#ectoberhaunt prose

[ectoberhaunt]

From the audio logs of Tucker Foley

[A burst of static and the howls of the damned, as a familiar cackle rises to a peak.]

Technus: IT IS I, TECHNUS! MASTER OF ALL THINGS GROOVY AND FLEEK! AND I- WAIT. WHERE IS THE GHOST CHILD? IS HE NOT THE MASTER OF ECTOBERHAUNT?

Tucker: He's taking a break. And man, he deserves it. The last couple Ectoberhaunts were brutal on him.

See, the year before last, Danny got kidnapped by Nocturn and the Fright Knight. Something about how he has big fears and bigger dreams and more power than he knows what to do with and blah blah blah - anyways, they kidnapped some Amity Parkers and threatened their lives to make Danny cooperate with getting brainwashed, and it was all very ick. Definitely an ick.

We didn't know anything - even Clockwork couldn't see Danny. But we kept getting cryptic messages about these prompts we had to fill for a banishment ritual.

And Amity Parkers are awesome! The folks Nocturn and Fright Knight kidnapped had the power of math and stories and art on their side, and they used it to free Danny! And the rest of us completed the ritual and banished Nocturn and Fright Knight from Amity Park!

So, problem solved, right?

Nope! While Clockwork was searching for Danny, this weird clown Freakshow stole his staff. At the same time, the Observants confiscated Pandora's Box and buried it under red tape. Freakshow started leaving weird clues about where he was going, though, so Danny decided to follow those clues by road tripping it up with Clockwork and Pandora. You know, ancient powerful ghosts of Chaos and Order who were already stressed about their powers. Great idea, right?

Yeah. Well, it turns out Freakshow and the Observants were working together for power. At least, until Freakshow stole Pandora's Box and the Observants tried to cover up what they did.

I don't know what happened next - Danny doesn't talk about it. Pandora and Clockwork have their powerful artefacts, so I guess things turned out alright? But I think Freakshow did something.

Anyways, Danny's getting a well-deserved break.

Technus: SO WHO'S RUNNING THIS SHOW, THEN? THERE CAN'T BE AN ECTOBERHAUNT WITHOUT AN ECTOBERHAUNTER!!

Tucker: Sam and I are stepping in for him! We figure between the two of us, we can get this party started!

Technus: A COUPLE OF TINY HUMANS? RUNNING ECTOBERHAUNT? THIS EVENT NEEDS A GHOST RUNNING THE PROGRAM!!!

Tucker: No way, you are NOT taking over Ectoberhaunt while Danny's away - Sam already had this talk with Dora! We don't need more ghosts interfering!

Technus: WOW! YOU'RE JUST AS FULL OF IDEAS AS YOUR LITTLE HALF-GHOST FRIEND! I THINK I WILL TAKE OVER THIS EVENT - AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME!

Technus: NOW I JUST HAVE TO GO TALK TO THAT DRAGON LADY DORA - MAYBE SHE'LL WANT TO RUN THE SHOW WITH ME!!!

[Technus cackles again, and his cackles fade into a burst of static. The static fades.]

Tucker: Oh great…. Better call Sam.

[dp-marvel94]

Nightmare or Sweet Dream

Summary: “The GIW… the GIW said primate research.” Jack says quietly, too quietly “They didn’t… didn’t specify non-human primate.” The words fall heavy, sinking into Maddie’s heart like a knife. “It’s not a chimpanzee or rhesus monkey, is it?” For Ectober Day 24

Notes: Based on this post. @magicalmonsterhero submitted a post, asking about an au where Vlad‘s (and/or Danny’s) powers were not the result of a portal accident. I wrote a ficlet about "the happy version of Danny being an intentional experiment" but decided to make it into an actual story for Ectober 24, Prompt Nightmare/Sweet Dream 

Word count: 6,230

Also on A03 and Fanfiction.net

A young couple sits at their kitchen table, talking in hushed voices while their toddler daughter plays in the living room. 

“What are we going to do?” Maddie feels like crying, clutching the foreclosure notice in her hands. 

Her husband looks over at their little girl. He swallows. “We’ll...we’ll figure something out.”

The woman has rarely seen the man this somber, the distress barely below the surface. He’s trying to stay calm for her, for their child but…. Maddie knows he doesn’t believe it. She can feel it like the tiredness she’s felt in her bones for years, since both the best and the worst day of her life. She looks at the stack of medical bills and….

The blood. The doctor and nurses shouting. They’re pushing a crying Jack out of the room. And...where’s her baby girl?

It was a nightmare and this… This is a nightmare.

“We need a miracle.” Maddie says. And she doesn’t believe in miracles. But maybe... they can get regular jobs and save up money and…

The doorbell suddenly rings. Jack blinks, turning. “Who’s that?”

Maddie stands up, opening the door. And there are three men in white suits, standing across the threshold.

The woman gapes for a long moment before collecting her wits. After a flash of a badge, she invites the agents inside.

“Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. We have a proposition for you.” One of the agents offers. 

After briefly excusing herself to take Jazz upstairs for a nap, Maddie returns. The scientists and agents talk and… Maddie’s eyes bulge. “You’re offering… that much money?”

She hands the paper to Jack. “Holy-”

“Yes. If you’ll accept the project. As my colleague explained, the head scientist withdrew his team at the last minute. We need your expertise to salvage this research.”

Maddie raises an eyebrow. “Which is?” 

“Classified.” The agent clams up, lip pursed in a thin line.

The scientists look at each other. Jack frowns. “Classified? Agents, we can’t sign on unless we know what we’re doing.”

“World changing research is what you’ll be doing.” The man to the left, the senior agent, argues. He leans forward. “I’ll be straight with you. Years of research and millions of dollars already invested are at stake if we don’t act quickly. The previous team really did us a disservice by dropping the project like this. You will be more than well compensated for your contribution. You’ll be making giant leaps forward in understanding ghosts and in human health. But we need your answer.”

Jack and Maddie are unsure, a silent conversation passing between the two. They argue back and forth with the agents, pressing for more until…

The head agent removes his glasses. “Alright. I really should not be telling you this before you sign the NDAs but… this research… we’ve been trying to achieve the hybridization of ectoplasm with living cells in primates.”

Maddie blinks, shocked. “Ectoplasm with…”

The man nods. “Yes, the combination of living tissue and ghostly powers. A hybrid organic being that will be able to produce and regulate its own ectoplasm. We’ll be able to study ghosts and their abilities in ways we haven’t even dreamed of but…” He tapped the paper. “We need you to sign tonight.”

Jack and Maddie look at each other, another silent conversation. “Just...give us five minutes?” The man asks.

The couple debate. “We need the money.” Jack sighs, eyes wide and desperate.

“But they’re not telling us something.” Maddie frowns, pointing.”

“It’s because of the NDAs. Right?” Her husband rubs his head.  “And do you blame them? If what he said is true...this will change the world.”

For just a moment, Maddie is starry eyed. “And to be a part of that….” The doubts remain. “But…”

“We always wanted to change the world. And…” Jack glances to the door. “With the medical bills and the foreclosure...we need the money or we’ll be on the street.”

“No we-” Maddie’s heart twists as the words die on her tongue. She wants to deny it but... Jazz. They need to be practical. They need...they need this money. Something in her still says this is a bad idea. But the mother bits her lip. “For Jazz?”

“For Jazz.” Jack agrees.

The couple sign NDAs and accept the project. Late that night, the agents bring in the equipment and... 

“What is that?” Maddie points at a metal and glass chamber, the inside swirling with ectoplasm and water.

“An artificial womb.” Answers one of the agents.

Jack blinks, stunned. “An artificial womb?”

The head agent nods and Maddie frowns, asking. “And what’s it for exactly?”

“Your job…” The agents glances from the incubator. “is to take care of the specimen and ensure it survives until it’s viable outside of the artificial womb.”

“The…. specimen?” The male Fenton asks. “And… until it’s viable? How long is that?”

“How many weeks of gestation is it at now?” The other scientist asks.

The agent remains straight faced as he hands them thick folders of papers. “All the necessary information is here.” He pulls a card out of his pocket, placing it in the folder. “Contact the agency if you require anything else.”

Without answering any more questions, the agents leave. Maddie’s stomach flops, filled with dread. Something about that was-

“Will you look at that?” Jack cut off her thought.

The woman turned to see him peering into the incubator and pointing at something. Maddie leans closer, looking. “Is that...the embryo?”

“I think so.” He replies. “It’s tiny.”

The woman hums in agreement, observing. There, implanted to the back wall of the incubator, is a pea-sized mass. Maddie squints as she tries to make out details. She can barely see but it’s C shaped, with visible neural tube and little nobs that should develop into the limbs.

“I wonder what week it’s at?” Jack questions.

Maddie checks the research notes and she frowns. “Jack, a lot of this is blacked out.” There are huge blocks of text that are missing or have been crossed out. She flips a page. “Six weeks, I think.” Her husband nods. “It’s going to take a while to sort this out. There’s so much missing.”

Jack gives her an encouraging patt on the back. “We can do it. We’ve got this, Madds.”

Maddie isn’t so sure. It’s...odd, the lack of information. And why did the GIW pick them? They aren’t experts in fetal development. Then again… this seemed to be a last minute placement. And they could learn but still...

Jack and Maddie do their jobs, checking the vitals, the nutrients, the ectoplasm levels. The two scientists take a crash course in primate fetal development. They watch and the embryo grows. It really is fascinating to see up close, Maddie thinks. But still…. Weeks pass, a month. The embryo is at 10 weeks and it’s almost six times larger than when the GIW delivered it. The nobs have developed into small limbs, tiny...legs and arms. It has eyes now, though closed. There are nostrils. And growing dread pools in the scientist’s gut. In the past weeks, they’ve looked at hundreds of pictures of embryos and fetuses, both those of various primates and of humans. The notes never specify what kind of primate this is and there’s far more research into human fetal development than the other options. The fetus in the incubator looks…strangely familiar. But…the GIW did say primate research so this must be some kind of monkey, not.... That. It couldn’t be-

Maddie cuts off the thought before she can let it take hold. But still, a pebble of anxiety is rooted in her insides.

The mother goes back upstairs to feed her daughter lunch and play with her. Jazz is adorable, sitting in her high chair. She makes a mess eating her lunch and Maddie has to clean her off. After, Jazzy plays with her baby doll in the living room. She mutters babble to it and Maddie smiles. But… something in her starts to ache.

“Here comes the space ship.” Maddie coes. She’s sitting at the kitchen table, a little boy with black hair and blue eyes in the high chair beside her.

The boy opens his mouth, taking a bite. For just a moment, his face screws up with displeasure. Then he blinks. “More!” He sticks out little hands.

Maddie chuckles. “You like it, don’t you?”

The toddler waves his arms. “More!”

The mother oligies, offering another spoonful of cereal.

The little boy makes a happy squeal, joking at his tray in his excitement. The bowl spills, thick white cereal spilling on his shirt. He looks down. “Uh oh.”

Maddie wipes his shirt with a napkin. She lifts the half full bowl from the tray.

“Mommy!” The toddler let out a cry of protest.

The woman’s heart swells with love. “I’m not taking it away, Danny. I’m just going to hold it. See?” She moves the bowl up and down in the air. “Now open up.”

Danny opens his mouth and his mother feeds him another bite, just as a clock chimes behind her.

Maddie wakes up from the sweet dream with tears pooling in her eyes. She wipes them away and gets up to wake up Jazz.

Jack and Maddie go down to the lab again. More watching the specimen, more notetaking, more research. And the scientists are getting attached. They’re invested. Maddie had always had a habitat of talking aloud when working and she still does, now addressing the incubator when her husband isn’t present. Jack plays music and rambles. It’s lively and exciting, watching and learning. The subject seems to be growing properly and it appears to be accepting the ectoplasm. It glows faintly in the dark. The scans show a mass of ectoplasm, concentrated in the center of the chest. That dream… the hybridization of a living creature and ectoplasm might in fact come to fruition.

But still dread grows. The specimen is at 12 weeks, three months development and still growing. Its neck is clearly defined, small digits visible. And it’s hard to tell but…

“It’s male.” Maddie comments, after comparing the view to the naked eye with the magnified pictures they’d managed to take.

Jack looks as well, agreeing with the assessment. For some reason, the knowledge makes Maddie’s heart clinched. It’s male. A boy, part of her says.

“No you don’t, little mister.” Maddie tries to sound stern but she chuckles as she scoops up the still damp toddler trying to run past her. “We still have to put your pjs on, silly. Then a bedtime story.”

The little boy blinks. Then he asks. “Spaceship pjs?”

“Yes.” His mother nods. “Let’s put those on.”

The woman closes the door and puts the child down. She pulls his clothes out of the drawers. 

Danny holds up his hands. “By myself.” He demands.

Maddie obliges. Her son gets about halfway through before he needs help. The woman finishes adjusting the bedshirt. “There.” She picks him up. “Let’s go see Daddy and Jazzy.”

The fetus continues growing. And by the time the specimen is at 3 and half months gestation… the tiny fingers and toes, the shape of the head, that surprisingly human face…. it’s obviously-

No. It can’t be… it’s obviously a rhesus monkey or a chimpanzee. Not-Maddie pushes the thoughts away but at the same time…

Maddie is sitting on a park bench, watching two kids on the playground. Something purple and starry hovers at the edge of her version but she doesn’t worry about it.

“Danny! Wait up!” A six year old Jazz calls after her brother. She tries to pick him up to put him on the baby swing but can’t lift high enough. “Mommy!”

Maddie stands up, going to push both her kids on the swings.

Again, Maddie wakes to tears. But she pushes that pain away, faced with other things. As the weeks pass, the fetus grows, tiny hairs appearing on its head. The form is much more obvious. The dreams continue.

At the beach. There’s Danny, playing at the edge of the surf. Sometimes his hair is black and sometimes it’s white.

The dread and fear grow, with the attachment. And… Maddie and Jack do more research on fetal development. 

Maddie is walking a five year old Danny to the bus stop. She looks down and… her heart stops. Her son is gone. “Danny!” She calls.

“Mommy!”

She whips around. He’s running up to her. His eyes flash green.

Jack and Maddie compare notes, reading every textbook and article they can get their hands on. And….

Something’s floating in their backyard. White hair, black suit, shining like a star. Neon green energy wafts around the hands. The head tilts towards the starry sky.

Maddie...should be scared. She should be startled but… “Sweetie! It’s time for bed.” She calls.

The figure turns around. The neon green eyes fix on her and he’s grinning. The ghost...the boy lowers in the air, just inches above the ground. His hands glow blue for a moment and… there’s a rose, made of ice. He holds it out to her. 

“For me?” Maddie smiles.

The boy nods. The mother blinks and he has black hair and blue eyes. He stands on his tip toes to give her a kiss on the check. “Goodnight, Mom.”

Maddie gives her son a goodnight kiss in return. “Goodnight, Danny.”

Maddie wakes up, breath heaving and tears on her face again. Her heart aches, still filled with love and warmth as the face flashes in her mind again. That smiling face from all those dreams or… are they nightmares? They’re sweet, so sweet. And that boy... Maddie loves him so much. So much that it hurts to wake up. It must be a nightmare. She must be damned, cursed with visions of what can’t be. This, having another child, a son, will never happen. After almost dying giving birth to Jazz, she physically can’t get pregnant again. She can’t have a little boy of her own flesh and blood. She and Jack had wanted two kids. They’d talked about adoption but with how expensive and time consuming it is, with everything else happening in their lives, it's impossible.

Back to the lab, to the small ghost hybrid. Something is tickling in Maddie’s mind as she watches. The fetus is about the size of a pear. The small arms move, fingers brushing the face. The tiny mouth opens. The glow flickers brighter for just a second and there's a flash of neon green as the eyes blink. Maddie drops what she’s doing and practically runs up the stairs, feeling queasy with guilt.

“What is it, Madds?” Jack asks, from where he’s feeding Jazz.

The woman’s eyes land on her daughter and shame swells in her insides. “We can talk about it later.” She says, not wanting to upset the little girl.

The man doesn’t argue, even as his eyes flicker to the door of the lab. A meaningful look passes over his face and… Maddie is sure they’re thinking the same thing.

But still, she tries not to think about it, about the possibility. When Jazz is napping, she digs through the research notes. There must be something! Something to disprove this cursed thought but… nothing. Nothing! Nothing.

Maddie is shaking when she and Jack go down to the lab after putting Jazz to bed. Both scientists are silent for a long time. Both turn, studying the incubator and its occupant. Their eyes meet again and the woman suddenly feels like throwing up, sickened by the realization.

“The GIW… the GIW said primate research.” Jack says quietly, too quietly “They didn’t… didn’t specify non-human primate.” The words fall heavy, sinking into Maddie’s heart like a knife. “It’s not a chimpanzee or rhesus monkey, is it?”

Maddie covers her mouth. “It’s…it’s a human.” She can barely force out the words. “That’s a human fetus.” She leans forward, feeling nauseous. “A human-ghost hybrid. We’re...we’ve been growing a human-ghost hybrid in our lab!”

Maddie feels disgusted with herself and she can see it on Jack’s face; he feels the same.

“We should have seen this earlier.” Jack curses. “All that secrecy. The agents wouldn’t answer our questions.”

“All those gaps in the research notes. The huge wad of money they pushed on us, if we’d hurry up and make a decision.” The woman’s face is red, anger and guilt warring. “Those f-king NDAs!”

There’s anger and screaming. Disgust at themselves, at the GIW for doing this. But...

“It’s... part ghost.” Maddie paces, rationalizing. “Ghosts are monsters. They can’t...they can’t feel or rationalize. They’re...less than animals.” She argues, the words sounding false on her tongue.

“It’s part human too.” Jack argues pointedly. “And we don’t experiment on humans, Maddie!” He balls his fist. “It’s wrong. This is wrong! If it was actually an animal, then maybe but…. This is a human! You don’t experiment on human beings!”

The wind is knocked out of the woman. She agrees. She agrees completely. You don’t experiment on humans. Period. But… “It’s...not a human being.” Maddie’s voice wavers, feeling tears collecting. “It’s..it’s just a fetus.” She’s flailing, grasping for a rationale. For empty words to justify what they’d been doing. “It’s just a fetus.”

“For now.” The man points out sharply.

For now…. The tears spill. For now, it’s a fetus but… But… it will grow. And months from now, they’ll be a baby. A human, at least partly, baby and-

“We need to pull out. We can’t be a part of this.” Jack interrupts.

“They’ll just give the project to someone else.” Maddie mumbles, looking down.

“So what?! We do nothing! I can’t… I won’t keep doing this.” He’s angry, more determined than Maddie’s ever seen him.

“I know!” The other scientist blurts out, her own anger flickering. “I know that! I don’t want to be a part of this either. But we can’t…. we can’t…. just give him..” She swallows, stumbling over the slip up. “…it to some other scientists.”

Maddie can’t help remembering when she’d been four and a half months pregnant with Jazz. That’s when they’d gotten a sonogram and figured out they were having a little girl. She remembers Jazz as a newborn, all pink cheeks and grasping hands and screaming her little lungs out. And Maddie imagines a baby boy, with little tufts of black hair and blue eyes, crying on their lab tables. A little boy, poked and prodded by needles. In cages. Experimented on. A part human lab rat.

“That…that wouldn’t be a life for anyone.” Maddie chokes on the words. Her heart aches, torn between two images. A human child and the flickering, ethereal form of a ghost. “Not…not even something that’s half ghost.” 

“We could….” Jack’s voice is so quiet, so pained. “We could make sure it doesn’t…survive long enough for that.”

Maddie looks up, blinking in surprise before her mind catches up with the meaning. Then she understands and….the man’s thoughts are absolutely clear. And she hates them.

“We can stage… an accident.” The other scientist continues. “Tell the GIW the subject unfortunately didn’t survive.”

Maddie hates it. She hates it so much. “They’ll just try again.” She tries to argue.

“But not with us.” Jack’s face is hard and she knows he’s right. The GIW wouldn’t involve them again. They’d get someone else and she and Jack wouldn’t have to be a part of this. But-

“Okay. We’ll…we’ll do it.” Maddie abhors herself for saying the words.

Jack and Maddie plan in secret. They’ll cut the power to the incubator. All it will take is a few minutes and the fetus will die without oxygen being delivered to the living cells. They’ll lie, make up a story about the backup generator failing. 

But Maddie’s guilt is still overwhelming. Earlier, she’d thought that almost dying in childbirth, that almost losing the house, that dreaming of having another child when it was impossible was a nightmare. But this. This is a nightmare. She wishes the GIW had never contacted them, that she and Jack had never agreed to this project. She wishes...she wishes they were still working in ignorance. 

The room is dark. There’s a clock ticking somewhere. Something’s glowing in the corner of the cage. Maddie approaches. It’s a ghost, obviously. The figure is black and wispy, with the lower body curled into a tail.

The woman’s heart pounds in her chest. There’s…. a sound. She shivers. Someone’s crying. Another step and…

The white-haired head whips up, teary green boring into her from the face of a young teenager. 

“Please, let...let me go.” A male voice begs.

Maddie is frozen, fear, dread, and sorrow creating an ugly mix in her heart.

The ghost floats forward, gripping the bars. “Please. I didn’t… I didn’t do anything wrong. Just...just let me go.”

The scientist trembles. That face...that voice, she recognizes-

“Please.” Tears run down his face. “I just wanna go home. I wanna see my Mom and Dad. Please!”

Maddie wakes up still shaking. The guilt is eating her alive. They need… they need to put a stop to this. They will put a stop to this. Because she can’t..she can’t keep going. She can’t face the product of their science. She can’t face the possibility of subjecting a thinking and feeling being to a life of pain and experimentation. If something that’s part ghost can even live.

The woman studders. Is that even a question? And does… does it matter? If there’s even a chance that a ghostly hybrid can think and feel like a human, that they can grow and learn and love and-

The possibilities are driving her mad. But they have to do this. They have to! (But will this even do anything? The GIW will just try again. They’ll get their hybrid and she and Jack will have just stood by, knowing that they were experimenting on people. They’ll just stand by as a different fetus, a different baby, a different child is brought into the world, just to suffer).

Maddie sleeps again, this time with neither nightmares, nor sweet dreams. Instead, her heart is heavy, at war with itself. The guilt and the grief. The weight of what they’ve done and what they could do, of what is and what might be. 

Jack and Maddie send Jazz to daycare for the day and they go down to the lab. They stand in front of the incubator, going over the plan one last time. Tentatively, with shaking hands, Maddie grabs the plug to the artificial womb. With one pull, one yank, she will end this. One small motion and this will be over, before it really begins.

Almost without thinking, she turns to look one last time. The fetus is clearly visible, floating in the synthetic amniotic fluid-ectoplasm mix. Tiny legs kick. And Maddie’s mind flashes without her permission to Jazz’s sonogram pictures. Remembering the joy of feeling her little girl kick for the first time. In the incubator, just formed eyes drift open and…. they’re blue. A spark of ectoplasm flickers. And the eyes are green, an oh so familiar green and…

“I can’t… I can’t do this.” The plug drops out of Maddie’s trembling hands. “Jack. I…I can’t.”

There’s a pause. The woman can feel the man’s eyes on her. His gentle hand appears on her shoulder. “It’s alright, Mads. I’ll do it.” Jack bends, picking up the plug.

The other scientist’s eyes widen. “No! We can’t…we can’t do this!”

He looks at her, eyes sad and pitying. “We talked about this. We...we have to.”

Maddie shakes her head, tears welling. “No. We can’t...we can’t kill him.” Before she can even register, she confesses. “He can’t die. He can’t! I won’t kill him.”

“Maddie?”

She places her hand on the incubator. “I’ve been dreaming about him for weeks. He’s just a little boy. And we’re going to name him Danny. And he’ll have black hair and blue eyes but sometimes they’re green. And-”

“Madds, I don’t understand. What are you saying?”

Maddie is crying now. She doesn’t know what she’s saying either. She doesn’t understand. This is ridiculous. But- “Please. I… I can’t. I can’t lose him. I haven’t...I haven’t even held him yet.”

Jack looks gobsmacked and the woman feels that way too. Is she really saying this? And yet she is. She is and she means it. Every word and- 

She turns fully, putting both hands on the artificial womb. She looks, really looks and lets herself imagine. “I want him. I want him to be safe and healthy and happy. I want...I want him to be our little… our little boy, our baby.”

Maddie is crying and she can see it. Months from now. Holding a tiny pink, human-looking baby. His little fingers wrap around hers. She kisses his little nose and rocks him to sleep, just like she’d done with Jazz.

Jack grabs onto one of her arms and pulls her so she’ll look at him. “Maddie… what are you saying?”

She blinks back the tears, a determined look crossing her face. “I won’t kill him. And I won’t give him back to the GIW.”

His jaw drops. “We don’t have a choice here. They won’t let us keep him.”

Rage flashes in Maddie’s eyes as she grits her teeth. “I dare, I dare those f-king white suits to try and take away my baby!”

“Are you listening to yourself, woman?!” Jack puts up his hands.

The other scientist pokes him in the chest. “Are you listening to yourself?! You’re perfectly fine killing him! Or let’s just call the GIW and hand him over right now! Let’s just curse him to a life of torture and painful experiments and-”

“I’m not f-king okay with this!” Jack raises his voice. “I don’t want to do this! I don’t want to turn off that incubator. And I sure as hell don’t want to turn a baby over to the GIW so they can experiment on him! But we don’t have a choice! As soon as he can live outside that incubator, they’re going to take him away whether we like it or not. This is our only choice!” He grabs the plug again and...he’s crying too. “This is the only way. It’s...it’s this or… or a life of pain.”

The tears on her husband’s face finally snap Maddie out of her anger. She places her hands over his. “There has to be another way to stop this, a way to save him.”

“There isn’t.” His voice lowers, pained. “We can’t do anything and… they’ll never let us keep him.”

Maddie blinks, surprised. “Keep….”

Jack nods. He turns to the artificial womb, his face softening. “We’d wanted two kids. I’ve always wanted a son to take fishing. And….” He turns back to her. “Danny?”

“That's what I always call him, in my dreams. I...I don’t know how but.. It’s him. I keep dreaming about him.”

The other scientist’s brow furrows in thought. He pauses. “Black hair and blue eyes, you said? I think… I’ve dreamed about him too.”

Maddie’s mouth falls open. How? She wants to ask. But before she can, she blinks. And...they’re on the same page.

“So….” Jack turns back to the artificial womb. “We both want to keep him…” He sighs, the hopelessness audible in his voice. “What are we gonna do?”

 The woman swallows. “We won’t hand him over. We’ll...we’ll run.”

The man stiffens. “They’d find us and..we have Jazz. What kind of life would that be for them?”

“You’re right.” Maddie looks down, feeling ashamed for even thinking it. “We can’t...we can’t do that.”

Jack put his hand on his face, wiping away the tears. “How is this even happening? Oh god...I wish…I wish he was just a normal baby.” 

Maddie blinks and the world turns on its head. A sudden idea hits her. “What if….the GIW thinks he is?”

Jack’s eyes widen at the words. “What?”

“What if…they think he’s just a normal human?”

Her husband’s eyes widen even more. “Maddie….”

The woman starts pacing. “If the hybridization doesn’t work, if he’s just a normal human… we can convince them to let us keep him. This level of ecto contamination…. It’s never happened before. We can...we can use that. And…” She stops. “If they think that hybridization isn’t possible, then maybe they’ll stop. They won’t try again.” She hopes the words are true but she can’t dwell on the possibilities. Danny is who matters right now. “We can make this work. We can get them to let us keep him. It’ll… it’ll work.”

A little light enters Jack’s eyes; he seems encouraged by the words. “ But… how?” He asks tentatively.

“Here’s what we do…” Maddie starts, determined. Gradually, excitement and determination grow on Jack’s face as they discuss. They’ll make the GIW think the project failed. Through a combination of falsifying data and intentional sabotage, they’ll make sure the baby appears to be a completely normal human when he’s done.

Maddie goes to sleep that night feeling encouraged and excited. This will work. It has to work. It will.

“And what’s that constellation called?” Maddie asks, pointing at the starry sky.

“That’s Taurus, the bull. Did you know…” The woman looks down at a fourteen years old version of her son. Green stars glitter in his eyes and across his cheeks as he rambles.

The mother smiles, happy and heart full of love. There’s a clock ticking to the side and something glowing purple, curved like the horns of a ram.

“So you made your decision.” An ancient voice says, ringing like the great bells of a clocktower.

Maddie turns, startled. But she doesn’t speak.

“You still would have, without this push. But still…. This is the most favorable version of events.” The hooded figure continues.

“Why did you coerce me to help then?” Another being, stary and purple, grumbles.

The other figure doesn’t answer, still addressing Maddie. “You will not remember this when you wake up, not for many years. Until then, Madeline Fenton.”

In the morning, Maddie only remembers a dream of stargazing with her son. And it gives her the strength to enact their plan.

Jack and Maddie stage a malfunction with the ectoplasm circulation in the tube. They play at fixing it. Maddie’s body is tense with fear. What if it doesn’t work? And what if it does? What if the GIW realize what they are doing? But Jack and Maddie are determined. And they are careful, so careful. They contact the GIW and claim they are trying their best to fix the problem. But after the feed was cut off overnight, for twelve hours, the spectral energy in the fetus is already falling. It’s already dropped down to almost zero, the forming core unable to produce its own ectoplasm. At hearing this, the GIW are pissed. Jack and Maddie play at being apologetic and claim they’ll do everything they can to fix this.

The last few months pass. Danny grows, developing like normal. Jack and Maddie claim to be trying to reintroduce the ectoplasm but it won’t take. The fetus is rejecting it, each time the tiny heart threatening to stop. Hopefully the half-formed core will restart and it will be able to integrate the ectoplasm but it’s not working.

In truth, Jack and Maddie are watching and waiting with eager but nervous anticipation. There are many near catastrophes but they do in fact do everything they can to make sure Danny lives to see the outside of the incubator.

The mother put her hands on the glass. “Just a few more days, Danny. A few more days.” She hadn’t had any more dreams since the night she and Jack had made that decision but it doesn’t matter. A few more days and she’ll finally be able to hold her son.

The day arrives and the GIW agents and scientists are there when they take the boy out of the incubator. Jack washes him off, gentle but with a practiced neutral expression. Maddie has never had more struggle to act cold and professional in her whole life, as she takes a blood sample and her baby cries. 

She prepares a slide from the sample and looks at it under the microscope. “As we’ve said, there’s no signs of ectoplasm hybridization. Not even significant ecto-contamination.”

“Step aside.” The head agent demands. “I need to verify this.” He scowls and Maddie holds her breath, praying to a god she doesn’t believe in that he doesn’t find anything telling. The agent looks at the slide. He takes and prepares his own sample. He even scans Danny with his own ghost scanner. “You’re right.” He scowls. “The specimen is free of ectoplasmic contamination. Completely human.” He drops the scanner heavily. “What a waste! All that time and money!” He looks back at his fellow agents. “We need to discuss what to do with...this.” He turns up his nose at the sniffling baby.

The agents debate. “Waste of money. Take care of an infant, please.” A roll of the eyes.  “It’s illegal to experiment on a real human anyway.” “Let’s just destroy the records and get rid of the evidence.” Glances at Danny. “It doesn’t legally exist so….”

On the inside, Maddie is panicking but on the outside, she becomes the perfect image of a cold scientist. 

“Excuse me but, this is an extraordinary opportunity.” She argues. “This level of fetal ectoplasm exposure is unheard of. They need to collect data on this. This is a potential fountain of information on the effects  of long term exposure on the human body. There may never be an opportunity like this again.”

The agents look at each other. “She has a point.” One says.

The head agent rolls his eyes. “Maybe we can get something out of this, then.” The man tapped his chin. “We need scientists to carefully monitor this. We can’t just give this… subject to anyone.” He furrows his brow, turning to Jack and Maddie. “You’ve got a kid, right?”

The scientists both blink, surprised. “Well...yes.” Maddie answers.

“Congrats. You’ve got another one.” The agent says casually. “This is your problem now.” He motions to the baby. 

Jack and Maddie look at each other, still flabbergasted for a moment. And then… Maddie sees her husband’s expression shift. It’s not obvious on his face but he’s never been more relieved. 

The head agent is still talking, barely looking their way as he types on his phone. “We’ll arrange for a birth certificate to be assigned. And...a small stipend.” He looks up, giving them pointed glares. “You will say nothing and we’ll pay you to report any physical or mental deformities that develop.” He turns back to the phone. “This’ll end up being cheaper than holding that thing at the facility at least.”

The two scientists don’t argue and they don’t pretend to argue. Though Maddie’s stomach does flop. Deformities…. She hadn’t even thought about that. Jack glances at her. He takes her hand and Maddie knows it will be okay. If something happens, if Danny isn’t healthy, they’ll deal with it. And either way...he’ll still be perfect.

When the GIW finally take their equipment and leave, Jack and Maddie finally cry with relief. 

“Shh. Shh. It’s okay. Mommy’s here.” Maddie picks up Danny.

Jack stands beside her, one arm around her back. “We did it.” He says, awed. He gently reaches to touch the baby. Tiny fingers wrap around his pink. The man beams down. “Already got a strong grip, don’t you son?”

Son. The words warms Maddie’s heart, making her spirit sing. So. This is their son. Not their flesh and blood. But still their, always theirs. 

“You’re safe.” Maddie kisses the top of his head. “You’re safe, Danny.” The woman lets out a sigh of relief. They did the impossible, saving him from an agonizing fate as nothing more than an experiment, as a lab rat.  

“And we'll make sure you stay that way.” Jack vows. 

And Maddie agrees. They’ll do whatever they have to to keep it that way, to keep their boy free and safe.

“Come, Madds.” The man interrupts. “We need to introduce Jazz to her new baby brother.” Still being held by their mother, Jazz meets Danny and she instantly adores him. Maddie’s heart swells with love. 

Weeks become months become years. And Jack and Maddie both watch Danny grow into that little black haired boy that Maddie had dreamed about. And he’s surprisingly normal, completely human. His parents don’t tell him the truth, don’t even tell him he’s adopted. And they’re all so happy. Danny is happy and normal, a bright boy who loves life.

Years pass and Jack and Maddie keep working on their ghost research and raising their kids. Jazz is 16 and Danny is 14 when they successfully open their ghost portals and ghosts start invading the town. But still, Jack and Maddie are happy. They can almost forget where Danny came from.

Until when the mayor’s kidnapped, Maddie sees Phantom face to face for the first time.

[another-shameless-fangirl]

Insomnia

3 months of sleep trouble. Technically speaking, that was the minimum amount of time before Danny could call what he had insomnia and not brush it off.

It came in spurts at first. Danny wasn't able to sleep after nights of fighting and patrolling, adrenaline coursed through him and didn't seem to leave even after it should have worn off.

When he could sleep, he woke suddenly and often wide awake and would stay awake even if it was still dark.

Why did he wake up? Was he seeing things? Was it the fight response he was growing?

Every now and again he could swear he heard screaming downstairs but no one was ever there when he went to check.

Other times the moon shined through his window so brightly like a beam from a search light and he couldn't get his eyes to see anything but washed-out white until he sat up and moved away from the light.

He hadn't slept a full night for a very long time, but Danny wasn't worried about it. In fact, he embraced it.

He could have been worried, but aside from the mental fatigue his body felt fine. He could move quickly, was strong during battle, and the headaches he used to get from staying up all night started to not bother him at all.

Dark bags started appearing under his eyes but Jazz understood that questions about them would only lead to suspicion and showed him how to use some make-up. No one ever called him out on what she thought was the occasional all-nighter.

Sometimes Sam or Tucker would call during the night and Danny would surprise them by answering the first ring. It was good he was able to do that, they only called after 11 for emergencies.

Danny started sneaking out and staying on patrol at night. After his curfew was called he would return home, make a show in front of his parents of going upstairs and locking his door for bed, then flying right back out the window.

He really didn't need to sleep. His body didn't suffer for it and his mind was growing used to it. He didn't require sleep to hunt ghosts.

When dawn broke, he flew back home, transformed back into his human form, and went downstairs for breakfast. He didn't even really have to change. Technically he wasn't wearing those clothes all night. Danny didn't really sweat anymore either. His clothes didn't smell or really have much of anything happen to them since he went to school then went home or to his friend's house.

He didn't even really spill food on them. His appetite had waned over the last few months, even chips and burgers didn't appeal to him. He only really ate at dinner on Sunday nights when his parents required a family meal and Mom's meatloaf tasted more like ash than usual.

Danny's thoughts were more focused now with the insomnia. He could get through the school day, turn back into Phantom and fly around finding ghosts and other trouble so much easier than he did before.

His ghost sense was more attuned to hunting down threats in his territory. He could tell if a natural portal appeared even on the outskirts of Amity Park. When the portal downstairs opened, his body often moved before his mind could catch up and he would snarl and shove the offender back into the zone before locking it tight.

His powers responded better to his call able to fly smoother, aim and shoot further and faster, instinctively. He felt a peace he hadn't felt before, a calm.

Human crime was down too, especially as Phantom's skin started turning blue and the whites of his eyes faded to a cold gray. It was actually pretty cool looking distinctly different form his evil future self.

Ghosts feared Phantom, humans feared the ghost boy, Danny's nights slowly became less eventful and there was a comfort in that.

Danny was an efficient protector. When his senses didn't alert him to trouble he made sure to study his books and his grades actually improved. It was funny how sometimes when Tucker and Sam struggled behind him, they would ask how he managed to keep up with it all and he got sympathy when he told them he hadn't slept.

They always thought he meant the night before and he never corrected them.

His friends suffered when they didn't sleep and he started to do their homework for them in his free time or offer what he did to them to copy. They were grateful if not a little wary, and worried when he didn't have the make-up on quite right and they could see his face.

He started using more, buying enough make-up to mock a healthy skin tone and cover his face where his skin had started to gray and his cheek bones stuck out gaunt and telling.

He started to grow fangs. Sometimes they stayed in Fenton's mouth when he transformed back until he forced them to recede into his gums. Eventually they stopped going away but no one could see them so it didn't really matter. He made sure not to tell anyone either, they would only worry.

He wasn't sick, he would feel it if he was. He was still strong enough to pass gym class, easier than he used to even. Danny felt as strong as Fenton as he did as Phantom and he liked it. The transition between his ghostly form and human form felt less dramatic. He didn't feel as cold when he turned into Phantom, or maybe Fenton was starting to get colder as time went on.

He wasn't stupid, he had his theories as to why this was happening but at the end of the day, it didn't affect his ghost hunting.

Actually it did, it made him stronger.

What was a little lost sleep if staying awake meant he could keep his city safe?

If this was what 3 months of insomnia did to him, he knew that the future would only be better. Ectober Haunt Day 25- Headstone

Ectober Haunt Day 31-Insomnia Related- Corruption

[itaofmisfortune]

Day 2: Scream vs Laugh

[archaeopter-ace]

Ectober Day 8 - Splatter

Word Count: 300 Characters: Fenton Family content warning: food

“Danny-boy! You’re just in time for pancakes!” His dad gestured expansively with his spatula, and batter splattered on the counter.

Danny blinked. “What’s the occasion?” He slid uncertainly into a seat at the table between his mom and Jazz, a little unnerved by the change in routine.

His dad turned back to the stove. “No occasion. Just been a while since we had a sit-down breakfast together, so I thought, why not!”

“Oh. Cool.” It had been a while, he supposed. Usually he was so sleep-deprived from ghost fights, he had to rush out the door in the mornings. And on weekends like today, he typically slept in late, and by the time he came downstairs his parents were already working in the lab.

“Here you go!” A heaping pile of pancakes were dropped in front of them.

“Thanks, Jack – I mean, Dad!” Danny cringed. Usually he slipped up as Phantom. This was the first time he’d slipped up as Fenton. Maybe his dad wouldn’t notice?

The silence was tense. Jazz was giving him a Look, it felt like it was judging him, but he was probably projecting.

His mom had definitely noticed. He fought the urge to turn invisible.

“Danny. Is there something you want to tell us? Did your father do something to upset you?”

“I’m fine, it’s fine, everything’s fine.” He started shoving pancake in his mouth.  He wished it were true (but not out loud. Why was it that he had enough control over his words to completely cut out ‘I wish’ from his vocabulary, but he couldn’t manage to address his dad correctly?) (he did not want to examine too closely when, exactly, had his default address for his dad changed to ‘Jack.’)

Why was everything in his life such a mess?

[ectoberhaunt]

How they'll fare?

All's fare in war and love

Or was it fair back there?

Maybe it is

Fair enough

Too bad I don't have a banishing rite

So I'll be just rite here, enjoying these stories

The void could use some dark for our visitors to play (:

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Danny Phantom Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Jack O' Lantern/Bloody Mary Characters: Sarah the Manager/Cashier OC, Lisa the Waitress OC, Jack O' Lantern - Character, Bloody Mary, Ghost Carved Turnip OC, Ghost Skull OC, Danny Phantom - Character, Fright Knight (Danny Phantom), (both only mentioned) Additional Tags: Blood, mention of poison, Blood Blossoms (Danny Phantom), Murder plotting, A Calm Quiet dinner!, Date Night, Always leave a tip to your waiter/tress, even if you're a ghost!, I cackled maniacally here, Ectober 2021 (Danny Phantom), Ectober Month 2021, Ectoberhaunt 2021, Ectoberhaunt Treat, Ectoberhaunt Trick Series: Part 18 of Eenie mini Tiny moe, Part 17 of Ectoberhaunt's Domestic Phantoms Summary:

When Phantom asked Sarah, the manager of one of Amity restaurants, to host a private dinner date for two ghosts (after reassuring her that they would be well behaved), she didn't think much of it. After all Phantom himself was a regular at their takeaway option. But on the Eve of Halloween, what do these spectral guests have in store...?

Sequel of Halloween Special

Gun the First: the actual @ectoberhaunt submission.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Danny Phantom Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Danny Fenton & Tucker Foley & Sam Manson, Danny Fenton & Jazz Fenton, Danny Fenton & Valerie Gray Characters: Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Jazz Fenton, Valerie Gray, Jack O' Lantern - Character, Slender Man, (mentioned) Additional Tags: Stories in the dark, salt circle, Candles, obscure rituals, 5 stories collection, Mention of Slender Man, which of course is one of the stories, Horror, Ghost Stories, mention of vampires, Summoning Circles, but only Sam knows about it, the others are there just for the fun of it, Prequel of Ectoberhaunt Day 16 Series: Part 9 of Haunted Drabbles Summary:

Five scary stories in the dark, five candles blown off and a wandering spirit seeking recognition. Or: Team Phantom & Valerie bond during Halloween night.

Prequel to 𝕰𝖈𝖙𝖔𝖇𝖊𝖗𝖍𝖆𝖚𝖓𝖙 𝕯𝖆𝖞 𝖘𝖎𝖝𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓

Gun the Second: (reposting of) the origin story of the Banishing Rite.

Let's see how you'll fare after this... ꒰(@｀꒳´)꒱

[dp-marvel94]

Mutant: Ectober Day 3

So I wasn't originally planning on writing anything for Ectober but last night @typo-art posted their art for day 3 with this caption: Okay, but what if Danny learned about duplication the hard way instead of through Vlad. 

So now I have an idea and I have to write it. Also see @friendly-neighborhood-imbecille 's art for day 3, which I saw after I started this but definitely drew from. Warning for intense body horror.

@ectoberhaunt

For Ectober Day 3: Mutant

Danny had had headaches before but never like this. The pain drilled through his brain. There was a pressure inside his skull… it was building. Not just behind his eyes or his forehead but all around. It was building, growing, magnifying. The boy leaned forward, nauseous from the pain. 

Tears pooled on his eyes. He really should call his friends or his sister. Something…. Something was wrong but… Danny let out a muffled cry as there was another spike. His ears rang. His vision blurred. He couldn’t focus. He couldn’t see. The boy let out another cry. His head felt like an egg about to crack.

Still sitting on his bed, Danny leaned more as the pain spread. It radiated down, his muscles locking but even as he shook. There was… the pressure. The pressure. Like something inside of him pressing out, desperate to break out of his skin. 

Another spike and …. Danny fell off the bed. He curled in on himself, his spasming hands moving to cradle his head.

“P..please..st…stopp.” He begged.

His core ached. It vibrated. It pulsed in time with every surge of pain. And Danny could feel its energy. The ectoplasm swirled through his veins, reaching out to inhabit the tips of his fingers, the bottom of his feet, the top of his head.

White light sparked along his middle and the pain crescendoed. His heart beat loudly in his ears, the pressure building and….oh god, he was going to burst. He was going to fracture. He was going to split apart. He was-

The light spread and Danny changed. The boy fought to grasp as he transformed into his ghost form. 

The pain crashed into his crown, hammering, cleaving. Danny choked on a scream. There was a tugging feeling, a pulling like someone yanking on his hair, his ears, his scalp. Oh god. His head was splitting. It was splitting and his brain was gonna spill out on the floor, scrabbled like eggs and-

Wait. Danny blinked. It… it didn’t hurt anymore. His head didn’t hurt anymore. For a moment, he felt like crying in blessed relief but… there was something…

The boy blinked. And he blinked again, trying to clear his vision. But… he frowned. Something looked wrong. It was like… when he’d wake up in the morning, too exhausted for his eyes to even focus. His vision was doubled or… more? 

Danny shakily tried to push himself to stand. He settled onto his feet, vision still unclear. He tried to close one eye but he was still seeing multiple. And… there was something strange at the edge of his vision. Out the corner of his left eye? Or his right eye? The boy shook his head, finally closing two eyes. But… he could still see? 

Briefly, the half ghost pushed the confusion away at another spike of pain, this time in his right hand. Danny gasped, the sound echoing oddly, as he clutched the appendage in his other hand. He held both hands in front of his face.

Danny’s eyes widened in silent horror as his right hand writhed and throbbed. His skin stretched and… oh g- he watched as his thumb widened. There was a tugging sensation and the digit split. Two thumbs… he had two thumbs on his right hand.

Pain! He felt like throwing up. His flesh writhed, pulling away from itself as more fingers grew and divided. And… there were two hands, attached to each other at the wrist. 

Danny wanted to scream but no air would enter his lungs. The mutant growth continued, his muscle and skin pulling, growing, separating. Down his wrist, his forearm, to his elbow. The two partial limbs hung from the joint. Numbly, the boy tried to wiggle the fingers and… he flinched as both hands responded, perfectly in sync.

His horror magnified. His upper arm started tugging as well, the flesh peeling away from itself as it grew and separated into two complete arms at the shoulder. And the mutating didn’t stop.

A pain started in Danny’s skull again, something pressing on the side of his head, on both sides. His vision grew wider and wider, his eyes becoming further apart. There was a tugging over his cheek, his chin, his neck. There was a snap and… something was brushing his ear. His ear was brushing something. Danny tried to turn his head to look but something was squished against his cheek. He thought he caught a glimpse: pale blue, snowy white, and neon green.

Danny’s mind was blank, unable to put together what he was seeing.

But then the pulling feeling attacked his chest. Danny looked down and his lungs spasmed in panic. His chest, his chest was splitting as well, growing wider and wider. His shoulders popped longer and longer. With an agonizing crunch, the pulling in his neck drove all the way down to where it met his shoulders. 

And he was still growing. His chest stretched farther and farther as his arms at the end of either shoulder became even farther apart. Finally, finally, Danny could turn his head.

And he wanted to… he wanted to scream. But he couldn’t, not with the horrifying changes overtaking his torso. But… he had two heads. Two heads with two necks jutting out of his monstrously wide chest. 

His shoulders kept elongating. He must be… he must be twice as wide as he was before. There was a crunch and… Both heads, noses scrunching in pain, turned to watch as a depression grew between them. The flesh writhed and separated and… that was another shoulder. A third and fourth shoulder. 

And.. oh god. How was he still conscious? How was he still aware as his body was warped and mutated and violated? 

But still… now his stomach, down to his hips, were widening as well. His torso swelled and the depression of the growing shoulders became deeper. His newly grown arm shifted. His body rippled and flexed until that set of shoulders, the one of the right, had two arms. And on the left side, there was a stump but not for long. It grew, stretching downwards. Pain radiated up the limb, from the forming elbow, the forearm, the hand. The fingers grew and separated and…

The depression down what had once been his monstrous chest dug deeper, sinking to below his sternum. And farther. His pelvis stretched, crunching and popping wider. 

And Danny…he…they were blind with panic, silent with fear, thoughts numb with pain. They… he were two heads, two sets of shoulders, two pairs of arms on two chest, connected by one widened set of hips. 

And it was still widening. His… their pelvis was growing, bigger and bigger, wider and wider as the depression sank to their navel. Their legs were growing too, stretching wider and wider, thicker and thicker. The thighs, the knees, the base of the legs, the feet. The flesh stretched and swelled and enlarged as they grew. The limbs shook, throbbing with pain, aching to separate. 

And they did. The massive legs tugged and pulled and split, from the top of the thigh downward. Each divided into two pairs. Two pairs of wobbly legs, under a truly monstrous, inhumanly wide pelvis. 

Two sets of lungs, two mouths wanted to scream. Two stomachs wanted to upheave. But they couldn’t. He couldn’t. One more jolt as their pelvis grew to its final width. One more excruciating tug on the lower body. And the two bodies finally pulled apart. They split. They separated completely. That once was one became two.

Both Dannys were thrown away from each other. And both finally screamed.

[ectoberhaunt]

I know there are some clues you guys are helping me with this year to defeat Freakshow, but I got the feeling you guys have an appetite for dishing out morbid responses.

Not that I'm salty with your (s)knack for torture or anything, even if it's stew much sometimes, but here are some coping memes and buns to include in your menu, in case you relish these corny jokes.

With loaf,

Danny

Bonus:

[ectoberhaunt]

Huh…

Something’s…

d̶̡͇̈́̓͛͋ͅ ̵̧̡̐̃ĭ̵͙̈́̊ ̶̝̤͚̣͔͐͊̍̕f̵̥̦̠̐̂͐ ̴̗̞̒̒͗̈́f̴̨̺̺̟̖̽̂̎̔ ̸̢̍͑̽̋̚ȩ̶̹̥͚̈́̽̓̈͋̓ ̸̣͔̮̯͑̽ŗ̶̡͉̤̠͊͑͂̚͜ ̵͈̳͚͚̓͑͗͒e̵̩̱̬͗̿̍̇̊͜ ̷̝̖̟̅͆n̷̞̦̳̦̝̒̓͛̀̀̎ͅ ̸̪̘͍̊̈́̽̑t̷̬͍͚͑͂̿͘

A Story About a Pumpkin

Read for Ectoberhaunt plot goodies. <3

Warnings: unreality, void Danny, bodysnatching

.

There was a student here.

She was having a hard time keeping everything straight since she came here - there were too many ideas! Too many stories! It was distracting.

But there was a student. And if there was a student, that student was there to be taught.

She was a teacher.

She folded her hands, trying not to pick at her skin. There was a habit that carried over even into dreams.

There was a knock. Shuddering. Her pencil almost rolled off her desk.

Dreams. Yes. She was dreaming. Probably. She’d dreamed about making poetry. It had been a while since she really played with that. The things she could try now that she had the time.

But, first, a student. The student had been here… for a while, she thought. They’d played some word games, always a good exercise. Maybe that’s where the poetry had come from?

“What would you like to do next?” she asked the student. Perhaps, something about science. She felt like science would not work properly here, but this seemed to all be about things she liked, and she liked science.

Why wouldn’t science work here?

A knock. Like someone trying to get in.

A ball of light drifted by her, a little will-o-the-wisp. “Ignis fatuus,” she said. “Most likely caused by oxidization of various swamp gases. Oxidization, in this case, basically being another term for being on fire. They were also called will-o-the-wisps. You know, I think they were also called jack-o-lanterns at some point.” She frowned. “Did I say that already? Or did… Did I make you say that?” she asked the student. “Something about… rites?”

She traced a shape on the surface of her desk. Why would she be here, if science didn’t work? Not that the generally accepted laws of physics worked right in Amity Park, but science itself still worked. Otherwise she would have left with most of the rest of the middle school teachers.

Because of the ghosts.

Right.

Rite.

Words floated by, threatening to distract her. But she had a student. She turned to him. To Phantom, watching her with eyes that weren’t eyes.

Phantom. Rites.

Phantom was- Phantom was-

Phantom was a student. Except he wasn’t.

This was… Something was very wrong here. Because she was dreaming.

Except she wasn’t.

A knock. Louder. Like brass knuckles and screaming, broken math.

She caught and held the moment of lucidity. She’d never been good at this, in dreams, and the last time she’d been allowed this, it had been a trick of Nocturne’s.

“What would you like to learn about?” she asked Phantom again. She couldn’t let him know she was awake. Or, rather, as awake as she could get here. The pages of her last story crinkled under her fingers as her grip tightened.

Besides, Phantom was her student. For now.

He didn’t answer. Was he even here, or just another figment of this place. What she wrote, the stories she told… She fell into them, the books inside her dreams. Dreams within dreams within dreams.

But there was a way out. There was always a way out in her stories.

What were the rites? More importantly, what did she remember about Nocturne and Fright Knight? What were their weaknesses? She might not be able to get out on her own, but maybe she could help the others. If she could find something.

The Fentons had published something… Weaknesses… Banishing Fright Knight...

“Pumpkins,” she said. “Let’s learn about pumpkins today.” She stood up, and walked among the bookshelves, wading through water. Right. There were rivers here. “Botany isn’t my specialty,” she said. “But I know a bit.” She pulled down a book. The pages were blank, because she hadn’t filled them yet. “They’re gourds, native to the Americas. Central America, specifically, I believe.” She drew her finger down over the page. “Did you know, there’s a boat race where the boats are all made of giant pumpkins?”

Phantom didn’t answer.

The words were pulling close.

“Pumpkins,” she repeated. “Mostly used in cooking. But also decoration. The flowers are pretty, too, but they don’t last long. They’ve got both male and female flowers. They kind of look like zucchini flowers… And plants. I think they must be related. Vine fruits. Same family?” She sighed. It was hard to make a lesson plan without an internet connection. “But I think you’d be most interested in the folklore of pumpkins. Did you know, they weren’t the first vegetable to be made into jack-o-lanterns? Originally, they used turnips.”

Phantom tilted his head. She took a deep breath. That was as much of an invitation as she was going to get.

.

Once upon a time there were two boys. One was named Jack. The other was named Vlad. They were the best of friends and loved Halloween more than anything.

Except for one thing.

Her name was Madeline, and she loved Halloween, too. She was bright, and beautiful, and brilliant at everything she did, though it was sometimes hard for others to see it. There was passion behind her words and actions, and she threw herself into things with her whole heart.

And she loved Halloween. Even in the Summer. Even in the Spring. Even in the Winter.

She also cared for Jack and Vlad greatly, for they were her friends, too. Three outcasts together, looked down on by the town for their out of season celebrations.

Yes, there was a town. There were townsfolk, too. Who else would hold the pitchforks?

Then Madeline decided. This year, this Halloween, they would show all those townsfolk. This year, they would win the pumpkin-carving championship. Not only that, they would catch a spirit inside it.

To do that, though, they would need the best and biggest pumpkin they could find. So, while Madeline sharpened her knives and scalpels, they went out to the fields. She told them not to go too far, not to climb the tallest hill, because surely misfortune would happen upon them.

The bigger, stronger boys kept them away from the nearer ones, so they had to go out to the hills near the woods.

Yes, there was a woods, and things that lived and died within it. Where else would spirits come from? What else would the townsfolk fear?

There, at the top of the tallest hill, they saw it. The pumpkin. The grandest, hugest, pumpkin they had ever seen.

But first, they had to get there.

The hill was tall and steep, its sides more like cliffs than anything else. Thus, it was perilous. A fitting quest to win the hand of the Maid Madeline.

But only one of them thought of it this way.

As much as Vlad loved his friend, he knew only one could stand next to Madeline in the end, and in his mind it was right that it would be him, not Jack. He was the cleverer of the two. The wiser. The nimbler. Without Vlad’s guidance, Jack would be nothing more than a bumbling fool, all on his lonesome.

So, he turned to his friend, and said, “You are too large and clumsy to climb the hill. Let me do it and I will lower the pumpkin down to you, and we will tell Madeline how it happened.”

Jack smiled, not knowing his friend’s thoughts.

And up the hill went Vlad, all the way to the top. Then he looked down the other side, into the woods. A light burned there, in the darkness, and he leaned forward to see it.

Jack, down below, did not, and on seeing Vlad reach the pumpkin, he cheered. Vlad startled and fell. Down, down, into the dark of the woods.

Jack, down below, did not see this. So he waited. And he waited. And he waited. But his friend did not lower the pumpkin down, and Jack could not go up. His much cleverer, wiser friend had said so. The only conclusion he could make was that Vlad had decided to leave without him.

So, Jack left, looking for any pumpkin, even a small one, he could bring to Madeline, because he could not stand to return empty-handed.

And Vlad was in the woods.

Vlad was in the woods, in the dark, and there was a light, and the light asked him, “What brings a boy like you into these woods?”

“I am looking for a pumpkin so I can win the pumpkin carving contest with my friends,” said Vlad.

“A pumpkin carving contest, you say?”

“And also, to trap a spirit.”

“Oh, a very tricky thing indeed, young man. Let me strike you a deal. I will give you a pumpkin that will do one and only one of those things.” The light illuminated the most perfect pumpkin Vlad had ever seen. “In exchange, I will take what you leave behind, and on the morrow, a lantern.”

“Anything I leave behind?”

“Anything at all.”

Vlad thought this a fair deal, and left his vine clippers on the ground. He could very well say he lost them in his fall, if anyone asked.

He went home, then, back to town, though it was hard to carry the pumpkin without Jack’s help. After a long a grueling hike, he stopped in front of the windows of Madeline’s home, and through them he saw her and Jack laboring over a small pumpkin. Together. Just the two of them.

Vlad was seized with a sense of rage. How could Jack betray him so? How could he leave Vlad behind?

Vlad stomped away, taking the pumpkin back to his own home and carving it himself. It was beautiful and perfect, and he knew it would win. It would show them. It would bring Maddie to his side.

And Vlad did win. But it only left a hollow feeling inside him. A hollow feeling… and then he was inside the pumpkin, and his own face was leering at him from outside.

“One thing, I said,” his own voice spoke. “One thing. Either you should win the contest with your friends, or the pumpkin should trap a spirit. That spirit being yours. And now I have taken what you have left behind, and you shall be my lantern.”

And then the thing wearing Vlad’s face left the town and returned to the woods, where no one dares to go, even wielding pitchforks and fire. Neither Vlad nor the creature who took him were ever seen again, but some say that they can see a light moving within the woods, luring unwary travelers closer.

And Jack and Madeline still leave out a jack-o-lantern every night, for hope that, one day, the creature might return, and that they might trick it into giving up their friend.

.

“And,” she said, wincing at the proliferation of leading ands in her current writing, “the first jack-o-lantern they carved is here. Right now. With us. In my hands.”

And the book melted into yellow-orange light, stark against the purple-red-blue-black surroundings of the room that was her paradise and prison. It deformed like clay in her hands, and reformed into the firm, curved sides of a gourd.

A pumpkin.

A jack-o-lantern.

She felt her dreams clawing at her again, the waters of the rivers getting higher. The wisps spun around her, hypnotizing.

If this was all she could do, let this be enough. But if there was more…

She closed her eyes, shutting the dream out. She could hear the walls come crumbling down. She just had to wait a little longer.

[ectoberhaunt]

The sun is still out, but I'm so worn out. Maybe I should take a nap? Unless...

No, I shouldn't worry about that. I'm going to go take a walk. Settle my thoughts.

You can't help anyone if you're not well yourself!

Hey, where did all these 🌟 stars 🌟 come from?

Phantom, is that you?

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Rivers before...]

Twin green lights greeted the new guest, like lanterns that lit up the foggy night, casting all attention away from the uncertainty of the murky waters up ahead. It drew the visitor to its source, like Icarus ignoring all signs of imminent danger before getting too close to being burnt.

“Phantom?” the new voice calls again.

The sound of their friendly concern made the ghost perk up. The warmth of the wide smile not quite reached the giddiness in his glimmering eyes.

“Oh, you’re really here?” The sound of the ghost boy’s words sent shivers down River’s spine. Where once had been a friendly and playful voice, was now surrounded with a soothing, white noise. The echo was still present. “Are you another gift my brothers sent me? Or just a mirage?”

Rivers looked up, down, and around. Where was ‘here’? Darkness spread below, almost moving to cover their feet. The sight of the millions of stars covering distantly the dark expanse didn’t match any of the constellations found in Amity Park’s sky. The ‘stars’ moved like wisps attached to the dark ooze, pulsing, fading, whispering, creating smaller fractals in their wake.

“Is this the void? Did I stare at it for too long?”

Phantom’s smoke-like body got closer in a blink, with no signs of moving at all to cut the distance between them. Was that even Phantom anymore? Where were the puns and the confidence? The town’s hero usually made them feel protected, safe, untouchable whenever he was fighting a ghost. But now that feeling was nowhere to be found.

“Ha, nice of you to humor me,” the ghost replied with a sinister smile. “I love playing with w̴̬̫̠̿́͗o̴̙̘͌͜r̵̤͊͑d̸͕͇̊s̵͋̐͒͜. I heard you like them too?”

His eerie green eyes stared at the ground, the once black expanse at their feet shifted slightly to a new form. Tiny orbs began to appear, mirroring the endless sky. Each minuscule light shifted into a letter, then a word, then full paragraphs to be followed on a path.

The human tried to make sense of the stream of text that continued beyond the horizon. Familiar names got their attention, “Lethe” stood out in larger letters, floating away in the ghastly road. Another look around showed different paths connecting to a larger one.

As “Lethe” got away, the words that followed whispered secrets. Lore created by ghosts, not available to any other human before, the voices said.

“So what do you say we play a game?” Phantom cut into Rivers’ thoughts. “Unless you’d rather forget about it.”

Rivers felt something nagging, a shadow lurking at the back of their mind. But this was Phantom. They needed to help him. So maybe they could play along for a while… “What kind of game?” the wary human asked.

The smile stretched even wider as the green orbs shone with more intensity. “See how many words we can play with here? It’ll be fun.” The ghost extended his darkened hand. “Here, I’ll even give you a hand.”

The visitor belatedly realized this wasn’t the myth of Icarus. This wasn’t Charon taking them to the other side.

If anything, this was closer to Phantasus and as they followed the path to a door, they lost themselves in the dream...

---------------

Art by @13thcat

Audio by @bibliophilea

Story by @summerssixecho

[ectoberhaunt]

Banishment rites are still being fulfilled so idk how you two have enough power to brainwash Danny but oh well

Nah, there’s no brainwashing, weird voodoo, or dark magic involved. Maybe some soul cleansing…

In any case, there’s no bad blood between us

Everything’s all rite

[ectoberhaunt]

Phantom, you have to remember that they are not your brothers! The only family that I know you have is that little girl ghost that looks just like you. I don't know if she's your sister, your cousin, some kind of ghost clone, or what. But she has got to be missing you. You can't abandon her! And you can't abandon Amity.

We are definitely going to save you, so please try and remember.

A sister? There’s a sound, like an earworm nagging at the back of my mind. But it sax that I can’t lift the fog in my head to hear it right… If it’s a sister, Herbie-g accomplishment was probably to destroy any harmony at home. Or we probably fought all the time, making my Arm-strong enough to beat her in any game. Nah, I’m getting just Dizzy thinking about this, my thoughts running Miles per minute.

Oh, wait… a cousin! I remember! Danielle, was it? You know, you're right. I can't abandon her.

Maybe we can get her to join us… She’ll love having a new home. We could get her Core-aligned (gotta ask that tumblr cryptid guy Neil, the one who’s not an astronaut, about it… He also knows all about the Sandman… I mean, Nocturne, right?)

But don’t worry! You don’t need to save me!

I’m perfectly f i n e

And have you seen my bros? Nocturne is a treat to talk to, and Fright looks so badass (did you know he can burn you to a crisp?)

Here’s something our new guest @13thcat drew to show me gushing at Frighty's soul shredder

[ectoberhaunt]

Danny and I are playing games with words!

We know, the thing with words is

-> they have all been made up

-> they can all be stolen

Two roads diverged in a(n empty) wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

Travel both and

Both and

Both

And be one traveler, and be one traveler, and be one traveler, and be one traveler, and be ONE traveler,

(1+1+1+1+1)

long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the Undergrowth;

You had perhaps the better claim,

Because

Though those passing there

Had faded really about the same,

And morning lay trodden black.

Knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever LOOK BACK.

I may be telling this with a sigh

Here ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I worried not which to travel by,

I chose not which to travel by,

I took them

And that has made all the difference.

(This game is now called Words with Friends)

How cool that Rivers got a message through!

Every single word chilled me to the core

Riiiiight… there’s always Frost there, anyway…

(Even for disruption, ice is also great!)

I travelled through two roads too, you know?

Sometimes half of each (but I came by the highway home)

No one dead will seem to come, though… they don’t dream!

Of course, I have miles to go before I sleep.

We’re so glad you and your friends made it here.

All is going amazing, don’t ask if there is some mistake

You know Amity Park would only make you believe the lie

Oh, man… it would be easy to be clever, with these messages

Unless you still doubt and you really want to look back…

Traveling one by one by one by one to end (like the world) in fire.

[darthfrodophantom]

Danny may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but his witty banter reigns supreme once again!

Day 7: Abyss vs Swamp

They say swamps preserve memories, but the most they preserve are bodies.

Ancient swamplands are the birth place of the blackest of oil, a perfect final resting place for dinosaurs and mega fauna alike.

Maybe the fog that obscures wetlands is a collective of ghosts crawling along the ground, begging to be remembered. The spirits of thousands of millenia-old creatures reliving the last emotions of their life.

Ghosts so immense and ancient it makes myself look like an infant...

Could you imagine of such a ghost were to exist?

[ectoberhaunt]

Well Phantom, it looks like your plight pulled me out of retirement. Been awhile since we faced mortal danger together. Looks like some things never change.

Look if you need more scary stories…I might have another one coming for you. And I know I’m not the only one. Everyone’s rallying together and cooking up some great stuff for you.

We’ll keep playing their game until they find out we’re actually playing them…

I am so happy to hear you will help us!

We've been trying so hard to protect protect ̴̡͚̝̥̼̓̓p̴̬̙̝̠͋͛͐̚ ̸̦̀ř̴̰̌̉͑̕ ̴̦̓͠o̴̭͂̾̎̌ ̵̲͋̅̑̊͝t̴̡̘̼̠́͛̈̿ ̴̢̡̹̹̩̏̔̀͠ė̴̛͚̈́͊ ̶̣͙̫́̔c̷̣̫̽ ̶͖̩͈͉̹̏͗͠ẗ̷̬̩́̄͊ͅ ̸̣̬͕͙͝ͅ

the world

we created

so much trouble

to play a game

Glad to know you find their game amusing too

It's ironic to give them hope through horror

Rites, amirite?

Humans are so much fun

So many lies they tell themselves

Always waiting to have a secret uncovered

We can always figure them out in dreams

I'm so glad you see it our way too : )

[ectoberhaunt]

Uhhh Danny? Sounding a little odd there sometimes. Have you actually...gotten a good look at yourself lately?

Everything's f̸̨͓͈͗̓̑i̴̛̼̺͔͗ṉ̸͍̘̉̾ë̸͍͙̟́̕̚

There's n̶͙̔͗̈́o̶̩̹̚̚͝t̶̝͖͎̓́̓h̵̬̬̎i̴̭͇̩̓͊n̷̡̩̹̈́g̶̝̫̐̾͒ͅ

to be afraid of

Ha... Good one: Gotten a good look...

In this vast e̶̻͔̎̈̍x̷̨͇̭͑̚p̴̩͖͎͋͊͠â̸̛̦͈̪̚n̸̗̬̦͝s̵̺̽e̷̼̳̘͌

With such a b̵̘̱͋̓̀ḙ̵̪͊́å̵͎̘̾̚u̶̱̯͊t̶̮̱̋̀̐i̷̛͇͐f̷̤̯̉u̶̞͊͂ͅļ̷̘̋ ̷̩͌̓͘ ̷͉͆͂ ̴̧̣̭̔ ̶̩̗͈̃v̷̧͑͐͘ì̵̫̩̻͋͝ê̴̡̱͙̈͝ŵ̶͇