I have to admit, I've always wondered: How did Jack and Maddie's obsession with ghosts begin? This is a short story with an explanation. It follows Jack, Maddie, and Vlad in their senior year of high school. It's about 2 years before Vlad's accident, which is my interpretation of his age, since I think he's around 40 years old in the series.
In any case, please enjoy the story.
"See, V-man? I told you you'd do fine." Jack Fenton laughed. He, Madeline "Maddie" Stevens, and Vlad Masters were best friends in their senior year of high school. Vlad and Maddie had known each other since 1st grade, while they met Jack as freshmen.
"Okay, I see your point." Vlad replied, holding his latest "A" paper. "But I always worry about this stuff, you know. I want to get high marks and actually have some success in the world."
"Vlad, believe me, you'll make the entire world notice you." Maddie pointed out. "We're looking at a future billionaire! Speaking of which, what do you guys have planned after school?"
"Just some revenge," Jack shrugged. "I'm going to teach Rod that nobody messes with my friends and gets away with it!"
"Rod is just an idiot; he's not worth listening to." Maddie rolled her eyes. He made moves on her for a while, but to his credit, he eventually backed off. "I'm a little worried about Tina, though"
"Who's Tina?" Jack and Vlad questioned.
"It's his girlfriend." She explained. "She was looking rather shaken up today. At first, I thought they had another fight, but she looked terrified, not angry, and I saw a couple cuts on her when we were in the locker room; I'm worried."
"All right, we'll check it out." Vlad agreed. "I wouldn't put it past him, but first, it's time for some payback!"
"Come on, Maddie, it'll be fun; we already got the stuff!" Jack encouraged with a grin.
"All right, I'll go." Maddie sighed. "Somebody needs to keep you two out of trouble." Inwardly, though, she felt it would be amusing. Her two friends may have been crazy, but they were quite inventive. They walked down the streets until they reached his house. "So what do you have planned?"
"Jack, you mind giving me some help?" Vlad asked, as he was trying to pull himself over the structure above the porch, which was brown and designed to block the sun. Jack picked him up and lifted him to where he could get a decent handhold. Afterwards, Jack tossed his friend a bottle and walkie-talkie.
"This might just be entertaining." Maddie admitted. "Considering what happened a few months ago, I could certainly use a laugh." Her father had tried to kill her a few months ago, but thanks to her self-defense prowess and Vlad's timely intervention, he was taken to jail. They would have to testify, though, in a couple months.
"Hey, Jack, can you hear me?" Vlad asked.
"Reading you loud and clear, buddy," Jack replied over the radio.
"You don't need to use that; I'm 10 feet away." Vlad groaned.
"Gotcha; out," He ended, still on the Walkie-Talkie. Maddie hid behind the bush near the fence, while Jack knocked on the door several times.
After a few seconds, Jack declared: "Okay, V-man, give him the glue!" Vlad took the lid off and squeezed as hard as he could. Most of the glue fell on Rod, although some splashed on the railing and his leather jacket. Jack jumped out and stuck a wig of a woman's hair on top.
Furiously, he tried to pull it off, but it wouldn't budge. Jack and Vlad laughed like maniacs as they ran away, and even Maddie had to admit it was pretty funny. "Hold on just a second." Jack smirked. He stopped and took a couple pictures, but by now, Rod had figured it out and was coming after them.
However, Jack was ready for him and threw him head first into a trash can. "No one messes with Jack Fenton's friends, got it?" The trio sped off, still laughing.
"So what now?" Vlad asked. "There isn't exactly a lot to do around here. Oh, I almost forgot: good job scoring that winning touchdown the other day."
"Yeah, thanks." Jack smiled. He had managed to score a touchdown in the last quarter, which led to a 41-38 victory. "The eagles are victorious again! But don't sell yourself short; I couldn't have done it without you, buddy!"
"Yeah, that was pretty good." Maddie nodded. "I'm not a football fan, but great job out there." She generally stayed in the stands while Jack and Vlad played as quarterback and runningback, respectively.
"Care to play some pool at my house?" Vlad asked Jack and Maddie. "I'm going to kick both your butts!"
"Oh, we'll see about that." Maddie replied. "I'm a girl, but I can play sports just as much as guys. How about you bet 5 bucks? We better do it soon, though, because I've got a sleepover." Jack and Vlad gave each other glances. "No spying on us this time. Nancy just about killed me when she saw your radio in there."
"All right, fine, we won't listen on you." Vlad conceded. But we will be watching, just in case something happens. It's intrusive, but I don't want to lose you. You and Jack are the only friends I have. "Now get ready to give me all your money."
Vlad's garage was fairly ordinary for a wealthy person. The pool table was in the middle, complete with balls and cues. Around it were golf clubs and a couple of wet suits. "Okay, let's get it on!" Maddie grinned savagely. She picked the stripes, while Vlad picked the smooth balls.
As far as skill went, they were pretty evenly matched. The game was fairly short; 5 minutes later, Vlad had two balls left and Maddie three. He aimed carefully, judging the angle and let it loose. He knocked one of them into the corner pocket, though he accidentally knocked one of Maddie's inside as well. Vlad took the second shot and managed to get inside, although it was a close call. (I don't know much about pool, so if I made mistakes, please forgive me)
"Okay, Maddie, cough up the green." Vlad held his arm out with a smug look. Grudgingly, she did so, cursing a few times.
"Well, you beat me fair and square." Maddie admitted. She put the cue back in its place and practiced karate moves. Vlad smiled, quietly checking her out, while Jack attempted to do it as well, and ended up falling on his butt. "You need a lot of practice before you can do it, Jack. Vlad, please get your mind out of the gutter." She sounded harsh, but she wasn't really mad.
"He's a guy; you're asking for the impossible." Jack laughed.
"You're impossible, you lunatic." Vlad replied, giving him a friendly elbow to the ribs. "You guys want some Pepsi?" They nodded, although Maddie wanted a Dr. Pibb. "We always have this stuff in the house. It'll probably kill me one day."
"Are you kidding me?" Maddie shook her head. "You could eat 3 pizzas and not gain an ounce. At least you eat politely, unlike someone I know."
"I am wounded!" Jack gasped dramatically, grabbing his chest. "How could my best friends betray me like this?"
"Grow up, you big baby." Maddie snickered, throwing the can at him.
"We're just telling the truth; you do eat like a pig." Vlad added. "You should have gone into theater arts. There were plenty of hot girls in there, especially Nancy."
"Why did I decide to have guy friends?" Maddie groaned, burying her face in her friends.
"Maybe because you're as nutty as we are," Jack grinned, putting an arm around her shoulder.
"'Girl gets comforted by stupid quarterback'." Vlad laughed. "That would be a good yearbook photo. I'm definitely putting that picture of Ron in." He smiled to himself. Most people didn't like him, but as long as he had Jack and Maddie, the rest of the world could go to hell.
They shot the breeze for another couple of hours until Maddie went to her sleepover. After some time had passed, Jack and Vlad followed, carrying a pair of binoculars. They had another prank on Ron planned, and they intended to take the opportunity.
"This is the life, isn't it, Vladdie?" Jack laughed. "We'll stay together, along with Maddie. The odds of us hating each other are about as likely as you getting ghost powers and using them to make yourself rich." Both of them had a good laugh at that. "I intend to be the best man when you marry Maddie!"
"Come on, Jack, she'd never like me; I'm a nerd." Vlad protested. He had pretty much given up on women.
"Don't put yourself down like that." Jack replied sternly. "You'll find some beautiful, psychotic girl to fall in love with and have a bunch of kids."
"I'd probably make a bad role model for them."
"You have a point there." They laughed again. Once it was completely dark, they peeked into the house where everyone was talking. "What's Glen and Rod doing there?"
"I have no idea, Jack." Vlad replied. "Hmm, Maddie did say that Tina was having nightmares. Maybe this is their way to cheer up… and for us to spy on. Come on, give me the binoculars."
"Just hold on." Jack asked, easily holding onto them. "Hmm, it looks like Ron's putting the moves on his girl. Man, those two are the weirdest couple I've ever seen. Wait, Maddie's holding onto Nancy for some reason."
"This is boring; give me those!" He finally managed to pull them away from Jack. He watched as Maddie demonstrated her skill to the others. They were apparently having a good time, while Ron pretended to gag Tina and as far as he could see, they were heading up to her mother's bedroom. "I guess this is their way of making up… well, out, but you get my point."
"Well, we can't hear anything, thankfully. Look; all the others are going to bed as well. It's time to make our move."
"You know this would be considered breaking and entering, right?"
"Rod's macho; he'd never want to admit that a nerd outsmarted…which actually isn't that tough." They slowly moved inside the house. Ever so slowly, Vlad opened the door. Thankfully, it was unlocked. They crawled slowly, not wanting to wake anybody. Now the noises were quite noticeable."
"Morality sucks," Glen complained, rolling on the couch. Jack and Vlad immediately froze, not daring to move. After what seemed an eternity, he started snoring. Jack started moving into the kitchen. Vlad slowly filled bowls up with water, since he was better as stealth than his large friend.
After some effort and heart-pounding, they managed to put Glen and Nancy's hands in the water. "You do the honors." Jack whispered next to Vlad's ear. "He beat you up, so it's yours." Vlad nodded and crawled on his belly. He filled up another bowl of water, and ever so slowly, moved up the stairs.
Every time the stairs creaked, Vlad froze, hardly daring to breathe. However, everyone stayed fast asleep. Reminds me a little of the telltale heart "The clock's hands moved faster than mine." At last, he got near the bed.
He was just about to open the door when he heard Tina screaming. Vlad considered running like hell, but it wouldn't do any good anyway. He didn't hear any cursing, just screaming, as if she were in pain. Hesitantly, he opened the door, not knowing what he would find.
Nothing Vlad had ever seen prepared him for this. Rod was in the corner, half-naked, staring in pure shock and helplessness. All he could get out was "Tina!" But that was nothing compared to what Vlad saw next. Tina was literally floating in the air, screaming and struggling against something he couldn't see.
Rod turned around and noticed Vlad. "What the hell are you…" but he was cut off but a blood-chilling scream from Tina's direction. Vlad briefly saw a image of 4 knives before they raked across Tina's chest, covering her with blood. He felt utterly helpless and couldn't do anything but watch with his mouth wide open. She kept screaming for a few more seconds before she fell on the bed, obviously murdered.
Rod and Vlad gave each other identical looks of shock and horror.
In all honesty, I've always wondered what Jack, Vlad, and Maddie would do if confronted by Fred Krueger. I was originally going to have him face Plasmius, but decided that it wouldn't be too much of a fight. Therefore, I decided to have them as teenagers in Springwood and at the same time explain where their ghost obsession came from.
Also, if my story sucks, at least give me a reason so I can improve it. As always please read and review!