If you were hoping for a huge fight scene or confrontation in this chapter, I'm sorry. I was hoping to get further along for this update, but I realized that I could either have a monstrously huge chapter or I could stop at a more reasonable spot right before the dramatics. But at least the next chapter will definitely be exciting.
Bored. Bored, bored, bored. No ghosts to hunt today, already finished the latest invention, and nothing interesting on TV.
Only thing I did today was offer Danny a ride to the mall. I figured it would be at least interesting to get out of the house. But when I offered to give him a ride in the RV, he got a little pale and said "no."
Maybe he's at the age that teenagers don't want to be seen with their parents. Or maybe it's just a puberty thing. I don't know, but he definitely didn't want a ride.
Still bored. Maybe I should get a snack.
-Excerpt from "Jack Fenton's 'Fenton Diary'"
Jazz reached home at almost the exact same moment that Sam and Tucker did, the pair already reaching for the door as she hurried down the sidewalk. It had been a very long day. Concentrating on the various advanced classes she was taking, mentally going over the possible issues that might arise from her parents' new knowledge and how she could prevent or handle them, and scribbling down a few psychological notes on what little she knew about Melinda, Betelgeuse, and Lydia so far kept her very busy at school. But now they were home and would hopefully have some idea what to do.
"Hey, guys," she called, tossing Sam the keys since she was closer. "Ready for what's ahead?"
"Hope so," said Sam.
Tucker said, "Come on, guys. Danny beat Pariah Dark and deals with Vlad regularly. How bad could it be?"
Jazz didn't even have to be superstitious to know his words would tempt the universe far too much. Thus, she wasn't even slightly surprised when Sam opened the front door and frustrated shouting exploded from inside.
"Would you stop staring at my mom like that? She's married, she's my mom, and she hunts ghosts! So lay off."
"Move the eyes up! My face is not down there."
"That's it. Where's the Jack-o-nine tails?"
Sam grimaced at the voices while Jazz fought the urge to roll her eyes and Tucker flinched at the volume. It definitely sounded like they were at the end of their patience with each other. Considering how breakfast went, it only made sense for things to end in disaster. They should probably hurry in there and help Lydia referee. One person definitely shouldn't have to handle it alone.
Though if Betelgeuse tried to flirt with her again, Jazz wasn't afraid to psychoanalyze him to pieces.
The trio hurried towards the basement, practically stumbling down the stairs. The scene was pretty close to what she was imaging. The Fenton family was all on one side of the lab, glaring at varying levels of intensity. Dad's hand scrambled through a drawer for a weapon. Danny looked frustrated enough to start yanking his hair our while Mom looked murderous.
On the other side of the room, away from the portal and upset ghost hunters, Lydia was dragging the poltergeist away. She seemed mildly annoyed and vaguely resigned as she pulled and shoved him towards the corner, keeping between the ghost and Fentons like a shield. Betelgeuse, for his part, did have a slightly sheepish expression as the girl scolded him.
"Really, Beej? Really? We gave you plenty of warnings. I mean, about six or seven hours of minimal problems is a bit of a record and you did try, but your restraint still needs some work."
"Not my fault that jumpsuit leaves nothing to the imagination," he muttered. "I'm not blind and oblivious, Babes. It would be a crime to ignore a good-looking woman. And she definitely has a figure to die for."
"This is not the time for puns. Angry ghost hunters and half-ghost, remember? Stop antagonizing the teammates."
"The wait was driving me insane. Boredom doesn't work for me, Lyds."
"Then I guess it is a good thing we're back," said Sam, thoroughly distracting everyone from the current argument. "Do we have a plan?"
Running a hand through his hair, Danny said, "Right, back on topic. We figured that Melinda is probably planning to try to exorcise all the ghosts in Amity Park. That means she'll need to set up the Ghost Shield from the inside, likely in the middle of the city if possible."
"Give me a minute and I'll have a probable location," Tucker said, pulling out his PDA to search.
He gave a thankful nod and continued, "But that's not everything. While that will be activated in one place, Lydia's aunt will need to be somewhere else outside the circle. Somewhere outside the Ghost Shield. We'll have to split up. Mom, Dad, and Jazz can handle the Ghost Shield itself."
"You got it," Jazz nodded, walking across the lab to grab the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick (which was essentially a baseball bat with her dad's face on it).
She wasn't the only one who was apparently making some last minute preparations. Sam made a beeline for one of the counters covered in random stuff and started tossing in objects from the surface into her backpack. Hopefully she would find something useful.
Sam paused briefly before turning towards Jazz. She handed the older girl something small from her supplies before heading back across the basement. Jazz took a moment to recognize the object, but it was easy to realize Sam's reasoning once she did. It paid to be prepared.
"Meanwhile, me, Lyds, Danny-boy, and the rest of the teen hero squad will hunt down the hag with the jewelry and make her wish she'd never existed," said Betelgeuse, leaning out from behind Lydia in order to grin maliciously.
"And since we still don't know exactly where she might be, I guess I'll have to fly up and see what I can find," said Danny before vanishing through the ceiling.
"What's the time frame we're working with?" Jazz asked, actually starting to feel a little excited for the mission.
"No idea. It could be any moment now," said Lydia.
"Well, at least I have a likely location for where they'll activate the Ghost Shield," Tucker said, looking up from the PDA. "The closest location to about the center of the city that will still allow her some privacy and would cover the most ground would be in the park. Probably closer to the western entrance, but not too close."
Holding up a finger declaratively, Jazz said, "Then let's get a move on. Quick, to the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle! I mean the RV."
Danny's first move was to fly straight up. He wasn't completely sure what he was looking for, but he knew it would be on the outskirts of town. Melinda would need to be a good distance away in order to stay out of the Ghost Shield circle. And the only way he knew to find something useful was to get high enough to see everything possible. There was a lot of ground to cover.
There would need to be enough space for whatever it took for the process. It might be a few feet or yards, but she would almost needs some room and relative privacy from curious onlookers. The only real question was whether or not he would be able to see anything from above. It was late in the year, so they only had limited amount of time before the sun vanished over the horizon and darkness made it even harder to spot anything of use.
Catching sight of the family RV as it swiftly peeled out of the driveway, Danny began to wonder if his first impulse was the best. He wasn't used to looking for a human enemy. It wasn't like the woman would activate his Ghost Sense. He knew it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. There had to be a better way.
"Any luck, Danny-boy?"
The abrupt question, far too close and unexpected a few hundred feet up, surprised Danny enough that he lost a little altitude before he could recover. Then he looked over at the poltergeist casually floating next to me. While still mildly annoyed with him about how he kept checking out the boy's mother, Danny shoved that emotion away. It was still better than dealing with Vlad. At least Betelgeuse didn't want to adopt Danny and murder his father. He was just annoying.
At some point before joining him above the city, Betelgeuse obviously decided to switch back to his earlier outfit. Apparently fond of his striped suit, the blond ghost looked rather calm and collected about the entire situation. And Danny really couldn't tell where the line between it just being an act and it being real confidence powered by ego might lie. Crazy, evil, murderous women with cursed jewelry might honestly be less scary for the Ghost With The Most than everyone else.
"I don't know what to even look for," Danny admitted. "I just know I won't be able to see enough from ground level."
"Looking everywhere will take too long. But between what that witch is cooking up and the necklace itself, there's definitely going to be some serious mumbo-jumbo around here. And even with all the ectoplasm ghosts in this town acting like distracting spotlights, I should be able to pick up something will a little concentration," said Betelgeuse, looking at the skyline thoughtfully. "There's too much power in that thing to ignore completely, especially at this range and since I'm that good."
With a slight nod, Danny waited quietly. He didn't understand exactly how the poltergeist planned to do it, but he could understand sort of what he was trying to do. It was apparently something similar to Danny's Ghost Sense. But while Danny could only pick up ghosts when they were close and, from what he'd discovered in the last few days, were from the Ghost Zone, Betelgeuse could clearly detect something else and a greater range. The halfa didn't have to understand the mechanics of what Betelgeuse was trying to sense. He didn't even know for sure how his own Ghost Sense worked. But he got the gist of it, so he was willing to let Betelgeuse do his thing.
After a few moments of silence, the poltergeist turned his head and smirked. He gestured towards the direction he was now facing.
"That way. There's definitely something with a lot of juice," he said. "What are the chances of two objects with that much power in the area?"
"Well, with my luck, pretty decent actually. But that's still our best bet," said Danny. "And there's some outlet store that way, just past the city limits. It went out of business about a month ago and has a huge parking lot. It just couldn't handle the regular ghost appearances in the area."
"So, lots of room and deserted. That should work for her. Let's grab the girls and the kid in the hat and get moving, Danny-boy," he said with a nod. "I've got an evil hag to deal with."
And there was the evil grin again. Danny suppressed the urge to shudder. Betelgeuse could be a little scary whenever Danny remembered he was more than Lydia's quirky and protective friend who kept trying to put the moves on his mom. He was the Ghost With The Most, who terrified a lot of other ghosts by just showing up and beat Danny while barely trying. And he definitely wanted revenge. It was only a question of whether Melinda or Sanduleak would eventually suffer worse when he got a hold of them.
"You aren't going to kill her, right?" asked Danny uneasily.
"Are you kidding? Not only would June-bug nag at me, but then there's the risk of ending up with a crazy ghost version of her. Not to mention that's boring and far too easy. Oh and Lyds has a thing about almost killing people and morality stuff. So she'll live. She just won't be happy about it, Danny-boy," Betelgeuse assured before dropping out of the sky.
For a family of ghost hunters, people would think hunting and fighting various ghosts would be the scariest and most dangerous part of their lives. As far as Jazz was concerned, that wasn't even close to true. No, it wasn't ghosts that she feared at that moment. It wasn't a ghost that she suspected would kill her.
It was her dad's driving.
Jazz clenched her eyes a little tighter as the RV turned left sharply enough that the vehicle tilted onto two wheels and squealed loudly. The orchestra of car horns and angry shouts made it clear that their fellow drivers on the road were no happier about the man's wild driving than she was. Her fingers dug into the chair desperately. She clung tightly as momentum tried to toss her around the RV. On a normal trip, her dad's driving was only a little unnerving. But if there were ghosts involved or apparently Danny needing help to stop someone, he started ignoring almost all existing traffic and safety laws. And possibly the laws of physics.
Another abrupt, squealing, and scary sharp turn nearly threw her against the window even with the protection of the seatbelt. She was startled into briefly opening her eyes, causing her to see a lot of car headlights ahead of them. The RV was weaving around them wildly, but there was no end to the flood of traffic.
"Dad, this is a one-way street," Jazz yelped.
"I'm only going one way," he called back, somehow still dodging the other cars even while turning to look at her.
Staring at a map, her mom said, "Jack, turn right."
Jazz bit back a scream as he spun the wheel; the RV lurched and jerked as it went over the curve and drove along the sidewalk for almost a minute before returning to the road. She really regretted not going with the others now. The teenager forced her eyes back shut, hoping to block out the worst of the insane driving and her fear for her safety.
But even without sight, Jazz could tell the trip was terrifying. The screech and squeal of tires filled the air. The RV tilted and jerked around turns and over obstacles. She was even fairly certain they were airborne a couple of times.
"We'll have to find somewhere outside the park to leave the RV. Any ideas?" asked Jazz, trying to distract herself from the sounds of pure chaos.
"Why outside the park?" her father said, sounding rather surprised.
"Because there are no roads through park."
"So?"
The parking lot was empty except for her white van, so she had plenty of room to work. She considered using grave dirt and oak shavings similar to how she did when dealing with the poltergeist, but Melinda ultimately decided it wasn't worth the effort and materials. The Ghost Shield would be enough for containment and security. Her smaller circle for herself was merely a back-up. So she decided to stick with a simpler method.
With a thick chunk of chalk, Melinda quickly sketched out a huge circle across the ancient blacktop. She took the time to make the thing large enough to encompass both her and the van. That would ensure that she would have the entire content of the vehicle at hand if necessary rather than having to risk breaking the circle if she needed something. It paid to be prepared.
As soon as she was finished with the chalk, she pulled out a bag of candles from the back of the van. They were short, stout, white, and very difficult to extinguish. They were essentially versions of the trick birthday candles, the type that couldn't be blown out and required water to actually extinguish them. With some sturdy candle holders to protect the flames further, Melinda quickly lit and placed the candles along the inside edge of the chalk line.
Once she positioned the final one, she glanced towards the gradually darkening sky. There was still no sign of the glowing green Ghost Shield. Roger clearly wasn't finished yet, so she had some time to spare.
If there was one lesson she took to heart, that was it never hurt to be prepared. Melinda opened the back of the van again. For a moment, she thought she caught a glimpse of movement in the shadows of the interior. It was like a tendril of smoke or mist. But when she actually looked properly, she didn't see anything except her various supplies and tools. In fact, she spotted exactly what she was looking for.
While originally part of Little Freddy's inheritance, she'd managed to "borrow' a few artifacts that no one recognized as dangerous enough to actually confiscate when they arrested him. As his closest living relative, it was fairly easy to gain possession of his personal belongings.
The knife was almost exactly the same as when she used it as a teenager, but there was one key difference she'd taken steps to ensure. The Twin-sided Blade of the Trapped Dead no longer could be used to free ghosts. Melinda purposefully dulled that edge over time until it was too blunt to cut anything. Only the destructive side remained usable, razor sharp and deadly. In the highly unlikely event something went wrong and the power of the necklace wasn't enough to keep a threat at bay, she would have a backup plan. With nowhere else to properly keep it until then, she slipped the knife into her purse so it would be easy to grab in an emergency.
With no other major preparations to make and no other alternate strategies she could setup, Melinda once again turned her eyes towards the sky. Soon, Amity Park would be covered by the Ghost Shield, serving as a circle to trap and contain the ghosts. Soon, she would be wielding the power of the gem and her will against untold numbers of ghosts. And Melinda was confident that with the necklace to strengthen her power, her resolve would be enough to win. Soon, her dream would come true.
She briefly touched the green jewel around her neck. She could do it. She could exorcise the ghosts. Not a single one of those heartless, cruel, manipulative things would remain. Any moment now Roger would activate the Ghost Shield and she would begin.
It was the beginning of the end of ghosts.
Traveling with Betelgeuse was always an experience. Even without using the Netherworld as a shortcut, he could certainly speed things up. Lydia, Sam, and Tucker were on bikes as their chosen mode of transportation (with Lydia using Danny's since hers was gone). When the poltergeist and Danny came back down, Betelgeuse abruptly threw his power at the bicycles and things became far more interesting. Even with the stakes so high, Lydia couldn't help smiling as their bikes rose about a foot off the ground and flew at high speed down the streets. High enough off the ground to ignore friction and the need to pedal, but low enough to not attract a lot of attention.
Of course, having Danny fly beside them and Betelgeuse perching on the front of the bike like a hood ornament wasn't exactly subtle, but they were moving too fast for anyone to get a close look anyway. The very few people on the sidewalks would only see vague shapes speeding by, nothing identifiable or specific. The fading light further ensured no one saw exactly who was blazing through the streets.
"Okay, this is almost as cool as a rollercoaster of something, except without the loops. Though still not quite as fun as flying with Danny," said Tucker, his shouts barely audible over the wind.
"This is nothing. If we weren't in a hurry, I'd show you some real acrobatics," Betelgeuse cackled.
Lydia leaned forward a little, unconcerned by how the ground raced below at a dangerous speed and said, "Make sure to set us down before we get there, Beej. Don't let her see you or Danny. Let the rest of us try and handle things first."
"And why would I do that, Babes?"
"Because she can get rid of you with your name, has an evil necklace, and she's in an exorcising mood," she said. "That won't work on humans. Plus, that'll leave you and Danny as a secret weapon."
For a moment, all she could hear was the rushing wind as their bikes continued the wild trip across town. Finally Lydia saw him reluctantly nod from his perch on the handlebars.
"Fine," said Betelgeuse. "But if she tries anything or you take too long or I get really bored, I'm not staying on the sidelines. I don't like leaving you with only the members of the teen hero squad for backup."
Knowing that was the best she was going to get and feeling it was fairly reasonable, Lydia leaned back and enjoyed the rest of the crazy bike ride. She couldn't actually steer and pedaling was pointless since they were being moved by Betelgeuse, so there wasn't much she could do anyway. She just watched the darkening streets fly by.
But eventually they began to slow from the possibly highway speed they'd been using to something that was more believable for a human to achieve. Then the bikes lowered to the ground until the tires were practically skimming the street. Lydia took it as a signal and started pedaling at that point just in case he turned back over control to the riders.
"We're here," said Danny and Betelgeuse in unison as the bicycles finally came to a stop.
Lydia took a chance to glance around the outskirts of Amity Park. Betelgeuse had parked them next to a large billboard announcing that the site would someday be an all-you-can-eat buffet. But for now it seemed that, once she peered around the billboard, there was a dark and semi-abandoned building that once contained clothes. There was also a very extensive parking lot that stretched between them and the former store.
The biggest point of interest, however, was the white van in the middle of the parking lot currently illuminated by dozens of candles that surrounded it. With the stretching shadows of twilight ensuring that flickering sources of light stood out more, it didn't take a genius to figure out where Aunt Melinda was lurking.
Looking a little harder, Lydia spotted the woman in white near the van. She slipped back behind the billboard so that her aunt wouldn't be able to see in her in return. They'd definitely found Aunt Melinda. Now they just needed to stop her.
"So, do we just walk over and politely ask her to hand over the necklace?" asked Tucker, glancing briefly around the billboard himself.
"We can try talking sense into her, but I doubt that will work," Lydia said, pulling her red poncho around herself more tightly.
Pulling out a roll of duct tape from her backpack, Sam said, "Good thing I have a Plan B. If she can't talk and can't move, she won't be able to exorcise anyone or stop us from getting the Gem of Osiris."
"Seriously? We're upgrading from breaking and entering and burglary all the way to essentially kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment?" asked Tucker.
"We aren't really kidnapping or holding her hostage or anything. We're just stopping her. It can't be worse than sticking ghosts in the thermos. Anyway, she's prepared for ghosts attacking her, not a girl with duct tape. We tackle her when we get close, slap some tape on her mouth, cocoon her wrists and ankles, and get the necklace off."
"Okay, Danny-boy, I'm really liking your girlfriend right now," said Betelgeuse.
"She's not my girlfriend," snapped Danny at the same instant that Sam declared the same thing.
Lydia rolled her eyes briefly and quickly noticed that Tucker mirrored her reaction perfectly. Yeah, she was definitely detecting some long-term denial right now if even their best friend was getting tired of it. No wonder Betelgeuse kept poking at them. Teasing them regularly must be entertaining. Of course that particular topic could wait for another day.
"Whatever makes you happy," smirked Betelgeuse. "And is there a Plan C where I get to wring the witch's neck? Because I would love to hear that plan."
"One of us would need to break the protective circle she's set up," Lydia said. "Otherwise you're not going to able to reach her without using a lot of unnecessary power. Let me, Sam, or Tucker go first and maybe gag her with the duct tape. Once she and the gem are no longer a threat, she's all yours for a while."
The predatory grin would have scared her a few years ago, but now she actually felt reassured by it. She trusted him too much to be afraid. And she was relatively sure he wouldn't actually kill Aunt Melinda, regardless of how malicious he looked.
Though she didn't want to admit it, Lydia was aware that a dark, hurt, and angry part of herself wouldn't be immediately upset if something fatal happened to the woman. Yes, there would be guilt later, but that didn't change the fact she wouldn't mourn her aunt. She wouldn't mourn her death like she did the rest of her family. She still hated Aunt Melinda for what she did, for what she tried to do, and what she intended to do that night. Lydia wasn't perfect. Everyone had their dark side. She wouldn't wish death on the woman, but part of her wouldn't be upset about it either.
But Lydia knew Betelgeuse was too experienced to accidentally kill the woman and likely wouldn't do it on purpose. She also knew he was creative enough to figure out something far worse than mere death. That would be enough. That would satisfy her.
"One last thing," said Sam, digging through her backpack again. "Just in case we need to get in contact with Jazz or something happens that they need to get in contact with us."
She pulled out about four green and white objects that looked like Bluetooth earpieces, a small headphone with a short microphone attached. Sam quickly passed them out to Lydia, Tucker, and Danny before placing one in her own ear.
"Fenton Phones," she said, noticing Lydia's confused look. "I'll keep everyone in contact. I didn't have enough for everyone and since we weren't sure that non-ectoplasm ghosts could be heard over electronics…"
Shrugging, Betelgeuse said, "That's fine. I don't need one of them anyway. If someone really needs to get my attention, there are easier ways."
"Thanks, Sam," said Danny, placing his own Fenton Phone in his ear. "You guys want me to come along invisibly or to hang back?"
"I'd say keep your distance. For all we know, Aunt Melinda has a ghost-presence detecting device," Lydia said. "Just pay attention in case we yell for backup."
She gave Betelgeuse a final quick look of reassurance that she would be fine before turning to face her fellow humans. This was it. Tucker and Sam nodded briefly at her. Then the trio stepped out from behind the billboard and started the march across the parking lot.
Time to try Plan A.
And next time, confrontations of all types. Not to mention surprises for the characters. Hopefully you'll like what comes next.
Remember, reviews are nice and I always appreciate them. I love hearing feedback on this and all stories I write. Thanks.