Author's note: This story takes place before the events of season 2, as i conceptualized it before S2 was even announced. So please refrain from the "BuT wHaT aBoUt *BIG S2 EVENT*??? i ThOuGhT yOu WeRe A fAn HoW cOuLd YoU fOrGeT aBoUt ThAt???" comments. Now, onto our feature presentation. :-)

"You need some help there?"

Barney Guttman looked up from the pile of library books he just dropped and came face to face with a clean-shaven, wavy-haired young man who looked about his age.

"Oh, yes, please!" Barney responded. "As you can tell, i don't really have a good sense of balance, heh." "It's cool," the young man said as he began stacking Barney's books back to his arms. "i'm kinda like that, too."

Once he was finished and both boys stood back up, the stranger noticed the titles on the five books Barney held in his hands, all relating to demons, ghosts, etc., like "They Exist and I'm Not Crazy: My Encounter with the Spirit Realm", "Hell for Dummies" and "Afterlife: What You Need to Know About Ghosts". "You're into the supernatural, huh?" he asked the blue-haired teen.

"Huh?" said Barney. "Oh, yeah, i guess." A few seconds of awkward silence filled the air permeating the neighborhood sidewalk they stood on, before the stranger broke it. "I'm Trevor, by the way. You look a little familiar actually. Do we go to the same-"

"Actually, now that you mention it, i think i recognize you from history! Barney, by the way. It was very nice to meet you, and i'd love to talk more with you, but i have to get going. Very late to an important meeting with my friends."

"Wait, can i least-"

"Bye for now!" Barney said as he fast-walked away from Trevor, leaving him standing alone before he could ask to join him, or at least get his number.

What he didn't know, however, is that this would turn out to be a good thing. As Barney Guttman and his aforementioned friends would soon face the biggest problem of their already complicated lives…

Literally.

To say Phoenix Parks is one of the most diverse theme parks out there is an understatement. It's divided by a group of attractions with separate themes for everyone's separate tastes, all based on the works of the late actress Pauline Phoenix. The staff, as well, is also diverse: the place is well-known for its extreme inclusiveness- as long as they're willing to put up with it, anyone, no matter the gender, race, religion, disability, is welcome to work at Phoenix Parks. No group of employees were a better example of this than the two security guards, the transgender and gay young man, Barney Guttman, and his Pakistani-American and autistic co-worker, Norma Khan, alongside Norma's Muslim best friend Badyah Hassan, and Barney's boyfriend, the Vietnamese-American Logan Nguyen (aka Logs).

The foursome sat in the break room inside the staff building, eating their lunch. "So did you guys see that new action movie starring Leo Neilson?" asked Logan. "The one where he plays a retired FBI agent who has to stop a military coup?"

"Oh, Kill Order?" Badyah said. "No, i didn't see that one."

"Well," Logan responded. "Barney and i got to see it last night…" "...and it was amazing!" Barney joined in. He then focused his attention on Norma, who was looking down at her phone. "How about you, Norma?"

"Never saw it, never will." Norma responded. "Modern cinema is full of nothing but remakes, adaptations, wasted potential and sadness. There are so few mainstream movies these days that capture the depth, the realistic tragedy, the mind-feeding essence of the classics!"

"Oh… right." Barney knew Norma was a super-fan of Pauline Phoenix, so it made sense she would have this mindset.

Just then, a puff of red smoke and sparkles blew up in the middle of their table, and out popped their macaroni-headed demon buddy(?), Courtney. "What's up, foolish mortals!?" she exclaimed as she made her entrance smack dab in the middle of the cold hard table, laying sideways in the signature bent-arm, hand-on-cheek, legs-crossed sexy pose. Her sudden appearance made the quartet jump back in shock.

"Again, Courtney?" an exasperated Norma said, alluding to the few times she's done this in similar environments, always on some kind of table, always close to the group. "What?" Courtney responded. "I like making a grand entrance."

"First off, not exactly a 'grand' entrance," said Barney. "And second, what do you want?" Courtney responded with "I was just wondering if one of you could… uh…" she touched her fingers together in a bashful fashion. "take me over to the human tool place? I need that whacking thingy for a spell."

"You mean the hardware store?" Badyah asked. "And a hammer?"

"*sigh* We've already had this talk." Logan told Courtney. "We cannot have you leaving the park!"

"But…" Courtney responded, unwilling to stop standing her ground. "you always let me accompany you around the park all the time whenever it's full of people!"

"Because they're all too busy having fun to notice a literal demon! We told you!" Barney said. "We're just not ready to believe the same scenario would happen anywhere else. So for now, you stay put."

"That ridicul-" Courtney started, but was interrupted by Norma. "No 'but's!" the latter demanded. "And how did you even know about the store anyway?" asked Barney.

"Pugsley told me about it when you two went last week." Courtney said. Pugsley was Barney's loyal-to-the-core pet dog, who had recently gained the ability to speak full English (thanks to the demon Courtney tried to sacrifice Barney to when they first met).

"And besides that," Logan said. "why would you want a hammer for a spell?"

"I've been told it holds great strength, and let's just say i'll need the essence of strength for this…" Courtney said, a grin developing on her face.

"Well, whatever." Barney said. "You're still not going. Hey, where is Pugsley, anyway?" As if right on cue, the group heard tiny footsteps and panting, and lo and behold, the lil' pug himself showed up.

"Hey guys! What's happening?" Pugsley said. None of the group could respond, as they were too focused on one detail they definitely did not notice the last time they saw him: a suspiciously-deep-red-colored liquid all around Pugsley's mouth.

"Uhm… y-you good, Pugsley?" Barney asked, suddenly confused and a little fearful. Given all the strange and dangerous stuff he's been through since working for Phoenix Parks, it was inevitable he would be more suspicious of anything remotely relating to the unusual. And seeing his own pet dog's lips covered in what seemed like blood like he was straight out of a Stanley Kane novel was pretty unusual. "You kinda got… something on your mouth…"

A confused Pugsley felt his mouth with his paw and finally noticed the liquid. "Oh!" he said. "That's probably the ketchup from all the hot dogs Courtney had me eat earlier! I'm currently taking a 5-minute break before i go back to munching!"

Barney and Norma looked over at Courtney with raised eyebrows, while Logan said. "Uh… why would she want you to do that?"

"I don't know, she never explained," Pugsley said. "but so far it's been fun! Those wieners are to die for!"

"Okay… let's continue eating and forget about all this." Badyah said, and so the foursome got back to eating. Norma, however, had an inquiry. "You took Pugsley to the hardware store? I thought they didn't allow pets?"

Barney responded with "I think Pugsley's ability to talk scared the manager into letting him in."

Little did the gang knew, something was watching them. Something invisible. Mysterious. Yet compared to everything else they've seen in the park, not very surprising. And yet, it would eventually lead to their most challenging… well, challenge yet.

It wasn't just watching. It was waiting for a perfect time to strike.

Night falls on the neighborhood. As the moon began to shine on the now dark and closed Phoenix Parks, Barney and Pugsley took it as a sign to get ready for bed. And by bed, i mean the coffin that sits in the "dungeon" below Dead End, the haunted house attraction where 99% of the park's oddities occur.

Before Barney entered the spacious mansion, he turned his head towards the rest of the park and stared in wonder at the bustling establishment, its highest points of its diverse attractions towering him in the distance. Even though it was closed for the night, in his mind he could hear crowd after crowd having what could be the time of their lives, sensing the voices of both kids and adults. To Barney, and many other people, Phoenix Parks wasn't just a place of entertainment- it was also a safe haven, a break from the stresses of the world, whatever it may be. The park was the jewel of this otherwise dull town, and Barney was glad nothing about it was drastically changed. Other than, of course…

"Is it just me, or does this place feel… bigger?" the teen lightly chuckled to himself as he stepped inside Dead End.

Soon Barney and Pugsley both found themselves in the basement, getting ready to turn in for the night. "Goodnight, my little good boy." Barney said as he laid himself down on the coffin-bed. "Sweet dreams, Barney." Pugsley said as he also got into his sleeping position. Both closed their eyes, awaiting whatever dreams would behold them.

This would, alas, be their last normal night, at least since they and Tamalucas parted ways.

The entity knew that the perfect time was when he was in his REM state. It's tried getting people while they were awake in the past, but they were just too aware for it to work out. Barney, vulnerable as he was at that moment, wasn't so lucky. So it did what it did best- absorbed itself into the teen's body, making itself comfortable inside his belly. It wasn't going to work its magic right away- it needed to sleep too before it could enact its grand plan.

Besides, it needed the energy. It had a big day tomorrow.