Well, sorry to leave you all on that cliffhanger, but it was needed. Don't worry, nobody died, but that doesn't mean Karkat won't have something to see when this is all over.
Hopefully you all enjoy and that you have a nice day!
Visions swam in and out, one after another, hitting him all at once. Some filled with pain, others suddenly going out, some remaining in the middle. In some cases, he-
-didn't know what hit him. He'd just turned around and saw a blur of scales and sharp teeth, a hit that was way too deep. He couldn't see his face, wasn't sure if he saw scars-
-so many scars. Each vision showed wounds that healed, all while showing the one that wouldn't have time to. The merciful ones didn't seem so until draw out ones were shoved into his face. In some of them, he couldn't even get-
-out, he needed to get out. That weird music was following him again, lilting in the air, mad laughter following it. That asshole was around here and if he didn't get out, he'd either be trapped or-
-dead. Dead, dead, dead. More than he even was currently. God, why were there so many ways to die? Some of them weren't even heroic, some were just tragic. Why did-
-that little bastard do this? Acting like he's a goddamn king. Little shit thinking he's Simba, wearing those artifacts. He hoped the town fights him better than he did. He really hoped that dad-
-was in some of them. Sometimes the cause, sometimes just there to watch. Always a flash of light right after, victory turning to horror. He really wished he wouldn't look. His face turning into that always made him feel like-
-he was unraveling at the seams, disappearing completely. What the hell was happening to him? This didn't feel like dying, this felt like he was being wiped away. He needed to get that thing off that guys hand or else he'd-
-leave everyone behind. He could see his friends all around him, all crying and weeping. He didn't want to see that either. He wanted to tell them to stop crying for him, there was more important things to deal with. He just wanted to-
-scream after scream followed, hitting him at full force. It hurt to hear, he needed to make it stop. Needed to shut the other one up before he hurt anyone else. His ears were bleeding, though, and he couldn't make it-
-stop. He needed to make this stop before he lets it take over. He wasn't become another one of that asshole's victims. Fright Knight couldn't get into the human world. Amity Park wouldn't fall without a fight, especially from-
-the portals. They just kept pouring out, from all corners, punctuated by the mad laughter of the ghost. A cane slammed down onto him, throwing him into the masses, choking him under their weight. He could feel his eyes close as he suffocates. It takes all of his might to try and-
-WAKE UP!
Karkat knew he must've been in human form because his heart is racing as he jerks into consciousness. He takes in deep breaths as the visions eventually start to drain away, only vague impressions staying as he tries to will down the heart attack he nearly has.
It takes every inch of willpower not to swing out at the hand trying to hold him down. His vision still wasn't focused, so he couldn't tell who it was. There was a glow, so it was obviously a ghost. They were trying to speak to him too.
"-fucking hell, calm down!" The voice finally came into focus along with his vision, seeing Vriska. "Jesus, you practically had a seizure. Give yourself a few minutes, you nutjob."
"Where am I?" Karkat questioned between breaths, lungs feeling unusually sore. "Did Fright Knight escape? Where is he now?"
"Not that I actually care, but I'm pretty sure I said you need to calm down." Vriska formed a small block of ice in her hand, shoving it into his. "Cool off with this. Your face is really fucking red."
Karkat complied if only to get her to cooperate with him. The ice was almost a shock to his system, getting him to focus on that while the rocker ghost sat up, waving to somebody in the distance. It gave him enough time to realize where he was.
It looked like he had been transported to an island not far away from their original fighting spot. The place was barren like all the other islands, though he could see some small lairs out in the distance. Fright Knight was obviously very far gone at this point, though a lot of the people that joined them on their raid were still there. He could see Nepeta and Terezi separating from the pack, heading towards them.
"Well, looks like someone's awake." Terezi was trying to sound gentle, but her eyes kept switching from his face to where he got sliced. "Scary few minutes there, not gonna lie. Feeling any better?"
"No." As much as Karkat didn't want to rude, they were on a limited timetable right now and he couldn't afford mincing words. "I'm guessing Fright Knight got away in the confusion. Please tell me he didn't head towards the portal."
"You'll want to hear from Team B on this." Nepeta gave him his phone, along with a flask of purified ectoplasm. "Please drink this. If you're going to keep going, you need to be in better shape."
Karkat did as she asked, pulling up Ghostian. He saw some messages were waiting to be read, which set him on edge, but it looked like everyone was posting regularly.
CG: HEY, HOW'S EVERYTHING GOING AT THE PORTAL? IS EVERYONE ALRIGHT?
TA: fiinally you fuckiing an2wer! we heard you got 2tabbed!
AA: y0u've been 0n radi0 silence f0r nearly five minutes! is everything 0kay?
Five minutes? Shit, that wasn't good. A lot can happen in five minutes, especially with a ghost like Fright Knight running around.
CG: DRAINED, BUT FINE. HOW'S EVERYTHING ON YOUR END?
ML: WE'RE FINE! A LITTLE SHAKEN UP, BUT WE'RE OKAY.
LP: w3 m1ght h4v3 som3 b4d n3ws, though, l1ttl3 dud3.
HZ: 8=D We're afraid to report that Fright Knight might've escaped containment.
That little bit of news made it feel like an ice spike was shoved into his heart. Thankfully, before he could immediately change forms and head straight towards Amity Park, the chat was updated further.
HZ: 8=D That's the bad news. The good news is that he seems to be holding on attacking the town thus far.
TA: horu22 ha2 a drone followiing the guy around. 2o far, he'2 ju2t patrolliing the place.
ML: WE'RE SORRY! WE WERE READY TO HOLD HIM OFF, BUT HE CAUGHT US BY SURPRISE.
LP: w3 s3t up som3 d3f3ns3s, but h3 just bl3w th3m up. d1dn't 3v3n s33 wh3r3 h3 c4m3 from unt1l 4ft3r th3 wr3ck4g3 h1t.
AA: we d0n't kn0w h0w l0ng he's g0ing t0 keep flying ar0und, th0ugh. he might get tired 0f sc0ping things 0ut and attack s00n.
CG: THEN THAT MEANS WE HAVE SOME TIME. WAIT FOR SECOND.
Karkat took his eyes off his phone, switching his attention to Terezi. "Pyrope, that book you showed us earlier said that Doom Aspects were able to seal Fright Knight, right?"
"Pretty much. Kept copies of the ritual everywhere to make sure he couldn't stay out if he escaped." Terezi remembered that her mom had a copy too, despite not believing it would ever be useful. "We can't read it, though. We need to..."
There was a brief moment of realization before Terezi started flying off in the direction of her home. Karkat didn't have to wonder why she did, turning his attention back to the phone.
CG: I THINK I HAVE A PLAN.
"This doesn't really seem like a good idea." Tavros looked nervously around himself, keeping away from the Aspect wheel in the middle of the buildings. "Are you sure this might work out? There's only two of us compared to, uh, twelve Aspects."
"It's than nothing. If we didn't have to rush out to try and stop him, we would've done this before." Nebit watched the proceedings from far off. She apparently didn't like the feel of this place either, the skyscraper like structures bothering her. "We don't have a lot of choices here, so it's up to you two."
The two in question were Tavros and Vriska, the only people who didn't have any stated Aspect. Horuss had revealed himself to be already been a Void Aspect, leaving these two to be their only hope right now. Aranea would've joined if it wasn't for the fact families tended to trend with one Aspect.
The others had decided to keep an eye on Fright Knight and, if needed, provide some resistance if he attempted to attack Amity Park. The only ones that held back was Nebit, Aradia, Sollux, and obviously Karkat.
"We just need to step on each one and they'll light up. Nothing much else to it." Vriska sounded nonchalant about the process but appeared just as hesitant to make the first move. "Do you think we'll have to, y'know, pledge ourselves?"
"Hopefully not. If you have to, we might just have to find another way." Karkat had the document that Redglare and Terezi lent him carefully held in his hands. Looking at it gave him a headache since all he could parse was floating letter and swirling script. "If not, we need to head out immediately."
"We do need to hurry, though. Fright Knight still hasn't attacked, but he is starting to get slower." Aradia kept an eye on Ghostian, getting updates every few moments or so. "He could start rampaging on the town at any time and we need to trap him before he does."
"Yeah, that doesn't pressure them in the slightest." Sollux tapped his foot on the ground, pacing lightly. "Let's just get it over with. I really don't think this is going to work."
Despite the negative words, it did get Vriska to finally move forward. She dropped her feet onto the floor, taking tentative steps around the dais to keep an eye out for the glow. There wasn't anything at first, even when she finally stepped over the Doom symbol, but it did light up eventually as she walked over the sun symbol.
"Light. Determination, Luck, and Information." Nebit shrugged, keeping the disappointment out of her voice. "Not a bad Aspect to have, but not what we're looking for. You're next, Pupa."
Tavros sighed, the pressure falling completely on him now. He was really hoping they'd luck out before they got to him. He forced himself to touch the ground, making his own round with shaky steps.
This time, the answer came a lot sooner. Before he even made it halfway towards the Doom symbol, his foot stepped onto the bright blue symbol showing a small wind flying upward. The group felt their hopes drop as Nebit explained.
"Breath. Motivation, Freedom, and Self." Nebit suddenly really wished she hadn't stayed back. Her daughters were probably in serious danger now. "This isn't good. Nice to know, but it isn't good."
"Well, sorry! I can't control this stuff." Vriska's mood took a turn, swinging right into irritation. However, it was clear to everyone this was born out of fear more than anything, knowing that they didn't have a way out now. "Maybe I can mess with our chances here, but I don't think that'll help a lot."
"Maybe we still have time!" Tavros looked really guilty, waving his arms as he tried to think. "We could try and find some other ghosts that could help. I mean, I don't know any ghosts other than you guys, but maybe you guys do? I don't really know."
"We don't know any other ghosts. The fact we even know so many now is kind of a miracle." Aradia's positivity was dying down fast. A part of her considered that maybe she should text her parents about this, feeling startlingly out of her depth. "And, again, we're on an invisible time limit."
"...Can humans have Aspects?"
The question caused everyone to turn to the person in question, turning out to be Sollux of all people. The nerdy human raised his hands defensively, asking them to hear him out.
"Considering some of guys here are pretty much just dead humans, I'm not too far from being an actual ghost." Sollux didn't seem to fully buy his logic, but he figured he should share his thoughts anyway. "Humans should have an Aspect thing too; it just doesn't appear since we don't have ectoplasm."
"That's right!" Karkat suddenly felt so much better with that explanation, the possibilities also interesting on an academic level. "I'm not even a full ghost and I have a Blood Aspect. Again, not very high chances, but it could work."
Everyone looked to Nebit, who was frowning as she looked at the dais. She bit her lip, a fang almost breaking open the skin before she sighed loudly.
"That also might mean you'll have to pledge yourself to your Aspect since you can't use passively." The adult didn't really like the possibility, especially since they were kids. They had lives to live, nothing that should be wasted for some invisible entity or thing related to this place. "Are you willing to put yourselves through that just to take Fright Knight down?"
"We'll do it together and help each other out with it." Aradia was reinvigorated by the new possibility. Hell, if it ended with them getting powers of their own, it would be even better. "We might get lucky since we're not ghosts or anything."
Nebit didn't look happy about that, but considering the other options were either to fight Fright Knight fruitlessly or let an entire town get destroyed, she figured that it would be okay. She'd just have to keep an eye on them.
"Fine." Nebit motioned for the two humans to try it out, still reluctant when it came to the possible consequences. "I'll help you recite the oath if one of you happens to be a match, but only then."
Aradia only nodded while Sollux eyed the circle with some suspicion. The two moved closer to it, both stopping at the edge. They gave each other a brief look as the situation dawned on them, causing them to take deep breaths.
Aradia, predictably, was the first to go. Whether by confidence or anxiety, she walked quickly in the circle to find her Aspect quicker, if it would even work at all. Their answer came when she stepped onto the red symbol of a gear, having it light up before them.
"Time. Decay, inevitability, and death."
The description caused everyone to wince, the triumph of Sollux's theory being trumped by the wrong Aspect lighting up. Sollux, as gloomy as the rest, moved forward afterward, avoiding Aradia as she stared at her symbol with a dazed expression. He honestly didn't expect much of his either, which is why he kept a steady pace as he walked.
That pace stopped dead as the Doom symbol finally lit up from under him.
"Doom. Tragedy, Misfortune, and finality." Nebit looked almost as disappointed as she was relieved. "Congrats, kid. Wish the prize were a lot better."
"God dammit, of course it's me." Sollux covered his visor with his hands as he sighed, already exhausted by all of this. "I knew I shouldn't have said anything. I knew something like this would happen."
"Just what a Doom aspect would say." Aradia tried to joke, though she looked as nervous as he did. Her eyes wandered to the Time symbol before she smiled wryly. "At least we're doing this together. Might even get some sweet superpowers out of this."
"I'm doing it too." Karkat's interjection caused the humans to jump, sending them some weird looks. "What? You thought that I was going to let you do this alone?"
"Uh, shouldn't the only one of you with actual powers avoid doing this, though?" Vriska waved at the buildings with a hint of disdain. "Might not be a good idea to let you go and become a zealot, taking one of you out of the running."
"That is pretty risky. I'd definitely like to keep myself under control of myself." Tavros, despite having the confirmation making some of his powers make sense, didn't see any reason to boost his powers. He hung out with kids after all. "Maybe just sit this one out?"
Karkat would've agreed with them, but there were two reasons he wanted to do this. The first was that since his first two friends were deciding to do this for the town, he wanted to make sure to share the burden. He couldn't let them do this alone.
As for the second reason...
Tales of a sword that, if it cuts you and you survive it, will show you your imminent death...
Karkat had seen so many ways he could die while doing this shit. He wasn't willing to go through all of them, especially the bloodier ones, especially to everyone else. Fright Knight was the most immediate threat, but it looked like there'd be so many other ones that could easily overpower him.
Pledging himself to his Aspect was risky, but it meant that he could get some more power out of it. Something he obviously needed if this was going to be the path he took.
"I need to do this just in case." Karkat shrugged off the doubts, moving over the Blood symbol and setting his feet onto it easily. "You never know what might come out next, so new powers would be a good thing to have."
And since Karkat had a faint idea of what was coming, he desperately needed anything he could get.
"Alright," The moment passed, Nebit deciding that they might as well keep this all going. "Repeat after me, slowly."
All three of them sarcastically held their hands up, one at their chest and the other in a scout's salute. Nebit didn't bother correcting them in that they didn't need to do it. She started, letting them repeat right after her.
"When life ends, and the ending starts,"
"When life ends, and the ending starts,"
"May death wash away our horrid sins,"
"May death wash away our horrid sins,"
"And our devotion may begin."
"And our devotion may begin."
A small light started emanating from below the teens. This caused a pause to occur, the oath almost forgotten before Nebit hastily kept going. Vriska and Tavros gave each other weirded out looks as they kept watching, suitably creeped out.
"Through the beginning of Time, in farthest reaches of Space,"
"Through the beginning of Time, in farthest reaches of Space,"
"Where we find Light in the Void, and Heart melds with Mind,"
"Where we find Light in the Void, and Heart melds with Mind,"
"May our Rage burn low, and Hope arise again."
"May our Rage burn low, and Hope rise again."
The lights grew brighter now, a tendril forming from each occupied space. It slowly rose up behind each person on the dais, stopping when it was behind their necks. The ones involved did their best not to flinch, while the others felt a bit of worry form. Nebit didn't seem to flinch, having seen this before.
She did take a moment before stating the two final lines.
"And when memories Life are replaced by visions of Doom,"
"And when memories of Life are replaced by visions of Doom,"
"May our Breath be let out, and the Blood will flow."
"May our Breath be let out, and the Blood will flow."
It was the final utterance of the chant that the tendrils of light made their move. Shooting suddenly into the backs of their necks, the humans and halfa were instantly paralyzed by the feeling. It wasn't quite painful, but they could feel a light burn form there, a brand that made their pact real. To everyone else, they could see each person's eye glowing as bright as the tendril holding them in that spot.
Almost as soon as the branding started, the tendrils were out before any of them could do anything about it. The lights began to recede, fading away, along with the lights in the participants eyes.
As all of them instinctively rubbed at their necks, Nebit moved to Sollux without a word. She handed the dazed boy the transcript with the binding ritual.
"Can you read this, kid?" Nebit desperately hoped that she didn't let three kids do this for nothing. Her nerves spiked as Sollux narrowed his eyes at the parchment. "Anything at all that we can work with."
"...I can read it. Language is fucking weird, but I can read it." The human sighed, turning towards the others. He waved the paper at them with a wry smile. "Alright people, let's get this bastard."
They didn't waste any time getting the hell out of there and heading to Amity Park.
It didn't take long for them to reach Amity Park, something that was an immediate blessing. Other than having to navigate through some wreckage that was apparently around the portal (just as the old guard described it), it wasn't difficult to find where the rest of their group was.
Though, the news was troubling to say the least.
The good news that much hadn't changed in Fright Knight's aggression, having held off from attacking the town in any meaningful way. He hadn't noticed any of them or just simply didn't care enough to make it obvious.
The problem was that he'd slowed down and hunkered down in an old factory not far from the town, most likely to make the final decision on what to do next. The place was far enough so they most likely wouldn't run into anyone here, but that was the only good thing so far. Everyone had the feeling that if they didn't move in now, he'd attack the town at any moment.
Karkat would've felt nervous about the assemblage of ghosts standing near the factory, but they headed towards the back, away from the road. That still didn't mean he kept checking around them just in case.
"Alright, people!" Redglare had taken back the leadership role as soon as everyone arrived. She looked around at the assemblage of ghosts with wary eyes. "I really don't like how I have to rely on teenagers here, but since we're mostly out of time, this'll do. At least I know some of you have experience."
There were some chuckles from the Serkets at that, which was silenced immediately by a glare from the judge.
"We're going in there in teams while Sollux and Aradia stay outside to finish the ritual. The range of it should be wide enough as long as we keep Fright Knight near the buildings perimeter." Redglare tapped her cane against the floor, pointing at the building with a grimace. "Let's get this started, everyone. Can't waste any time right now with all of these things on the line."
The ghosts and halfa all mingled together, quickly deciding on teams as Aradia and Sollux watched on. Aradia gave her friend a bitter smile before putting her attention back on the ghosts.
"I'd feel left out if Fright Knight wasn't such a terrifying bastard." Neither of them had taken off the hazmat suits, something she regretted now. The heat of the human world was making them both sweat like dogs. "They get to do the cool ghosts hunting while we hang back to as emergency backup."
"We still got weapons. It's not like they're trying to keep us out." Sollux kept reading over the lines of the paper, frowning deeply. "Besides, we might get superpowers if this ritual doesn't kill me first."
"Oh, come on. You said it yourself that it won't hurt you or anyone else. You just have to repeat it and we'll hopefully be done." Aradia watched the ghosts disperse, surrounding the building. The familiar anxiety settled in, making her smile disappear. "Looks like it's showtime. You ready, Sollux?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." Sollux smoothed out the paper, opening his mouth before shutting it. He gave Aradia a nervous look. "Hey, AA? Mind doing something for me if things go south with this thing?"
"Anything."
"Knock me out if this does something." Sollux chuckled, though it was obviously out of stress. "I'm pretty sure that something involving ghosts is going to do something to us, but I want to make sure it's on my terms."
Aradia actually almost felt relieved at that. Guess she wasn't the only one worrying about all of this. "I will. You don't need to worry about that at all."
Sollux didn't seem to believe her, not fully, but enough to just nod and put his eyes back to paper. He looked over the first few lines before closing his eyes, lips thinning into a line before he started to speak.
Aradia almost complied with his request when he opened his eyes only to show that they were black.
Karkat was extremely stressed out by now. Understandably so, though he shouldn't have felt like that. Especially since they had the plan up and running.
Maybe Vriska being her usual self would distract him. Not to mention he was still hanging out with Nepeta's mom.
"So, that offer to flirt is still on the table if you want it."
"Kid, stop. Though I will say I'm really flattered.."
Or not. Glad to see they were learning to cope with impending doom like he was.
"I thought we already had this conversation. Nepeta doesn't want us flirting with her mom." Karkat rolled his eyes, shifting through walls slowly. There was a lot of rooms in this old factory, so they decided to just go in sections to save time. "If you want, you can flirt with Redglare. I mean, she's technically you're parole officer in a way..."
"Yeah, not happening. Terezi might actually me if I do." Vriska floated towards Karkat, moving close enough to actually touch him. She did, poking at the back of his neck with narrowed eyes. "By the way, feeling any different from that power boost back there? Planning to preach to the choir after all of this?"
"Not really. I'm glad that I'm not, but I expected something to happen." Karkat rubbed the spot she poked, the place still sore after the pledge. "I'm guessing it's a delayed reaction or something about my Blood powers being weird. We'll see sooner or later."
"Hopefully later. I've had other friends try that, and it's always been risky." Nebit didn't look like she wanted to talk about it, deciding to change topics. She looked around at the factory buildings with slight wonder, humming to herself. "Been a while since I've been outside the Infinite Realms. I wonder what changed while I was gone."
"Oh, so you aren't native to the Ghost Zone." Karkat had been wondering that. Redglare also struck him as being as being an actual undead ghost rather than native, but he hadn't found a way to ask politely. "Guess there's some things you've missed."
"Yeah. Hopefully, I'll get some time to actually check it out." Nebit laughed, though neither of the kids laughed. She sighed, rubbing at her eyes a bit. "Are you sure you want to do this again? I know that our job is mainly just hit him from far away until he's sealed again, but I don't think you can tank two hits from his sword. You shouldn't have even had to take one."
Karkat knew that her concern came from a good place, one out of worry that someone her daughters age was doing this, but he wasn't having it. He chose to do this; he wasn't going to back out now.
"I'll be fine. It's not the first hit I've taken from some creep in armor." Karkat shrugged. At least the fact Skulker was in Redglare's hands meant he wouldn't be dealing with said creep for a while now. "I'm pretty good at distractions, anyway. Aradia's pranked the whole school enough times that I've gotten it down to a routine."
"Well, hope you're a lot better at dodging then." Vriska cackled before flying a little ahead. "Let's see if that Black Knight rip-off will stay down long enough to..."
The rockstar ghost trailing off while bragging obviously set them off. The halfa and ghost moved forward to move next to her, finding themselves in the center of the factory, a wide-open space that reached wall to wall.
And Fright Knight was waiting for them.
All in attendance grabbed their weapons. Vriska was ready to signal everyone to move to their position while Nebit had her claws out. Karkat got his own sickles out but didn't raise them just yet. Fright Knight just stood there, sword tip touching the ground as he looked at him.
"...You were expecting us." Karkat didn't know why, but he felt like he should speak to him, but it felt appropriate to try. Maybe this could end bloodlessly. "Surprised you didn't just attack us before we got here."
"I was waiting to speak to you."
The voice caught them off guard, making them pause. The voice wasn't loud, but the gravel and the power coming from it pierced them. It sounded exactly like the voice of a man who could make armies bend to his will with not only confidence, but fear.
Karkat gulped before moving a little ahead, speaking slowly to not stutter. "What do you mean?"
"I've seen a million futures involving you." Fright Knight spoke with certainty, picking up his sword. He looked at the blade with faint curiosity, as if it were telling him something. "You will fight many different battles with many horrible foes. In most of those fights, I see you die like a dog. In some, you stand triumphant beyond all others. Some include me."
Karkat's interest was piqued, having so many more questions to ask. "And what does that tell you exactly?"
Fright Knight paused before raising the blade upwards, pointing it at the three of them. It glowed brightly before them, poised to attack.
"That I'm either the first step to your destiny," Fright Knight said finally, gravelly voice getting quieter. "Or your doom."
Karkat could hear Vriska hit her guitar hard, the signal loud enough for everyone to hear as the blast was let free from the blade.
"Jude, can we please go home. It's getting late."
Joey Claire didn't know why her brother wanted to visit an old factory late at night, but she was starting not to care. She just wished she could get back into her warm bed and enjoy the weekend tomorrow. But her brother, as per usual, decided to change those plans
"Negative. If we don't do this now, we might miss the cult meeting." Jude kept checking the battery life of his phone, making sure it would last. "I think they might move soon if I don't. Have to hurry up."
"It's not a cult, Jude, I'm pretty sure it's just seniors hanging out to drink or something." Joey rolled her eyes fondly, though with slight irritation. "Worst thing we're going to find is some people fooling around. We still have time to turn back before mom decides to come looking for us."
"She thinks we're at a friends house right now." Jude had that prepared just in case. At the look he received from his sister, he had a feeling she didn't approve of the lie. "I had to tell her something! Otherwise she wouldn't let us go."
"Yeah, because we're barely in high school and going out to an abandoned factory!" Joey sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her brother was going to get her into trouble, she swore on it. "Look, we can look at it over the weekend. At least then, there won't be any seniors to mess with us and we won't have to lie to mom."
They hadn't been far from the factory when she could hear a loud strum of a guitar. She felt validated at the sound, thinking that it proved her point.
"See? Just other teenagers messing around." Joey and Jude stopped, the sister crossing her arms smugly. "Now let's just head home before-"
The wall to the factory burst open, cutting off the girl mid-sentence. Dust came out in a large cloud and something flew near them, hitting the ground hard. Whatever it was still kept moving though, cursing up a storm.
"You alright kid?!"
The unfamiliar voice snapped Joey out of her shock, causing her to grab her brother's arm. The fact that the something responded, with an echoey voice no less, caused her heart to race.
"Yeah, I'm fine! Hurts like a bitch though!" The dust had settled, the thing revealing itself to be Karkat. Of course, Claire's didn't recognize him, only seeing a glowing, floating guy moving upwards and rubbing at his head. "Keep visual on Fright- oh shit."
Karkat noticed the kids, eyes going a little wide as he checked them over. The kids just gaped at him, shivering at the sight of red eyes with no pupils looking over them carefully.
"Shit. This looks bad. This looks really, really fucking bad." Karkat held his hands together, pointing at his mouth before pointing at them. "You're the Claire's kids, right?"
"Y-yeah." Jude nodded, taking pictures without realizing it. He watched the floating thing as he looked to side before tensing. "How do you our names?"
"Unimportant. You two need to get out of here right now." Karkat held his hands up before they could speak again. "Don't ask why, just run. There's something dangerous here that you don't need to see."
"What's dangerous?" Joey tried acting brave for her brother's sake but felt her voice shake. "Who even are you?"
"K- Phantom." The halfa cursed inwardly at the instinctive response before shooing them away. "Now please, hurry up and leave, otherwise..."
The rest of the sentence trailed off as Karkat noticed Fright Knight, thankfully still in shadow, started stepping out of the hole he made in the factory. He instinctively fired a shot at the knights' legs, causing him to stumble slightly.
Karkat, hand still alight with ecto-energy, turned towards the two kids again.
"Go."
The change in his voice caused the two to run, making him feel only slightly guilty for it. He focused his attention back on the knight, a sickle held tight as he swiped.
The amount of green energy that hit was more than he'd usually put in, making the knight block. He was hit in the back by some ice powers, keeping his feet to floor while Nebit appeared in front of him, kicking him hard in the stomach. It sent him back into the factory, crashed following him.
Karkat swooped back in, making it fast enough to Redglare fly above the prone Fright Knight, breathing fire. The knight got up quickly, pulling a shield out to block as he fired at the judge. The shots missed, causing debris to fall.
Wind started to pick up, causing the dust to swirl around him before he could fire more. The fire stopped, allowing the dust to cover the knights vision. Tavros's distraction allowed Karkat, followed by Nepeta and Aranea, to begin throwing shots at him unimpeded.
The shots themselves only did minor damage, some blocked while other hit. Fright Knight growled in frustration before swinging his sword upward, a wave hitting the ceiling. Part of it collapsed, causing everyone to scatter on instinct.
Everyone took a step back as Fright Knight turned, getting the scope on the situation. The only confirmation they had that the ritual was working was a faint golden glow was starting to form around his arms, inching farther up.
"Keep it up!" Karkat shouted, shooting ecto-energy out of his sickle again. "This'll be over before we know it!"
That was the wrong thing to say, as Fright Knight decided to go on the offensive again. Dashing forward, he sliced his sword at Karkat, making him focus on dodging. After several swipes, Fright Knight sent a kick to his stomach, sending him through another wall.
Karkat cursed loudly again, not liking this stupid goddamn trend. He heard another assault start up inside the factory again, though his attention was taken from that when he heard...
...Fuck, was that Sollux?
Karkat caught his friend's eyes, black and void of anything as he kept talking. Sollux's voice was seemingly layered with several others, each speaking the same words, but in different languages. It all came out garbled, though it kept in track with each line.
"And let the wicked come to rest once more, right hand of Lord English." Sollux didn't have an echo of emotion on his face. "Otherwise, the world be left to doom eternal if someone does not stop him."
His awe was interrupted as he felt the clanking footsteps of Fright Knight knocked him back to reality, forcing him to blast once again. While the ghost was able to fend off that one, the beam of ecto-energy that hit him right afterward sent him right back in.
Karkat caught one look at Aradia, who simply motioned for him to finish it off before getting back into position to protect Sollux. The halfa didn't take long to comply, if only nodding to thank her.
It looked like the glow wasn't only trapping Fright Knight but getting him weaker as time went on. Some of the blasts were knocking armor off of him, bit by bit, exposing pale flesh beneath it. Karkat noted that he wasn't attacking anymore, just focusing on staying alive long enough to escape.
With a growl, the halfa figured enough was enough. He flew forward, tackling him as hard as he could, getting his hand on the sword. Before the man could get back to his feet, Karkat made sure plunge the sword into his exposed shoulder.
Karkat could see purple suddenly flash in the ghost's eyes, almost making him feel remorse considering he had his own dose of this not that long ago. The man didn't so much as twitch, however, the swirling power only making him go still. The halfa almost thought he was double dead if it wasn't for the sealing spell going much quicker around his body.
"What do you fucking see, Fright Knight?" Karkat knew it was petty but fuck it. This was only fair. "Who gets the honor of killing you?"
For a brief moment, Karkat figured his taunting broke the spell as Fright Knights eyes calmed, looking into his. The gold shimmering took him over, head to toe as he said the last words.
"Only my king will."
An explosion of golden light forced Karkat back, sword and all, which he only barely corrected himself. Blinking, he saw a similar coffin to the one they found earlier, meaning that the spell worked.
He barely felt himself breathe as he heard some whooping and hollering. He felt a hand land on his back, almost causing him to stumble over.
"Jesus kid, and here I was doubting that this would work!" Nebit looked over the coffin, her daughters happily checking it out with her with loud laughter. "Took down a living legend today. Can't believe I got to be a part of it."
"We'll get the coffin into the Infinite Realms now. Can't spend much more time out here." Redglare took the sword from his grasp, carefully handling it. "Get your friend some rest too. Looks like he's going to need it."
Karkat dully looked over to see Sollux stumbling in, held by Aradia. Terezi went over, grabbing them both up and floating them upward. He could already see some of the ghosts going through the hole in the roof.
He started heading up to join them, though stopped when he came outside of it. The forest not far from the factory seemed to have some people in it.
He saw the people in robes again, wearing their signature colors. Red, Yellow, Blue, and Black were joined by more people this time, however. A pink one, a purple one, a green one, and light yellow one were with them this time, as if enjoying the show.
The bigger one, the one in gray, didn't seem to join them this time.
"Hey, Karkles, you coming?"
Terezi's voice made him look away, the draconic girl giving him a weird look. He looked back to find the robes gone, his chest feeling empty at their absence.
"Sorry. Spaced out." Karkat sighed, chalking this up to another weird thing he'd have to figure out later. "Let's head on home."
Maybe he really was going crazy.
Yeah, again, a lot of stuff to come. And it looks like Fright Knight already knows some of the things that might happen.
Hopefully you enjoyed the little 'cameos' the kids had. It won't be the only time you'll see them, but give it time. They'll come along eventually.
Anyway, I'll see you all next chapter and that you all have a nice day!