he wanted to test that possibility at all, which is why they had that defense there.
As if on cue with the negative thought, an explosion could be heard in the distance, causing the group to stop and immediately change course towards it. Most of them did their best to hide as they tried to get a good look at the battle from a distance.
It wasn't hard to find the source of it as a roar erupted, coming from Nebit as he launched several ghost rays at Fright Knight. The ghost didn't so much as flinch as he blocked several of them with a dark shield. Before Nebit could react, the Knight lunged at her, kicking her in the stomach hard enough to launch her back.
Redglare, looking more draconic than usual, breathed a stream of fire at the Knight, causing him to go on the defensive once more. Nebit recovered, raking her claws into open air several times before letting blasts go into each portal opened. Several portals opened behind the opposing ghost, the blasts hitting him the back. It was almost enough to cause him to buckle, letting Redglare keep on blasting fire at him than before.
"Looks like they're handling themselves." Nepeta was relieved, even if that attack on her mom almost gave her a heart attack. "Maybe we aren't needed after all."
"It'd still be a good idea to keep on things." Karkat tapped his fingers against the solid earth that was the floating island. He still felt a bit of dread as he watched the battle rage on. "Shit like this can turn in a second."
As if to reflect his sentiment, Fright Knights shield started to glow, ecto-energy flowing around it. A pulse came out, knocking Redglare back with the force of it. Nebit growled, slashing open a bigger portal, diving in to appear next the knight ghost, slashing wildly.
Despite a few glances, the hits seemed to ineffective until her claws started glowing once again. Fright Knight grabbed one of her hands, using the momentum to throw her behind him. Before Redglare could get back up again, he grabbed her by the throat. The shield started to disappear, forming into a glowing, flaming sword.
"Goddamit, why do I even say shit anymore." Karkat muttered to himself, already moving before anyone could stop him.
As Fright Knight raised the sword to stab Redglare in the gut, Karkat pulled out a sickle and swiped at the ghosts' hand. The force was enough to surprise the ghost, disarming him as the halfa grabbed it in hand.
Redglare raised a leg, kicking the knight ghost in the stomach. She gave a glare at Karkat before letting more draconic traits come out.
"Why am I not surprised that you're here?" Redglare's voice had gotten deeper, more guttural at the transformation. "I'm guessing Terezi didn't convince you to stay put."
"I'm kind of a dumbass, if you haven't noticed." Karkat kept a tight grip on the sword, ignoring the thrum of power that radiated off it. It felt heavy in his hands and he desperately hoped he wouldn't cut himself with it. "Besides, it looked like you needed backup, and we brought a lot of it."
Karkat waved at the others giving them the cue to attack. The flood of ghosts dispersed, spreading out and firing at Fright Knight before he could react. The ghost simply started dodging, trying to avoid the stream of shots.
"Hey, asshole! Isn't a little early to get dressed up for Halloween?" Fright Knights gaze turned to Karkat. The eyes narrowed dangerously as Karkat flipped the sword in his hands. "Trick or Treating with a real sword isn't exactly doing you any favors either. Maybe get a little less fanatic about the holiday."
The knight ghost launched himself at the halfa, taking shots as he did. Karkat swerved around, throwing blasts of his own powered by his sickle. The ghost buckled Nebit opened a portal in front of it, causing him to appear back into the line of fire.
"Swing and a miss there, pal! Are you still tired after that long nap?" Karkat attempted a swing with the sword as the ghost passed once again to obtain it. He missed, but it got him to back off. "Maybe you should take another one. Losing sleep isn't exactly great for people, much less ghosts."
Fright Knight, as if angered by the insinuation, suddenly boosted in speed, grabbing Karkat before he could react. The halfa felt a death grip form on his arms as he was slammed into an island back first, causing him to groan.
"Well, this is a little too close for comfort." Karkat immediately dodged a punch, having it land inches from his head. "Maybe it's time to switch things up a bit."
Karkat felt an idea form in his head, changing into his human form instantly. The light of the transformation was able to catch the ghost off guard long enough for him to grab Fright Knights shoulder, his human body phasing through the rock. A good portion of the knight ghost followed him before he let go, phasing through what was left.
Karkat transformed again, flying quickly as the group formed up. He pointed towards the island Fright Knight was phased into, a shout forming on his lips.
"FIRE!"
Every ghost immediately sent rays of ecto-energy the knight ghosts' way, Terezi and Redglare morphing into their dragon forms to breathe fire. The combined energy was able to cause a large amount of power to fall onto Fright Knight.
However, it felt like it was being pushed back as something of equal power fought against it, a beam of energy coming from the ghost. Despite the overwhelming power from the ghosts standing with Karkat, it was being pushed back by the knight.
The next part happened in seconds.
As Karkat put his all into firing ecto-energy at Fright Knight, he didn't feel the sword disappear from his grasp. At the last second, the battle was seemingly going their way as the wave of power was blasted into the island, destroying it completely.
And then Fright Knight flew right towards them, sword in hand as he swung into, cutting into Karkat's side.
The halfa didn't even know what hit him as his vision was overtaken by purple, and then black.
Before any of you start, I know I'm evil. I'm now starting to understand why people love using cliffhangers so much!
Don't worry, though, he isn't dead. Just a lot things he'll go through when he gets back. I hope you're ready for it.
Either way, I'll see you all next chapter!