Stan laughed as Jack picked up another invention in attempt to show it to his friend. It immediately, as always backfired into the man's face, coating it with a thick ectoplasmic goop. Jack frowned as he wiped it off. "So it's still got some bugs to work out." Jack added quickly, it was just like him to brush off a failure as a fix-it project.
"Wow you guys have accomplished a lot since I've last seen you, it's good to see you haven't changed much." Stan remarked happily running his fingers over the Ghost Gabber Maddie had shown to him.
"Well, we can't let our work consume us Stan." Maddie responded her eyes as bright as always. "But enough about us, you've seen the inventions and the ghost portal, tell us about your travels."
The younger hunter ran a hand through his hair his teal eyes looking back and forth at his former teachers. "Well, they were exciting and different."
"Well of course." Maddie said rolling her eyes. "That's implied." She grabbed a lab stool and sat adjacent to Stanley and Jack joined her in her action. "Did you compile new research, is there different ghostly behaviors in other regions?" Her scientific thirst for knowledge needed quenching and he knew he had to fulfill it.
Jack nodded. "Yeah, and why did you come back early?" He added, knowing well that Stan had planned a twenty year expedition.
"That I can tell you without all my papers, I promise though Maddie that I'll give you some of my notes another time. Well you see there was this town where everything sort of got out of control. Ever heard of the Black Demon?"
"Black demon?" The couple chorused sending confused looks in his direction.
Stand nodded with a smirk. "Yeah I didn't either, until I was exploring a small town in the hills of England. It was very old aged, a village, full of superstitions. It was an unplanned stop, but I needed a place to stay. There I met a woman, she let me stay with her family for some time. But when my ghost censors began going off I soon found myself questioning her peaceful little town. Apparently it wasn't haunted, but cursed."
Maddie stopped him. "Cursed? How so?"
Stan shrugged lightly. "Well, at first it seemed to be nothing but superstition at first. I specialize in ghosts not demonic sources, but the longer I stayed the more the "troubles" got worse."
"'Troubles?'" Jack asked cocking his head to the side.
The twenty eight year old frowned. "It seemed like the mark of a poltergeist activity, footsteps, moving objects, sometimes shrieks that would come from basements, hallways, and alleyways. It upseted the townspeople, they began telling me I had brought 'him' up I had disturbed his rest by intruding upon their town and digging up their past. But the more this creature began its treachery the more I had to find, I asked, I researched, and as I got closer to the truth tragedy struck." He paused and shook his head.
"The husband of the woman I had been staying with…was horribly...maimed. Torn to shreds, they said he suffered horribly. And although they knew I wasn't the direct cause they pointed their fingers in my direction saying I had raised the demon, I shouldn't be in the past. But the woman came to me and began spilling the story, saying she was taking her children away, it was her fault."
Stan stopped briefly to blink the horrible image out of his mind. "She was frantic, explaining her family's hidden past from decades ago. This is when I learned of the Black Demon, he was called. Apparently there had been a group of travelers from Jerusalem seeking refuge from a pillage in the sixteen hundreds, her ancestors took them in, and soon took advantage of their helpful habits. When the travelers wished to leave the family would not let them go, it ended in tortures unimaginable until soon they were all dead and buried along with their memory."
Jack's eyes were wide. "You must've woken him from being a needy traveler yourself, perhaps he had been there first for protection, saw you as a threat to the past and wanted you gone."
Maddie nodded. "It seems probable, except him seeing you as threat, if anything I'd think he'd want justice and recognition for the inhumane treatment and murders of his people."
Stan gave an agreeing look. "I know, I tried to look for more information. And soon I met the creature... At first I'd thought that this "Black Demon" was simply a trick to drive me away after the murder. Then I started to realize his existence. My first and last run-in was like nothing I'd ever experience. I was in the attic of what the woman had told me was her old family's house, a grand old abandoned mansion, the place where all horrors had taken place. Just being there left me feeling sick, you could almost hear the screams echoing from the basement...but as I looked for old records I felt the presence, like pure evil. When I turned around I saw two eyes like the fires of hell and a body that seemed as if no light could pass through."
"Did it just watch you? It didn't attempt physical contact..." Maddie trailed off as Stan's face told her otherwise.
"It did not hesitate to lunge at me, from it's hands it could retract long bronze blades. It passed by me like a shot digging the blades into my stomach and leaving me for dead." He lifted his shirt slightly to show off the rather apparent scars that would forever mark his body. Stan hesitated to speak. "...I think I stumbled upon an evil, that of which should never be trifled with."
Maddie gulped and folded her hands together, she almost wished she hadn't brought it up. But it was out in the open now and now they knew that there were ghosts much more dangerous. But it baffled her, why was it so grudge worthy, what was it covering up? "My goodness, that's horrible Stan."
He shrugged his eyes simply rolling away from her and Jack. "Look guys I'm sorry about attacking your son, I never would've." He stammered out, changing the subject.
"Relax," Jack soothed. "We checked out the weapon already, it doesn't have any elements that might possibly hurt a human but give them a slight shock. He'll be fine and you already apologized for an accident that wasn't even your fault."
-------------------
Danny Tucker and Sam were all standing outside the Nasty Burger, their normal meeting point, with their heads craned up toward the sky. Others around them were flocking away, screaming, and yelling as the three stood quietly watching the giant monster above them. Sam flashed a devilish smile at Tucker who shared one while thumbing the thermos, Danny was already pushing between them.
Although, as children, they shouldn't ever be burdened with what they did. But the trio found too much fun in being ghost fighters, especially with one of them super powered. When the threat was low, it was for pure sport, but even when danger came around they all still loved the adventure.
Sam and Tucker quickly pushed themselves against Danny, looking much like a hug. Their forms were shadowed by a light as Danny summoned his ghost form between them. It was his favorite transformation, no one ever noticed them, and he thought it was a neat move to make out in the open. He leaped out from them intangibly and they broke apart feeling the absence. The two went to their positions in the empty street.
"Oh Lunch Lady." Danny called tauntingly, the meat covered creature turned to face the floating teenager who looked absolutely unafraid and rather bored.
"Prepare to taste your doom!" She cried raising the frozen patties up through the roof fast food franchise. One managed to knock him over his head, but it hardly did anything to him.
Danny peeled it off and tossed it to the ground. "I see..." He uttered with a yawn. "Now prepare to taste my doom!" He laughed throwing an ecto ray straight at her. But as the energy left his hand Danny suddenly felt every bit of power he had drain away. He inhaled sharply as two rings of light enveloped his body. He hovered in midair for a moment, fully transformed, before he fell, losing all ghostly abilities he had.
"Danny!" Tucker and Sam screamed in unison, Tucker ran forward in hopes of covering him, knowing well he couldn't catch him. Sam had already been trying to distract the Lunch Lady from behind with her own weapon. And although she wanted to join Tucker in aiding Danny, she knew she had to deal with the ghost to protect them both.
She fired upward, just grazing the back of the creature's elbow making it turn around and forget the falling Danny. She swatted at the scrawny girl who was thrown backward. When she opened her eyes she heard a dull thud, she gritted her teeth in horror as she knew what the noise meant.
She raced forward picking up the dropped thermos and dived against the ground just missing getting hit again. She aimed upward and caught the ghost quickly and threw the cap on right away. She let out a sigh as she lay on her stomach on the tar, but her eyes snapped open as she remembered Danny.
She ran to her friends and saw Tucker helping up Danny, who was fortunately awake, but dinged up from the fall. "What happened?" She cried racing forward and skidding to a halt in front of them.
Danny's eyes went over to Sam. "I...I think I lost my ghost powers."
gasp! I think this story actually has cobwebs on it. I know it's been fifty million years since I've touched this story...it goes on and off hiatus, but it's not like I'm giving up on it. I'm a very busy person, lately. Wow, me busy! So I know you all might get discouraged bymy lack of updating, but life is annoying and is like 'oh i'm in your way now'