Danny hated cleaning ectoplasm. So it was just his luck that Jack had decided to tinker with his new weapon while eating lunch that day and the ectoplasm released had stubbornly clung to the kitchen counter within the few hours it was left there. It would take a while before it would come off. After about ten minutes of trying to pry it off with a butter knife he heard a phone ringing. Following this he heard his father's loud footsteps traveling towards the phone. He decided to ignore it. People called Fentonworks all the time for ghost attacks, even more so now that Phantom hadn't been out protecting the town in a while. It was probably nothing. He heard the phone stop ringing and his father speaking.
"Hello. Yes, this is Jack Fenton speaking. Winchester, hmm, that name sounds familiar. Any relation to a John Winchester? Wonderful, John and I go way back, he was like a big brother. Any family of good ole John is practically family to me. I'd love to have you over." That was kind of odd. He had never heard of this John guy. Probably another one of his father's college buddies.
"That is strange. Usually those ghosts like to stay in Amity. I suppose they like to stay near the portal. But it is smart to be prepared for any outcome. When were you thinking of coming over?" Ghosts outside of Amity? That didn't happen often, and when it did, it was because they were following him. Maybe it was time to take a break from his impossible task and listen a bit closer. He strained his ears and heard a faint voice on the other end.
"We're in the area, we can get there by tomorrow evening."
"Great, I'll see you then, bye."
He heard the phone being set down, and his father's footsteps traveling towards the kitchen. He quickly picked the knife back up and tried to act like he had been working on removing the hardened ectoplasm the whole time, and not listening in on someone else's conversation. Apparently he did a pretty piss poor job of this because Jack immediately scowled at him. "It's rude to eavesdrop." He growled.
Danny made sure not to make eye contact and mumbled "Sorry, sir." He held his breath hoping that Jack was in a good mood today.
Jack glared at him for a few seconds before turning away. "I'm going to bed. This better be clean in the morning."
"Yes sir."
Jack left the room and Danny let out a sigh of relief. Other than the ectoplasm practically fused to the counter the kitchen wasn't that bad. He just needed to finish this up, then he could go to bed.
Ding dong
Jack opened the door and happily greeted his guests. "Hello, You must be Sam and Dean, now which one's which?"
The taller of the two answered with "Oh, I'm Sam, and this is-"
"Dean." His brother cut him off and offered a hand for Jack to shake. "Pleasure to meet you sir. Sorry we arrived so late, we had a bit of a problem on the road." He said with a smile.
"The pleasure's all mine, boys." Jack laughed. " After all, you don't always find someone so eager to learn about ghosts. And don't worry being late, you can't control traffic." He waved them inside and past the living room, towards the kitchen where a tired looking boy was washing dishes by hand. He gestured towards the table. "Here, go ahead and take a seat. Don't mind Daniel, he won't bother us." He walked to the counter, picked up a tray of snacks, and set them on the table before sitting down. "I have some food for you to eat while we talk. We probably won't have enough time to get towards using the weapons and such, seeing how late it is, But I'll be able to get the basics out of the way before it gets too late." He clasped his hands together and with an excited grin asked, "Now, what exactly did you want to know."
Sam answered with, "Anything that might be useful."
If possible, Jack's smile seemed to grow even wider, and he began to talk animatedly, his hands moving around to emphasize everything he said. "Okay, so ghosts are dead people, obviously. When a person dies, if they hold on to life strong enough they will leave behind an imprint. If that imprint bonds with enough ectoplasm to form a body it will turn into a ghost. In places with more ectoplasm, a ghost is more likely to form. And a stronger one too. Since amity park is a hotspot for ghosts, there is more ectoplasm in the air here. This causes ghosts to form here more regularly than any other place in America, maybe even the whole world."
"What do you mean ectoplasm in the air? Isn't Ectoplasm that black goop that comes from pissed off ghosts? How can that be in the air." Dean asked, completely confused.
Jack seemingly expected this question and had an answer ready. "Ah, the ghosts you're thinking of are shades. They aren't actually true ghosts. They don't have obsessions or need contact with ectoplasm to sustain themselves like true ghosts do. Strong shades can produce something similar to ectoplasm, but not quite the same. Ectoplasm is usually green fluid, similar in consistency to blood, because it's ghost blood. But it's thicker than real blood, because they're ghosts." He grinned wide as if he had just made a joke. "It can also be solid, plasma, or gas, and there is some of it in gas form floating through the air nearly everywhere." He paused for any questions his guests may have.
Sam took this opportunity to ask, "So, does this green ectoplasm come from angry ghosts, like the black stuff?"
"Nope." He popped the p "It comes from all ghosts. It's what makes up most of their dimension and what makes up the ghosts themselves. It's their air, their blood, they even radiate the stuff. It's like energy and matter at the same time."
"Whoah whoah whoah, their dimension? You mean to tell us there's a whole world full of these things?" Dean was growing more and more disbelieving. There was no way.
Jack's face lit up at the opportunity to talk about his discovery. "Yes, It's called the ghost zone and it-"
"No it's not."
Jack turned around to stare at the boy who had spoken. Up until now he had been so quiet, the brothers had almost forgotten he was there in the first place. Daniel, as Jack had called him, seemed to shrink under his father's gaze and the room was silent for a moment. Until Sam decided to break that silence.
"What was that?" He was genuinely curious about what the boy had to say. Daniel simply looked down and shuffled his feet, forcing his eyes to not meet the eyes of anyone else in the room.
After a moment, he stuttered out a reply. "It, It's not called the ghost zone. It's a-actually called the infinite realms."
The room was silent, and Daniel went back to his task of washing the dishes. Then Jack cleared his throat to bring attention back towards him. "As I was saying, the ghost zone is a pocket in purgatory where these ghosts live, or reside I guess. They use it to sustain themselves. The ghosts can not run on nothing. They use energy and so they must absorb energy. The ectoplasm in the air in amity park is enough to sustain them for a bit, but not for long. But the ghost zone is full of ectoplasm and can sustain them for unlimited periods of time. There are other ways of gaining energy though. Some ghosts gain energy by eating other ghosts and using their ectoplasm as fuel. Others prefer to indulge in their destructive obsessions to gain energy. If a ghost can not gain enough energy to sustain themselves, they will slowly cease to exist."
Dean scrunched up his face in disgust. "Ghost cannibalism, yikes."
Jack sighed. "Yes, they are disgusting creatures." He glared at Daniel again, who flinched though his back was turned. The silence returned, but this time, it was Dean who decided to break it.
"What can they do?"
Jack answered the question eagerly. "That depends on the ghost. Most can turn invisible, intangible, fly, and overshadow things. Some can make ectoplasmic blasts or shields, some can make fire, make ice, shapeshift and some can manipulate others' minds or emotions in order to fulfill their obsessions."
"I've heard you mention obsessions a couple times, what exactly do you mean by that?" Sam asked.
"Excellent question." Jack boomed with a grin. " An obsession is the reason a ghost clings to existence, I've seen ghosts obsessed with boxes, fame, food, hunting, technology, and a lot of other things. All ghosts have something they obsess over. And indulging in their obsessions gives them power." His grin morphed into a sad frown before continuing. "And every time a ghost indulges it's obsession, people get hurt in the process."
"How so?" Sam inquired.
Jack sighed and looked down at his hands. "A few years back one ghost posed as a school counselor and made the kids so depressed that four of them committed suicide. Another led two innocent people straight into a car crash." He dragged his hand down his face.
Dean, remembering the glowing blue man, wondered why someone would hire one of those ghosts as school staff. "These things can pretend to be human?"
Jack seemed glad for the change in subject. He didn't seem to like talking about the people that died in attacks. "Yes. Many of them have shapeshifting abilities and it can be hard to tell if someone is a ghost. Some obvious signs someone is a ghost are if they glow, have green or blue skin, or have green or red eyes. But they can shapeshift to hide these traits. There are a few things they can't change though. You see, ghosts have every organ that a human has except for a heart. Those are replaced with cores. That means they have no heartbeat. Instead, it's more like a thrum. And they can't fake a heartbeat. In addition to this, they never have red blood. It's usually green and sometimes pink. Other colours are more rare, but it's never red."
"So, how do we kill them." Dean asked.
"When in contact with ectoranium, a ghost can not use their powers. Blood blossoms weaken them and will destroy them with prolonged exposure, especially when encircled with them. And a stab or shot to the core will destroy them without fail. They can also bleed out, but their advanced healing abilities usually stop them from doing so unless they are severely weakened."
Dean grinned. "Sounds easy enough compared to the other stuff we have to deal with."
Jack's face hardened. "Do not underestimate the ghosts. They are terrible and manipulative creatures. They will do whatever it takes to get what they want and they don't care what or who gets in their way. They are nothing but evil and selfish monsters who would kill you without a second thought. Every last one of them."
They heard glass shattering and turned to the source. Daniel turned to face them with his hand behind his back. He looked terrified. Jack stood up and walked towards him. Daniel started muttering "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," repeatedly.
"What did you do." Jack demanded.
"I, I didn't mean to, i-it just kind of-"
He was cut off when Jack reached behind him and grabbed his hand. He examined it, then let it go. "Go to your room and bandage it."
"Y-yes sir." Danny stuttered before clutching his hand to his chest and bolting out of the kitchen.
Jack sighed before turning back to his guests. "That boy is so skittish, has been ever since a ghost killed his mother and sister, you understand, don't you?"
Sam nodded in sympathy. "Yeah, we understand. It happens. It's getting late, how about we come back tomorrow."
Jack smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Of course, after all, I still have to show you the lab. That's where I keep the weaponry. I could even show you how to use some of the gear. Does 11:00 A.M. sound okay?"
"That sounds fine." Sam replied.
Jack clapped his hands together. "Wonderful, do you two boys have a place to stay, I have a guest room here if you don't."
"No thank you. We have a place to spend the night." Sam declined.
"You sure you'll be alright?"
"I'm sure.
"Man, I wish we had known Jack had a spare room before we paid for the motel room" Sam groaned.
Dean chuckled. "Well we can't really change that. Besides, I think I prefer two beds over one. So, how do you feel about Jack?"
Sam sat down on his bed and opened his laptop. Probably to do some more research on the town's ghosts. "He's really enthusiastic, but it kind of seems a little bit forced. And the kid seemed terrified."
Dean thought back to the conversation, then agreed "Yeah, I noticed that too, but didn't Jack say that his wife and daughter were recently killed?"
"Yeah." Sam agreed. "It's probably nothing."