Amitty Park 1673.
Red coats stood circled around a woman tied to a stake with torches in their hands "Mary Anne Magdalen. For the crimes of witchcraft, cattle mutilation, desecration of a corpse. You are found guilty and sentenced to burn, may God have mercy upon your soul" read out a priest. As the red coats set fire to the wood a man restrained in chains and shackles struggled and pulled against his captors.
Mary Anne's shrieks filled the air, a horrid blood curdling scream as the flames devoured the podium and her along with it. The man tried to force himself free but was brought to his knees when a red coat slammed the butt of his rifle against his legs. "Don't concern yourself with your heathen wife Armen the fires will cleanse her foul soul" he growled.
Armen lunged at the soldier only to be struck down again with the stock crushing his nose. His steel jaw restraint preventing his mouth from opening to protest. The screams slowly gave way to silence and the smell of charred flesh "Take this conspirator and Witch server to his retribution" he ordered the other soldiers. With an aggressive pull on his chains Armen was dragged by his ankles away from the burn site towards the docks. The rocks and thistles scraping and pricking at his faces the whole time until he was finally hauled onto his knees and his eyes widened in sheer terror. His mouth restraint was released and replaced with a deer skull over his head, only for his screams to rebound off the water and ships.
"NOOOO! Please I beg of you have mercy!" he cried. An iron cask was held open as the soldiers forced him inside.
"This is Gods mercy, Armen. You will be cleansed and your tainted soul purified. The water will wash away your sins" the priest calmly told him before nodding to the others to close the door. Armen screams echoed off the walls inside the iron maiden as it was hoisted high onto a ships deck.
"You bastards! I'll see you all burn for this!" Armen screamed from his confinement. CURSE YOU! I curse everyone single one of you! And this damned village! You will never know peace again! Your families and your children's, children will pay for this! The Devil will take you, Reverend William Baxter! I swear it!"
The ship sailed just beyond the harbor where the iron cask was then hoisted from the deck and casted into the water. Sinking from sight Armen's screams muffled instantly by the water filling his iron tomb. Black clouds encased the blue sky bringing with it a thunderous storm.
Present day Amity Park
Danny deposited Technus into the portal before returning to the family party. The kitchen was now packed with the Fentons with the bigger ones and pint sized bottomless pit inhaling the pizzas, thank god Val took a whole pizza to his room earlier. Spike was playing with his phone his eyes glued to the screen his mouth fumbling with his slice.
"Hey Danny, check this chick out. PhantomWife17 she's got this awesome photo posted to Phantom-gram, her bio says she goes to Casper you ever, you know?" he asked while raising his eyebrows.
"Nope" Danny stated "I Have a girlfriend and Paulina's not exactly someone to get involved with" Danny handed Valerie a glass of juice who in return for the juice and the quick girlfriend comeback, gave him a peck on the cheek.
Spike however went back to his phone with a stupid grin plastered to his face " I don't know cuz if a girl like this was willing to put on a display like this for me I'd have to throw her a bone, repeatedly" he said.
Danny rolled his eyes and grabbed a slice of pizza before Danielle could inhale her fifth piece. "All the power to you Spike" Danny replied. He was listening to his cousin spout off about Paulina in front of Valerie and was trying to just bury the whole topic.
Uncle Jim leaned over to see what Spike was staring at "Damn!" he exclaimed "she's"
"She's seventeen Uncle Jim" Jazz pointed out.
"Oh whoa! Nope she is jail and the jailest of jails" Uncle Jim replied yanking himself backwards away from the phone.
"You're also married you big headed oaf!" Bethany scolded him with a smack to the head.
Maddie and Evelynn however shook their heads in contempt, "why is it young ladies these days feel the need to put themselves on display like that it used to be your body was something you only showed to your husband"
"uhm Ms. Fenton, please don't lump all us women in that same boat" Valerie interjected "some of us do respect ourselves"
"Why are we judging others for their life choices?" Thorn asked with condescension in her voice. "She's free to do what she fits with her body and not be judged…"
"Nope! Not doing this" Danny interjected "any political or social construct topics can be discussed online but not here"
"Agreed" Jack and Jim nodded.
"The men have spoken" Thorn discourteously replied.
Danny slowly exhaled through his nose to keep his composure Thorn really did adapt Sam's style.
Spike looked back to his phone then to his mom "hey mom can we dye my hair soon I messaged this girl about meeting up tomorrow I think I have a shot"
Dani floated up to the roof to get a peek at what Spike was writing and she nearly burst out laughing. He was telling Paulina he was Danny's ghost cousin and how he was the one who taught Danny everything about his powers. Funniest part was, Paulina was actually replying to his hogwash.
The Pizza was down to single scattered slices and everyone was now talking and reminiscing about old days. Where the topic of the Fenton names finally came up. Turns out the late Mr. Fenton had a unique naming process, Jim, Jack, and Joanie. Had Joanie been a boy she would be named John. "Yeah Dad named us based on the drinks he was enjoying during our conception" Joanie groaned "unoriginal idiot"
"oh and that fishing cabin out at Lake Erie" Bethany interjected "speaking of that, Evelynn isn't it going to be a bit taxing on you to be paying for three properties by yourself? The condo in Florida, the fishing cabin in Erie and the house in Chicago?"
Maddie rolled her eyes. Here it came the inevitable discussion of the inheritance.
"Not at all" Evelynn shrugged "I'll be moving into the Florida condo in a couple of weeks Jasmine has agreed to rent the house out with some of her friends while they take classes at the university. And the cabins paid off. Daniel wasn't one for being fast and loose with his money"
Now Joanie cut in. "Mom, dad's old car is quite a valuable collector's item these days, it should be looked after and not left to sit in a garage where it could end up seizing up from lack of use" she took a quick glance around the room to see if anyone was going to object to her proposal. "Spike is heading off to college soon would you be willing to let him use it so he's not taking the trains or the buses I mean Chicago isn't exactly the safest place in the world and unlike Danny he doesn't have the ability to fly or other powers to defend himself and it would be nice memento for him to have some connection to his grandfather"
Evelynn sipped on her wine glass. Listening to her daughters' plea she knew it was coming, she was expecting it sooner. "I'm sorry Joanie but your father already made arrangements for his car before his passing it's out of my hands" she replied. Keeping the details to a minimal because it wasn't her business to know that Danny inherited the car. Spikes face suddenly dropped to a scowl before going excusing himself from the table.
"Was the car sold? Because if dad had it in his will for it to be sold as family we could contest that. I mean it would be better to keep it a family keepsake like that in the family right?" Joanie asked her siblings only to see Jim shrug and Jack didn't have expression about it.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly shifted into a very uncomfortable tension. It was here, the long expected badgering about the will. "Val do you think you could review some of my notes from history? I bailed halfway through the class and think I missed a few points" Danny asked pulling his chair from the table without waiting for her response. The two teens excused themselves to the den away from the impending argument.
Danny was lying and Valerie knew it. Hearing where the conversation was going pretending to do homework seemed like the safer idea. They sat on the couch with books and binders in hand whilst Spike was sitting on the recliner, clearly sulking about what Evelynn said about the car. Despite not being close with their grandfather it appeared Spike still felt like the eldest grandson should have been given the car. Valerie took notice of his demeanour and poked at Danny nodding at his cousin. Danny merely shook his head, he wasn't engaging in this. Spike was wanting to vent but Danny was giving in. besides the adults in the other room had already started that conversation in the kitchen and it was getting heated.
"The car should have been passed down mom or at the very least us kids should have had a say in what assets went where" they heard Joanie complaining. Shortly after Jazz, Dani and Thorn exited the kitchen taking seats in the den with exasperated expressions painted on their faces.
"Mom is going on the war path" Thorn sighed to her brother "apparently grandpa didn't leave her or us anything, besides some of moms old belongings that were in storage"
"Doesn't matter" Spike grunted "car was given away already"
"oh stop moping " Thorn groaned "we didn't hang out with Gramps all that often so why should we expect anything"
"Because I'm his oldest grandson that should be a right"
Spike shot out of his seat and stormed off to the door clearly in a huff when the door slammed behind him. Even his outburst didn't sway the parents off topic Thorn shook her head at his behaviour but settled into the chair. "He's got no right to be so mad you know we never bothered with grandma and grandpa unless it was a family event hell we didn't even send birthday texts to them. So gramps doesn't owe us anything"
Somewhere over the water a diving school was having a salvage recovery session. Students were assigned to find and open a sunken locker or safe and recover it to receive their certificates. Two students had drifted slightly into darker waters their dim flashlights scanning over the murky muddied bottom of the bay floor. Chains, tires, old ice fishing huts and rusted out bicycles but no signs of their target. The first diver checked his compass to see if they drifted off their charted course when his light hit a dull surface. A metal surface. Nudging his partner the two swam toward what looked like a large safe wrapped in rusted and eroding chains. Quickly getting to it they pulled out a set of bolt cutters and crowbars. The ancient lock snapped with ease but the weight of the water had sealed the container shut tight. The two divers struggled when at long last the door budged and an eerie green light erupted from the inside blinding them in a flash. The water began to churn and roil around them until the light had diminished. The box was empty except for what appeared to be bones laying on the bottom with chains and shackles.
"I am free"
Came a chilling raspy voice clear as day from behind them. The divers turned to see a dark silhouette lurking behind them. It was tall, slender with long gangly arms and what appeared to be a deer head on its shoulders with crimson glowing eyes emitting from the darkness.
"The hour of my revenge has come the people of this village shall no longer know peace, but suffering and damnation for the murder of my wife" the creatures eyes fell upon the divers and the iron tomb that imprisoned him all this time. A simple flick of its fingers and the chains snared the divers binding them and dragging them into the confined cask. Bubbles erupted from the masks as the divers struggled to get free and panic soon hold of them as the door began to close on them. Sealing shut the cask sunk deeper into the muck and mire. "So it begins" the creature then flew from the depths and high above the town scanning the area. The village had long since expanded and transformed in the time he was sealed in that godforsaken cask. He examined his body, his physical non tangible body he wasn't a spectre as he assumed he would be, his ancient deal seemed to have come with a new form and heightened powers beyond that of which he possessed in life. His hand reached to the clouds as a black aura engulfed his fingers and soon began to block out the sun darken the sky.