Mutated Ectoplasm

38. Doom and Gloom

"How long have you been standing there?" Tavros wasn't even surprised. He was honestly just tired at this point. "Could've just said hi. Or at least not do this."

"That's no fun." The ghost swung around in an animated fashion, flying backwards to the others. "Now, as much as I like having banter with you guys, we sadly don't have the time. If you'd all come with me in an orderly fashion..."

The group watched him "walk" towards the other two robed figures with a massive amount of confusion. They all, resigned, simply followed the guy until they eventually got close enough for the Light Robe to notice them.

"Ah, looks like you've all made it. I hope that your trip has been well." Light Hood responded, still making whatever it was that she was knitting. It looked like a plushie of a rabbit, honestly. "Dave, as you call him, made sure to message us where to go. We're surprised Bec brought you here without needing constant treats."

The adult ghost just nodded, not saying a word. Karkat could see a head of blonde hair on Light Hood and some elegant features, but he couldn't see anything from the adult ghost. Other than the glowing red eyes, he seemed to be completely featureless while the hood is up.

"Not like he can give us any puppy dog eyes for 'em, I guess." Vriska really didn't know what to do when dealing with someone that apparently wielded her Aspect. She could almost feel the disapproval coming from Light Robe. "What are you called, exactly?"

"Tragically, he hasn't given us a name yet." Breath Robe poked Karkat in the side, dramatically flying around with a hand on his forehead. "Oh, to go on living without a name. Such a tragedy has befallen us. We were supposed to be given them at thirteen, but..."

Karkat groaned, realizing every interaction with these guys was going to be like this. Maybe he should've let them introduce themselves.

"Stop whining. Your name is John Egbert now because of that." Karkat pointed to Light Robe with some amount of irritation. "Yours'll be Rose because you haven't done anything yet. And you..."

Karkat paused as he looked at the adult ghost. For some reason, one name came to mind, but he immediately squashed it before it could become a full thought. This made him draw a blank before he was able to recover.

"Signless. Your name is Signless." Karkat didn't know what else to add, just shrugging as he got some confused looks from his friends. "He's the only one treating this seriously, so he's the only one that gets a mysterious name."

"Oh, he takes everything seriously. He's been like that since we found him wandering around." Rose patted the man on the shoulder, who didn't seem to react much to the proceedings. "Of course, that makes him quite reliable, so I guess we can't really complain."

"Makes it really hard to prank him, though." John seemed oddly please at the exchange, seemingly smug. "So, why am I so special that I get a last name?"

"Because you're annoying." Karkat turned towards the others, giving them a long-suffering look. "See what I have to deal with. And you all thought I was crazy."

"We'll throw you part or something after all of this is over. Can we please get back to the matter at hand here?" Terezi pointed at Rose. She was a big fan of causing shenanigans but was starting to lose her patience. "You're going to lead us to the people who own the ring. We just want to return it and see what they can tell us about the theft."

"Preferably soon. We're kind of on a time limit here." Nepeta was referencing how Karkat couldn't stay in the Ghost Zone for too long without someone noticing he was missing. "We need to move the ring before someone else figures out we have it."