So, I ended up with a lot of feedback on that last chapter. In fact, that was the most reviews for a single chapter I've received for this entire story (though I originally didn't expect a lot of reviews in the first place when I started writing since this was a crossover and both the film and cartoon are several years old by now). Everyone's reviews can be summarized as this: "Things are going very wrong."
And you would be correct. Things for the protagonists have indeed taken a serious turn for the worse. Getting through all of this should prove to be a real challenge. But hopefully they'll find a way. And hopefully you'll like what I have in mind. So please enjoy the continuing chaos that's being unleashed on the poor protagonists.
Today was the most amazing day of my life. There is absolutely no other way to describe it. I'm not even sure where to begin, but it was more amazing than I could have ever believed.
Apparently all my questions about the Netherworld and what it was like, even when Betelgeuse kept complaining it wasn't that great, finally got to him. Apparently his solution for making me stop asking a million questions about it was to simply show me the place. Honestly, I think he planned it ahead of time rather than having it a spur of the moment decision like he acted like it was. I also have a feeling he bent or broke a dozen rules by taking someone alive to the Netherworld, but he did it.
The Netherworld is hard to describe. He didn't take me to the Waiting Room, which is the only place Adam and Barbara ever really visited. He took me somewhere else. It was dark and twisted. Nothing was perfectly straight, flat, symmetrical, and standard. There were odd angles, twists and spirals, and strange proportions that just don't seem to add up. There were places that seemed too big or too small. There were places that seemed to overlap each other, like hallways and streets that looped back on themselves and appeared to occupy the exact same spot as something else. Everything I ever learned about "two objects can't occupy the same space at the same time" and the laws of physics obviously don't apply in the Netherworld. All Beej said was that maps were almost impossible to make for the place and that I shouldn't think about it too hard if I don't want my brain to melt. I think he was kidding about that last part, but it is probably best to take his advice on that.
I saw a few other ghosts there, but I didn't get to talk to them for long. Betelgeuse kept close to me, saying something about camouflaging the fact I'm still alive, and I think that discouraged at least some of them. But I got a good look at a few of them. Some of their manners of death were pretty messy and obvious. The ones I did get the chance to speak to briefly seemed nice. They're apparently the ghosts who didn't end up lucky enough to have somewhere to haunt and are waiting for one to become available or lost their haunting perimeters (like from the demolition of the old building or something similar). I guess Adam and Barbara are lucky to still have a home to stay in. I think one or two might have been some pretty weak poltergeists, but they seemed particularly uneasy getting close to Beej. I think that even if they didn't recognize him, they could tell how powerful he is.
I wish I'd brought my camera, but I'm not even sure it would have worked right. I know ghosts don't show up in pictures, so the entire Netherworld might be like that. But it would be nice to photograph the strange, dark, amazing place.
We spent hours there. And the most interesting part is that, when we came home, only fifteen minutes had passed. I knew that time passed differently between the two, but I figured it just went faster in the Netherworld. Turns out it is unpredictable for most people. Sometimes it is faster here, sometimes it is faster there. And you can only tell the difference when you go between the land of the living and the Netherworld. That makes it confusing for ghosts, but apparently Betelgeuse is able to figure out how to deal with the chaotic time flow.
And since you'll definitely read this entry the moment I turn my back, thank you so much for this. I can't even tell you how much I appreciated you taking me to the Netherworld. It might be boring for you, but it was better than I could have ever imagined. Thank you, Beej.
You're easily amused, Lyds. That place gets dull after a couple of centuries.
Well, I'm not that old yet and I'm not dead. For me, it was amazing. I can't even imagine getting bored with the place. I loved getting to see and explore the Netherworld.
Yeah, well, no diving off a bridge or anything to get in faster, Babes. You wouldn't get to see much of the sights if you get stuck as a caseworker.
I'm not going to. Promise. I'm not the same as I was when we first talked in the attic. You know that.
Good. And if you get me some of those crickets from the pet store again, I might be willing to sneak you back in next time I'm sure you won't end up missing a week at home because of the time difference.
Deal!
-Excerpt from "Lydia Deetz' Journal"
The thrill of victory was overwhelming them as Sanduleak finally vanished, prompting Tucker to start exchanging high-fives with his friends. They'd stopped Melinda, stopped Sanduleak, and didn't die in the process. The adrenaline of driving for the first time hadn't quite worn off either. Tucker simply felt excited and pumped at the moment, ready to celebrate.
"You took out Jack the Ripper," he cackled, grabbing Lydia and spinning her around. "You beat Jack the Ripper."
Laughing slightly, Danny said, "What about me? I'm the one who was blasting him. I think we all deserve some credit."
"Fine. We all beat him," Tucker corrected.
Even in the midst of the excitement of the success, he noticed when things started to go wrong. Tucker saw the look of confusion briefly cross Lydia's face. He turned, following her gaze.
He hadn't really noticed that Betelgeuse wasn't joining in on the celebrations. Now Tucker did. The poltergeist still stood exactly where he'd been when Sanduleak vanished. Head bowed, eyes closed, and fist clenched, he didn't seem to be paying attention to them. Lying at his feet was the knife, the one Melinda owned that could theoretically kill ghosts. Maybe it was the remaining adrenaline rush, but Tucker could feel his skin prickle and a shiver ran up his spine.
"Guys?" said Lydia, her voice still a little rough. Her tone interrupted the excited hug between Sam and Danny, making the pair turn serious again. "Where's the Gem of Osiris?"
Tucker shivered, the feeling that something was wrong growing. The knife remained, but not the necklace. Did it go with Sanduleak wherever he was banished to? He hoped so. He desperately hoped so.
Then Betelgeuse's eyes popped open and confirmed Tucker's worst fears. Where only Sanduleak's pupils glowed, Betelgeuse's entire eyes were a solid intense green shade that made him look possessed. Possessed and completely deranged. He lifted his head, the vacant and glowing stare not really focusing on anyone or anything. It absolutely terrified Tucker.
"No," whispered Lydia, her hand going to her mouth in horror.
An insane, manic, and terrifying grin overtook the poltergeist's face. And then it got even scarier.
"EEEEEYYYYYYAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAHAAAAAHAAA!"
The sound was like something from an insane asylum, the sort of thing that belonged in nightmares. Horror movies paled in comparison. The laugh seemed unhinged and dangerously psychotic.
"Easy now," said Danny quietly, his tone that of someone facing an aggressive dog. Stepping forward slightly, he said, "Look, just put down the necklace."
The poltergeist's hands lashed out and the air wavered like a heat mirage. The ground rippled around Betelgeuse, acting like water when someone tossed a stone in. It sent the knife skidding away, but Tucker's attention was on the poltergeist and how physics were becoming more fluid. Asphalt, concrete, brick, and even rain puddles began to shift and morph before his eyes into new shapes and materials. Buildings on either side reformed like clay into strange shapes with stripes or giant spirals. Cars parked in the street twisted into large beetle shapes. The very air around them felt different. And it was spreading fast.
Tucker bit back some words his mother would strongly disapprove of before saying, "Okay, we're all doomed. Any ideas?"
"Rush him and hope we can get the necklace before he reacts?" suggested Danny, eyeing the morphing chaos uneasily. "He doesn't look completely aware of us right now. We might get lucky."
"Because we've been so lucky so far," Sam muttered, but she still nodded in agreement.
Lydia stared at Betelgeuse in silent horror as the other three prepared for the insane idea. It wasn't easy seeing your best friend under the influence of some weird necklace that clearly messed with his head. Not to mention reality was stretching and twisting like a piece of taffy as far as the eye could see. She was allowed to be worried. Tucker would personally stick with pure terror himself.
"On three," said Danny in a quiet and calm tone, visibly tensing in preparation. "One… Two… Three!"
They ran towards the crazed poltergeist. Or at least, they tried. The ground underfoot shifted and moved too much to get any real speed and traction. Sometimes it felt solid, but other times it became soft or sticky. Sometimes the surface was smooth, but became uneven and rough by the next step. Really, the only one capable of moving quickly was Danny due to flying. Everyone else stumbled more than they actually ran.
Unsurprisingly, Danny reached Betelgeuse first. Tucker saw him go for the clenched fist, either hoping to knock the gem out of his grip or willing to risk grabbing it and hoping it wouldn't work on a halfa. Whatever he intended, it didn't work. It did manage to snap the poltergeist out of his manic indifference towards them, though. The glowing, empty, crazy eyes became a lot more angry and aggressive, Betelgeuse actually freezing Danny in midair with a sharp gesture.
There should have been a smirk. Everything about Betelgeuse's personality said there should be a smirk. There was no smirk. Only insanity, aggression, and fury.
"Danny," shouted Sam, shocked by how easily he was stopped.
Then Betelgeuse gestured again and everything exploded up and out. A force grabbed Tucker, ripping him off his feet. It flung him off the ground hard, hard enough to disorient him as chunks of the amorphous ground flew around and past him. He didn't immediately realize what was happening until he saw the shifting buildings and a huge crater far below. With flailing arms and terrified screams, Tucker panicked as he hurtled far too high and fast through the air.
And what goes up… must come down.
"Finally," said Jack, startling Jazz as the huge Ghost Shield went down. "That was a mess. But at least that problem is over."
"And the rain stopped," Maddie said, glancing at the sky. "But it does look odd…"
Shaking some of the rainwater from her hair, Jazz said, "Perfect. Now let's track down Danny. It sounds like something is going on with the others."
"That's an understatement."
Jazz yelped in surprise at the unknown voice, everyone spinning around. An older woman with a cigarette and a clear no-nonsense attitude now stood next to the RV. There was something about her, an odd quality Jazz couldn't describe. It seemed like the woman did and did not exist at the same time. But when Jazz actually thought about the paradox, things straightened out enough that she knew the woman was real. She was, however, strangely dry for someone who should have been hit by the surprise downpour.
"Who are you?" asked Maddie with an edge in her voice making it clear she would start firing soon if necessary.
"Juno, the caseworker who is apparently in charge of everything complicated and troublesome," the woman said dryly. "This is certainly outside my job description, but my superiors aren't giving me much choice. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton? Ms. Fenton? And Mr. Livingston?"
"Yes?" Jazz said hesitantly.
"Good," she said with a short nod. "That saves some time. Do you have a way to contact Ms. Deetz and her companions?"
Narrowing his eyes suspiciously, Jack asked, "Why?"
"What do you want with my niece?" added Roger.
"Your wife and Sanduleak made a mess of things," she said sharply. "Neither could resist causing trouble and now we must face the consequences. Specifically, him getting that idiotic necklace. He's not the most stable on the best of days, but now the poltergeist is more powerful than you can possibly imagine and completely out of his mind. So I need to contact the only people in a position, however unlikely, to do something about him having the Gem of Osiris."
"I… I have almost no idea what you're talking about except something really bad is going on," admitted Jack.
Sighing with exasperation, Juno pointed up. Jazz turned to look. The sky still appeared dark and cloud-covered. But it looked wrong, unnatural and boiling like a freaky soup. It reminded her of the time Amity Park was briefly pulled into the Ghost Zone, but not quite. There was just something wrong that seemed to be quickly spreading.
"Okay, I'll see if I can get a hold of them," Jazz said.
Whatever blurry figures tried to take the burning, painful, pleasurable, bright source of power that tried to shatter him, they were gone. Destroyed or just gone, it didn't matter. He didn't really think about it. Thinking didn't really work with all the power, the sheer amount flooding him and drowning away almost everything else. He just acted. Instinctive reactions, impulse, and nearly-buried subconscious were all he had.
He didn't want to let go. It burned and hurt to contain the bright power. But he also wanted it. He needed it. He couldn't let the blurry shapes take the source of overwhelming power from him. No, he wouldn't let them.
He directed a portion of the power he was pouring into the surroundings back towards his fist. A broken chain repaired with a fleeting thought. Moving it to around his neck, he then lost track of all thoughts about it.
Not really seeing beyond the bright, burning, intense power that still threatened to shatter him even as he poured it out, he began to move. He didn't know what the power was doing to his surroundings. There was change, but he wasn't consciously directing it. He couldn't consciously direct anything.
It burned. So bright and so hot. There was too much. It filled him beyond what he could hold, trying to burst him apart. Even pouring the power out as quickly as possible couldn't relieve the pressure. It hurt and felt intoxicatingly good.
Even as he moved among the chaos, it burned too bright. Everything burned. He was burning from the inside out, the bright intensity destroying him. Nothing would stop it until there was nothing left.
Sam coughed, trying to recover from having the wind knocked out of her. She felt like one giant bruise. Of course, she should be dead. She and her friends were tossed across the city and fell hundreds of feet towards the ground. She should be a greasy smear on the sidewalk instead of just being sore and disoriented.
But physics were clearly being as affected as everything else by Betelgeuse's power. Right before she went splat, the falling girl abruptly slowed down. She hit the ground hard, but not fatally so. Rather than die, she simply added more bruises to her growing collection.
"Ow," she moaned.
She honestly just wanted to lie there, not moving for a while. The ground felt strange under her hands and her cheek. It wasn't dirt, stone, concrete, or anything she would expect. It felt cool and goopy, like something between rubber and maple syrup without the stickiness. It didn't cling to her, but it shifted and morphed under the pressure of her body. As Sam reluctantly forced herself to start getting up, she watched the dark surface pour into the imprint of her body to fill in the gap. A solid that moved like a liquid. Yeah, it was pretty weird.
Once she's crawled to her hands and knees, Sam actually started looking around. Shadows and darkness seemed to engulf everything. There were no stars in the sky. The only light she could make out was a green glow with no obvious source. There weren't any familiar buildings or buildings at all, so Sam couldn't guess where she'd landed. It didn't look like any recognizable part of Amity Park.
Strange spirals of varying sizes sprouted across the rolling hills of the landscape. Monoliths that might be stone were scattered like the missing buildings. Twisted, leafless trees sprang from the ground as she watched. Then there were the winding paths that ran along the hills and through the air with equal measure. Giant insects, snakes, and spiders scuttled across the alien landscape while ravens and bats flew. The colors were all dark and muted, though bold stripe patterns were fairly common. Honestly, Sam rather liked the style and wished she could decorate her room like that.
Something was off about the dimensions of the place, like the famous picture of the impossible staircases where people climbed them at every angle. Sam suspected over-thinking the way the physics were being twisted into a pretzel wouldn't be wise.
"Sam? Tucker? Lydia?" shouted Danny's voice over the Fenton Phone, sounding horrified and panicked.
"I'm fine," she answered quickly. "I'm not hurt. You?"
"I don't know where I am, but I'm not hurt and I can move again," he assured, a little relief edging into his voice. "Tucker? Lydia? What about you guys?"
With a slightly muffled voice over the connection, Tucker said, "I'm not dead. Wherever I am is freaky, though."
"This isn't really him. He's remaking the world and he doesn't even realize it," Lydia's voice said quietly, not really answering the question about her condition. "Part of this matches his haunting style, but the rest looks like a less urban corner of the Netherworld."
"According to someone named Juno, that's probably because the ghost is actually somehow affecting both Amity Park and the Netherworld at the same time."
"Jazz?" asked Danny over the crackling connection.
"Juno is here?" Lydia asked, a spark of hope returning to her voice.
"The slightly scary woman with the pearl necklace and a smoking problem? Yeah. And she's not happy. Apparently your friend has the gem thing that hinders and alters his mental faculties while empowering him enough to theoretically distort and destroy everything. Earth, the Ghost Zone, and the Netherworld. And she wants you to fix it."
"Of course she does," muttered Sam. "This is like Freakshow and the Reality Gauntlet again. He's too strong and can do anything, so directly facing him is insane."
"And tricking him like with Freakshow won't work. I saw his eyes. There's not much going on in there," Danny added. "And even if we could fight him, I wouldn't want to. This isn't his fault. He's not himself, like with me and Freakshow's staff."
"And if he continues to use his power like this? You remember what Juno said about the necklace. He'll either destroy the world or burn himself out. Or both," said Sam as she climbed to her feet.
"Sorry, guys. We're about to get in the RV and active our built-in Ghost Shield," Jazz said quickly. "Give me a few minutes."
Quietly, Tucker said, "Uh… I might have a back-up plan that no one will like. When he tossed me to somewhere with an upside-down waterfall, something else landed here with me."
"What?" asked Lydia.
"Melinda's knife. The one for ghosts…"
Silence fell across the line. No one immediately responded. Who would want to address that possible solution? No one even wanted to consider it. But they needed to at least think about it.
Sam took the opportunity to try taking a few steps across the amorphous material currently replacing the ground. Her feet sank several inches into the goopy substance, but she could manage.
"I don't think it should be the first choice," Tucker continued uneasily, "but if we run out of other options, we might have to try it."
"There are plenty of extreme measures we could try," said Lydia, her voice a little unsteady. "The knife. Or… something I could do to him. But we need to try separating him from the gem first. We need to help him."
"We will. We'll do our best to help him," Danny assured.
"We'll have to find him first," Tucker pointed out. "And considering that I'm currently staring at stone arches that are acting like teleporting portals to the new local wildlife, I have no idea which way to look for the guy."
"Good thing I can fly then," he said smugly.
Sam smiled briefly to herself, already imagining Danny flying through the air of the weird, twisted landscape. If anyone could navigate the chaos and figure out a nonfatal method of stopping Betelgeuse, it would be Danny. She believed in him.
He'd been confused by the weird alterations to Amity Park before. Once he'd been released from whatever paralyzing hold Betelgeuse placed on him and made sure his friends were alive, Danny climbed out of the crater and stared at the dead forest instead of a town. It had been so weird. But once he was in the air again, he'd only grown more confused and unnerved. There were no familiar landmarks. It looked like the inside of Sam's brain, all dark and Gothic.
Or, considering who was causing all the chaos, it was a glimpse into the crazy-version of Betelgeuse's mind.
He couldn't believe what was happening to his home. Amity Park was gone. The dark, twisted, strange surroundings extended as far as the eye could see. Hills, cliffs, spirals, structures of indefinable purpose, places where gravity appeared to be reversed as water ran up, arches, skeletal plants, and indescribable shapes were everywhere. There was nothing left that wasn't changed.
Where were the people? Men, women, and children just weren't around anymore. What happened to the population of Amity Park? Were they teleported away somewhere? Where they transformed into the giant creepy-crawlies that were now scurrying around? Were they even alive anymore?
And what about him, Sam, Tucker, and Lydia? Why were they still around and alive? Betelgeuse tossed them like unwanted toys rather than making them vanish like everyone else. Why? They were helpless against his reality warping powers, but he didn't destroy them. What was going on in that insane poltergeist's head?
From his position far above the chaos, Danny spotted the subtle ripples of change moving out from a central source. It didn't take a genius to realize that the source was Betelgeuse, which meant he'd found the guy. Now he just needed to figure out how to get the gem from Betelgeuse without being casually tossed aside again.
"Okay, how does this sound? I get close and say his name three times," Danny said. "He'll be banished back to the Netherworld. If we're lucky, he'll be sent away and the necklace will be left behind."
"And if not, he'll turn his insane rampage against the Netherworld," Lydia's voice pointed out over the Fenton Phones.
"It'll at least buy us some time to come up with something better. And ghosts will be able to defend themselves against his changes better than humans can."
Sam said, "I can't think of anything else we could try first, at least not something that won't hurt someone. I guess it'll have to be our Plan A."
"No, Plan A was all of us running towards him and trying to grab the necklace," said Tucker. "Actually, I think Plan A was the one meant to handle Melinda by talking to her. We've moved down the alphabet a bit since then."
"Fine, we'll call it Plan Raven," Lydia said. "Just watch out. He's been fast at muting someone in the past when they try to say his name. You'll have to be faster."
"Got it," said Danny before diving towards the ground.
He came up behind Betelgeuse at a reasonable distance, the poltergeist either not noticing Danny's arrival or ignoring him. He was shuffling along, moving more like a movie zombie. There was even a slouch to his posture. His hands dangled by his sides limply, occasionally lashing out as his power flared up throughout the area. There was no obvious goal or destination. Betelgeuse just kept moving forward.
"Well, you don't seem to worry about me as long as I don't get too close," said Danny quietly.
Unfortunately, he wasn't quiet enough. At the sound of his voice, Betelgeuse spun around to face him. The Gem of Osiris now hung around the poltergeist's neck. His expression was mildly curious and confused, but was mostly manic and wild. Some of the sluggishness to his movements and posture had vanished now that there was someone around as a possible target. His eyes also seemed brighter than before.
"I'm really sorry about this," Danny said quickly. "Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse!"
The poltergeist reacted to the name, jerking sharply as fury overtook his face again. What he didn't do, however, was disappear. That left Danny facing an over-powered and furious ghost that he really didn't want to fight. He couldn't' even beat Betelgeuse before the crazy power boost.
Desperately hoping not to get killed, Danny muted the Fenton Phone and wailed. He put as much power as he could into his Ghostly Wail, the only thing that even slightly affected the poltergeist before. The ground tore free and large spirals collapsed from the force of the sound waves hitting them. But even as the piercing noise ripped a path of destruction through everything in front of Danny, he could see that the furious Betelgeuse remained standing. In fact, he was walking towards Danny.
His voice and strength gave out at the same time, leaving Danny falling silent as he lost his grip on his ghost form. Stumbling back, the human teenager un-muted the Fenton Phone and watched the approaching ghost with increasing dread.
"It didn't work. He's still here," he whispered frantically.
"What?" shouted Lydia, her voice practically ringing over the line.
Tripping, Danny hit the now-metal-like ground. He didn't let it slow him down. He crawled backwards along the smooth surface and away from the aggressive ghost with an unhinged snarl on his face.
"Danny, what's happening?" asked Jazz.
"He can't banish Beej with his name," Lydia said, sounding stunned.
"Get out of there, Danny," shouted Sam.
Betelgeuse shot a hand out and grabbed the boy's shirt, lifting him off the ground. Danny fought against the iron grip. He might've been able to slip out of his shirt to escape, but the other hand abruptly dug into Danny's shoulder before he got the chance.
"Juno says he must have actually combined our world with the Netherworld by now, at least for Amity Park," Jazz's voice reported. "He can't be summoned or banished because there's nowhere left for him to really go."
With a flash of frustration and fear at the news, Danny stared back into the glowing eyes of insanity. He really wished he'd known that sooner. Now he was about to be killed. And there was almost nothing he could do about it.
Well, there was one thing he could try. Danny gritted his teeth and took a risk. With as much speed as possible, he took advantage of being held up by the poltergeist and lunged for the necklace. He nearly touched the gem before Betelgeuse reacted strongly to the attempt, flinging him back.
He wasn't thrown up this time. The force simply hurtled him away. Darkness and shadows rose up and swallowed Danny, pulling him somewhere else. From there the teenage human found himself no longer moving sideways, but falling instead. Gravity really needed to choose a direction.
Then he hit with a splash.
Well, their first couple of attempts to separate the gem from Betelgeuse didn't exactly go according to plan. But at least they aren't dead. The real question is why they aren't dead. Perhaps even while his personality and memories are currently buried under extreme power, insanity, and aggression, part of his subconscious still won't let him murder the teenagers. Or maybe he just can't focus long enough to do it. Either way, they really aren't having much luck stopping him and the world is turning into something from Tim Burton's imagination.
Remember, reviews are nice and I always appreciate them. I love hearing feedback on this and all stories I write. Thanks.