Inspired by "Sculptor's Dreams" by @bubblegumbeech
Album artwork by @oofouchstovehot
Additional artwork by @spoop-geist
For @invisobang 2025
Jazz likes her dreams, now that the Mask she got from Nocturn gives her complete Control.
The people in Jazz's life aren't nearly as thrilled.
Read bubblegumbeech's phic here: ao3
Check out oofouchstovehot's cover art here: tumblr
Check out spoop-geist's scene art here: tumblr
Listen to the music here: Bandcamp | Spotify
Another year, and another phantastic Invisobang! Thank you, @kinglazrus, for spearheading Invisobang this year, and all years previous! And thank you, @strawberrycamel and @underforeversgrace, for your tremendous help keeping Invisobang running and making it phun!
Thank you, bee, for writing another phenomenal phic in your phantastic world of phantasmal politics! I'm super excited to see where you go next! And thank you, stove and geist, for creating such phantastic art for bee's phic! I love how expressive Spike and Jazz are in your work, geist! And I adore the colors and ambigrams in your cover art, stove!
I hope the music does the story and art justice! Here's to another year of Invisobang!
If you receive this ask, go write 5 sentences on your latest WIP and send this ask to 3 other people, plus one more person for every 30 minutes you are up past your bedtime.
If you have no bedtime, it's one person for every 30 minutes since you've drunk water. Then, if you spent more time reading this ask and sending it to people than you did writing, go write 5 more sentences.
Please blame Jackdaw and send them any vengeance you may or may not seek.
Yeah so I woke up first thing earlier this morning to violence so I responded in kind
đŹ 0  đ 0  â€ïž 0 · For every sentence you have told someone to write in the past 24 hours, write 3. If youâre not sure how many sentences youâ
This picture of fish I took the other day at the aquarium!
You can't eat em, so this might count as a trick... But also they're super cute and look at em, theyve got Halloween Spirit âąïž, there's a skeleton. So maybe it's still a treat.
For @jackdaw-sprite : Jack has figured out why Vlad is so awful to him: he's trying to push Jack away because he's stuck in some kind of self-loathing funk and doesn't think he deserves a friend. Fortunately, his best friend is Jack, and Jack's going to pull him out of this funk come hell or high water. (PR302)
For @mahalidael : Danny goes to investigate a haunted house. Things quickly become complicated when he realizes that the house isn't actually haunted: the house is a ghost. (PR401)
For @bubblegumbeech : Oh this place is haunted haunted⊠too bad Danny canât reveal who he really is⊠it would have Really helped him out (PR041)
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Revelation came like a lightning bolt. Shocking, illuminating, and unexpected, in the middle of the night. Â
All it took was putting together some clues, and those clues came straight from the horseâs mouth, so to speak. Â
Oh, "fanatic" is such a negative word. But, yes.
One of two things my wealth has not as of yet... been able to acquire.
I never had any old moves! All those years in the hospital robbed me of that!
Vladdie was so down on himself! First denigrating his favorite hobby, then making it out that his wealth was the only thing attractive about him, and, most jarringly, saying that he had no moves! Man, Vlad had the best moves in college! Way better than Jackâs, in any case. If he hadnât cut contact, Jack was more than half convinced that Vlad would have been the one to wind up with MaddieâŠ
But why had Vlad cut contact in the first place? Could it have been because⊠because he was in some sort of self-loathing funk and didnât think he deserved Jack and Maddieâs friendship? Just because of the ecto-acne? That was horrible!
But what ifâŠÂ what if he was still in a self-loathing funk? Â
Jack would have to find a way to pull him out! All it would take was some good-old Fenton Friendship (patent pending)! Heâd be the best, most unshakeable friend ever! He wouldnât let Vlad isolate himself ever again!
With that, Jack rolled over and tried to get back to sleep. Â
Unfortunately, all that introspection had really gone to his bladder! Where did Vladdie keep his bathrooms these days?
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It took a while for Jack to put his plan into action, but it became much easier when Vlad unexpectedly moved to Amity Park. Â
The plan started with getting Danny up. A difficult but far insurmountable task. Danny slept like the dead! Ah, Jack remembered those teenage days. Well, far be it from Jack to be deterred by fatigue, even if it was someone elseâs fatigue.
He picked Danny up. Danny could get dressed in the GAV. Jack had already packed!
âDann-o and I are going out!â shouted Jack, as he hefted Danny under one arm and threw them both out the front door. He heard a small, unhappy grunt from upstairs. Sounded more like Jazz than Maddie. Maddie probably still had her earplugs in. Oh well!
Banzai!
âWhazgoingon?â asked Danny, scrabbling at Jackâs suit with nails sharp enough to be felt through the spandex. âWherzzaghost?â
âNo ghost, Dannyboy!â said Jack, nonetheless proud of Danny for his very Fenton-like reaction. Heâd make a ghost hunter out of him yet!
Danny blinked hard. âWhyâre we outside?â
Jack grinned and threw open the door of the GAV, depositing Danny inside. âItâs a surprise!â he said. He slammed the door shut.
âDad,â said Danny, trying to open the door (which stayed firmly shut, courtesy of Fenton Child Locks, the Only Ghost-Resistant Child Lock (patent pending)), âwait, I have plans for todayââ
âRescheduled!â said Jack, jumping into the driverâs seat. Â
âNo, no, thatâs not how plans work. Where are we going?â
âYouâll see!â
And they were off, zooming through the streets of Amity Park at a much more efficient pace than any of the cars around them. Â
âDad, the speed limits!â
âWeâre Fentons, Danny! We have no limits!â He looked over at his son. âWeâll be there in a minute, why donât you go get your clothes on? I packed!â
âSure,â said Danny, sounding strained but away. âWait, packed for what? Dadââ
âYouâll see!â
Soon enough, even before Danny reemerged from the back of the GAV, Jack was pulling up in front of Vladâs place. Â
âDad,â called Danny, âI canât find my phone!â
âThatâs because I didnât pack it!â
âBut I need my phone, Iââ Danny broke off. âIs that Vladâs? Are we at Vlads?â
âYep!â said Jack. âWeâre bonding today!â
Danny looked appropriately surprised. Â
Jack took the surprise for the approval it obviously was, and jumped out. âVladdie!â he exclaimed. Â
There was, of course, no response from the mansion. Vlad probably couldnât hear him from out here. Jack ran up to the door and started ringing the bell. Â
âMaybe heâs out?â suggested Danny. Â
Luckily, this proved not to be the case when Vlad enthusiastically threw the door open.Â
âWhat do you want?â he asked. Â
Jack threw an arm around his shoulders. âCome on, V-man! Iâve found a haunted house for us to explore!â
âWhat?â
âItâll be just us guys! Like old times! But also new times! Because Danny will be there!â
âJack, you⊠shouldnât have. Surely you would prefer going with just your son, rather than dragging boring old me along for the ride?â
There was that self depreciation again. Jack wouldnât allow it!
âNo way, Vladdie! This calls for a trio! Brains, brawn, and beauty!â
âOh, is Maddie coming?â
âNope!â Jack started back to the GAV.
âDid you plan this?â Danny whispered at Vlad. Â
âI can assure you, dear boy, that I did not.â
They were getting along already! Perfect!
But Jack noticed he wasnât being followed. Â
âLast one to the GAV is a rotten egg!â said Jack. âRabbit house wonât wait forever!â
âItâs a house,â said Danny. âA building. It isnât going anywhere anytime soon.â
âJack, do you mean Rabataceto House?â
âThatâs the one!â
Next to Vlad, Danny mouthed the name and frowned. Jack didnât blame him. It sure was a mouthful! Horrible to pronounce! Jack much preferred the nickname. Â
âMaybe I will come along,â said Vlad, slowly smiling. âAllow me a few minutes to⊠put some things in order.â
Success! Cheered Jack, internally. It was great to see a real smile on Vladâs face. Wow. He couldnât wait until they got to the haunted house and were able to tangle with some spooks!
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Rabbit house wasnât a grand, sweeping mansion. It was small, compact, even. Two stories tall, three if you counted the attic, it had a little over fifteen hundred square feet of âlivingâ space, plus another five hundred or so feet of low-ceiling storage in the attic. Â
It was old, too. Built with fireplace heating in mind. One bathroom on the ground floor, two bedrooms upstairs. Â
The property it was built on, however, was quite large, held by distant relatives of the last residents. No nearby neighbors.
That didnât stop the rumors. Rituals in the dead of night. Mysterious lights. Curses. Â
All hogwash, of course! There was no such thing as curses! Clearly it was all caused by ghosts!
Jack hit the breaks of the GAV moments before hitting the small, overgrown, statuette that gave the house its nickname. The treads dug into the dilapidated and long abandoned drive, flinging mud and dirt everywhere.
âHere we go, folks!â said Jack. He hopped out and inhaled the fresh, clean air. Vlad and Danny followed at a slower pace.
âWow,â said Danny. Â
âYou like it, son?â
âUh,â said Danny. ââLikeâ is maybe too strong a word. Itâs⊠certainly a building.â
Vlad chuckled behind them. Well, it sounded more like a scoff, but Jack knew it was a chuckle! Back in college, Vlad had told him that was just how he laughed!
Well, Danny wasnât wrong! Rabbit house was pretty worn out, all things considered. There were still traces of paint on the exterior, but its color had long ago faded out into obscurity. Weeds were growing up through the foundations, and there were climbing vines tearing at the wood siding. The windows were gaping holes, staring like eyes. Â
All in all, it looked intensely haunted. Perfect! Just what they needed!
âExactly, Danno! Iâm going to get the equipment!â
âWhat equipment?â asked Danny. The plants under their feet rustled and crunched. Â
âFenton tech!â said Jack, throwing open the side of the GAV. He offloaded a bazooka to Danny, who stumbled under the weight but then held firm. He gave a number of smaller, more fiddly tools to Vlad. Detectors, shields, precision weapons, and various deterrents. Â
Vlad hissed and dropped them immediately. Â
âVladdie, you okay?â Were his old injuries acting up?
âNo! Your shoddy wiring shocked me!âÂ
Poor Vlad. At least he wasnât blaming himself outright this time. Â
âShoddy wiring,â repeated Danny. âSure.â
âDonât be like that, Danno! Accidents happen!â
Danny shot him an impenetrable look, then went back to glaring suspiciously at Vlad.  Â
âVladdie, why donât you take this,â Jack offered up a smaller weapon that had never given him or Maddie any trouble, âand Iâll take care of the rest of this! Danny, you go secure the perimeter while we sort things out.â
âI donât think we should split up,â said Danny, promptly. âThatâs how the ghosts get you.â
âRight you are! Good catch!â He did wish Danny wasnât so afraid of ghosts, but that was partially what this trip was for. Â
Jack finished loading things into the pockets of his suit (man, those things were useful!) and marched up to the house, confident that Vlad and Danny would follow. Â
âHere we go, guys!â he said happily, wrenching the door open. The hinges let go of the frame with a snap. Â
âWe do have the ownerâs permission to be here, right, Jack?â asked Vlad. He sounded a little nasally. Was he coming down with a cold? Allergies?
Oh, well! He was fine or he wouldnât have come!
âWe have permission from the city to deal with any ghost we find! You know that, Mr. Mayor!â
âDad, are we even in the city?â
âEh, what we donât know wonât hurt us!â He bounded across the threshold. Â
The interior of the house was⊠Well. No other way to put it. Sad. The floor was splintered and rotted through in places. The wallpaper, what still existed of it, was eaten through. A wall between the entryway and a small sitting room was all but demolished. To the right, the stairs were downright ominous, and the open doorway into the dining room sat at an odd angle. Â
Yep. Properly haunted. Â
Behind him, Vlad and Danny stepped into the house, much more reluctantly. Danny shivered as he entered, even though it wasnât really any cooler in here than it was outside. Â
He turned, grinning, and watched as Danny surveyed their surroundings with wide, impressed eyes. Vlad looked a bit more cautious, peering into the more shadowy corners like the experienced ghost scientist he was. Â
âSo!â said Jack. âIâve got the noise detector, the EMF reader, and a spirit box! What would you like to try out first?â
âNot the Fenton Finder?â
âNah, thing gives too many false positives. Did you know, it picks up both you and Vlad? Weâve got to iron out the kinks before we field test it!â
âHow about the spirit box, Jack?â suggested Vlad. Â
Danny looked up at Vlad. âI donât thinkââ
Jack was already pressing the on button. The spirit box screamed. Well. Not really. Jack had the volume too low for a real scream. It was just a static-filled high note. Danny, dramatic teenager that he was, put both hands over his ears and cringed. Â
âLOUD LOUD LOUD LOUD,â said the spirit box. Â
âMy. A ghost with sensitive ears,â said Vlad. Â
Jack sighed and turned off the machine. Nothing useful, huh?
The sunlight filtering in through the windows dimmed, as if a cloud was passing by the sun. Danny shivered again. Â
âAre we sure this building is, like, safe to be in?â
âNope! Thatâs why itâs an adventure! Letâs explore!â
Jack, mindful of the uncertain flooring, made his way into the dining room. It was quite dark in here, the curtains over the windows still doing their job. There was movement out of the corner of his eye, and he turned to shoot. Â
The blast rebounded, scorching the wall next to Jack. Â
âAre you okay?â asked Danny, hurrying forward despite the weight of the bazooka in his arms. Â
âA-okay, Danno!â
âItâs a mirror,â said Vlad, lifting a flashlight. There were rabbits carved into the heavy wooden frame, although the mirror itself was tarnished. Â
âMust be real silver,â said Jack. âThat can reflect ectoplasm, sometimes, Danny,â he added, when Danny gave him a confused look. âRepel it, even.â
âHuh,â said Danny reaching up to touch the mirror. He tilted his head, his reflection smiling a little. âWhatâs wrong with these rabbits?â He pointed to a pair of leggy rabbits sitting on top of the mirror.
âI believe those ones are hares,â said Vlad, his reflection smiling also, the warped surface of the mirror somehow showing a glint of red in his blue eyes.
âDo hares have fangs?âÂ
âNot usually.â
Jack was feeling a bit bored, but if Danny and Vlad were having fun with the mirror, heâd leave them to it. He wanted to check out the kitchen. Â
It was long. Galley-style, but reasonably wide. If he didnât miss his mark, it had been designed with a house much larger than this in mind. He walked in, cheerfully. Maddie had been talking about remodeling the kitchen to have a more âretroâ style. Maybe he could get some inspiration!
The stove creaked. He turned to look at it, and suddenly, there was fire. He shouted.Â
âDad!â
An ectoblast fired past him, hitting the oven dead-center. Jack looked back to see Danny lowering the bazooka. Â
âGreat shooting, son! Youâve bagged the first ghost of the night!â
âYeah,â said Danny. He squinted up at Vlad. Â
âLetâs check out these cabinets! There might be more!â
There really wasnât anything in the cabinets, not even plates, much to Jackâs disappointment. The bathroom, equally, was simply empty. Old and musty. Slightly damp. It did have one of those mirrors Vlad and Danny were so interested in, though. Â
âDo you hear⊠water?â asked Danny. Â
âNo,â said Vlad. Â
âHm. No, Danny, donât think so,â said Jack. Â
âLike, not a lot, but running water?â
Jack looked at the tap of the old rusted bathtub, then the mostly-shattered sink. âNope,â he said. âMaybe youâre just expecting it?â
âMaybe,â said Danny. âBut weâve looked at everything now, right?â
âOnly the first floor!â
Danny made a face. âWe arenât going up those stairs, are we?â
âSure are!â
âDad, those are a death trap.â
âOh, yes, Jack, letâs go upstairs. You can go up first and tell us whatâs up there.â
Again, Danny turned to squint at Vlad. It was getting a little dark in here. Really unseasonable, that. Good thing theyâd brought flashlights!
âBe careful,â said Danny. Â
âSure will, son!â He ruffled Dannyâs hair. Â
The stairs were rickety, but nothing a Fenton Stair Master (patent pending name change) couldnât handle!
âHuh,â said Danny, as the device unfolded over the stairs, fortifying them.
âYes,â said Vlad, stroking his chin. âIâd forgotten you made useful things. Maddieâs work?â
âAll mine!â said Jack, proudly. âAnd you know that every Fenton invention is useful! Even the ones we havenât found a use for yet!â
The Stair Master stayed firm as he climbed, bouncing just a little under his weight. The second floor, from what Jack remembered of his research, was bedrooms. A master bedroom and a childâs bedroom. Â
It was very dark up here. Had someone turned off the sun? Ha!
âItâs safe to come up,â said Jack. Â
âOkay,â said Danny. âSo, whatâs up here?â
âLetâs find out!â Far be it from him to deny Danny the joys of discovery! He threw open one of the doors. Â
A bevy of ghostly white rabbits poured from the room, breaking like water around Jack and Dannyâs ankles and flowing down the stairs. Jack readied his gun, but Danny bumped into him, sending the shot astray even as the rabbits seemed to dissolve. Â
âThat was weird,â said Danny, looking nervously up at Jack. Â
Strange. In this light, his eyes looked almost reflective. Â
âQuite,â said Vlad, finishing his climb. âWhat even is that room?â
Good question! Jack and Vlad turned their flashlights on it. Inside was a small bed and dozens upon dozens of stuffed rabbits in various states of decay.
âCreepy,â said Danny. âWhatâs in the other room?â
The other room was the master bedroom. It was still furnished, a luxurious and oddly inviting four-poster bed sitting in the center of the room. The chimney from the floor below rose up through the floor. Some of the bricks had fallen out. Â
Jack took a step toward the bed. Then another step. He sat down on it. Â
âWhat are you doing?â asked Danny. Â
âGetting in a bit of a nap!â said Jack, jokingly. Â
Dannyâs eyebrows pinched together in worry. âOn that?â
Again, the bed was in surprisingly good shape. Jack shrugged and started to lie down. Â
âWithout finding the ghost?â
Jack sat bolt upright. Danny was right! There was no resting while ghosts were out there to be caught! There was still another floor. Â
Danny sighed. So did Vlad. Â
âGoodness!â said Jack, putting together the clues from their concern. âA ghost bed!â Naturally, he turned and riddled it with holes. Â
When he looked back, Danny had both hands on his head, and Vlad had a look of pleased delight on his face. Â
âGreat work, Jack,â he said. Â
âYep,â said Danny. âMaybe we should go now?â
âNonsense, dear boy,â said Vlad. âThereâs another floor, isnât there?â
âSure is, V-Man! The attic!â
He marched out of the master bedroom and noted that it was almost pitch black inside the house. Had it really gotten that late already? No matter! He pulled the Stair Master off the stairs to the first floor and put them on the ones leading to the attic. He wasted no time going up. Â
The attic was dark and crushingly quite. It smelled like old iron. Jack panned his flashlight back and forth across the floor, feeling oddly cautious. Â
âSomethingâs wrong here,â whispered Danny. The sound was unexpectedly close, and Jack jumped, the beam from the flashlight moving erratically. Â
Still, Jack saw enough to trace back to the painted circle on the floor, and the small animal skeleton next to it.
âHuh,â he said, âthe rumors were right about rituals, it looks like.â
âCould be pesky teens summoning demons on a dare,â said Vlad, passing Jack and Danny and approaching the circle. âLooks fresh.â
âItâs stronger here,â said Danny. His hand closed on the back of Jackâs jumpsuit. Â
âWhatâs stronger here, Danno?â asked Jack, turning the flashlight on him.Â
Danny shrugged. His shadow didnât move with him. Â
âDanny,â he said, âIâm going to need you to be real still.â
âWhat?âÂ
Jack fired over Dannyâs shoulder, but the black mass behind him merely sucked the ectoblast up, the green light running into the cracks in the wood like it was liquid poured into irrigation channels. Mirrors hung on the walls flashed silver as the light reached them and began disgorging ghostly rabbits. Â
Jack picked up Danny under one arm and began firing. But all of his shots were absorbed. Vlad cursed loudly as the rabbits bowled him over, into the painted circle. Â
âCome on, Vlad,â said Jack. âThis calls for the GAVâs arsenal! Danny, whereâs the bazooka?â
âI dropped it and the floor ate it!â
âVlad!â called Jack, again, as he reached the top of the stairs. âCome on!â
âI canât!â shouted Vlad from where he still stood in the circle. The paint on the floor was glowing red. Â
Oh, no! This ghost didnât get to steal his best friend!
Firing at the rabbits to clear them, Jack fought his way back into the room. Â
âDad, youâre just giving it more power! Try one of the shields!â
âCanât reach! Second pocket down from the hip!â
He felt Danny get the pocket open at about the same time he reached the now luridly bright circle. Vlad looked⊠bad. Sickly. His skin almost blue, his eyes reflecting the red-pink light of the circle. Â
Jack dropped his gun, reached across the line, grabbed Vlad by the arm, and pulled. There was resistance. Like a wall of taffy between him and Vlad. Then a bright green shield snapped into place and the resistance vanished. Â
Great! Danny had gotten the shield to work! It had never been that color, though. Maybe heâd picked up a new prototype by mistake? Oh, well. If it worked it worked!
He wasted no time running for the stairs. The Stair Master once again proved its worth, but the second flight of stairs proved theirs, too, in that they collapsed into sawdust when Jack was halfway down. Â
He laid on his back, dazed, for a moment, staring at the bright shapes streaking above him. Then he was back, Danny pulling at his shoulder in an attempt to get him off the ground. Â
â--a miracle none of us were impaled!â Vlad was saying. Â
âNot a miracle and you know it, fruitloop!â
Jack would have to talk to Danny about respecting Vladâs trauma, but that was for later. For now, he picked them both up again and ran for the door. Â
âŠneither of them weighed as much as they really should. Should Jack be worried about that?
The door slammed shut, vines growing over it. Â
âBack door?â asked Danny, breathlessly. The shield shimmered and pulsed as the rabbits threw themselves at it. âI donât know how long this shield will last!â
âIn the kitchen!â said Jack. Â
The kitchen was on fire, green flames licking up to the ceiling. Jack ran through it anyway, trusting the shield and hitting the back door like a linebacker. Â
⊠Was linebacker the right term? He hadnât watched football since the last game heâd spent with Vlad. Â
They were out. The sky above them swirled angrily, a storm with an eye centered over the house. He cut right to the GAV, which was slowly sinking into the mud of the driveway. Â
âNo! You arenât taking my car, ghost!â He jumped on top of the GAV and hit the emergency shield button on the roof. Not only did this repel the mud, for some reason it froze it as well. Â
âDid you do that?â asked Vlad. Â
âGuess I did!â said Jack, proudly. Â
Danny shrugged. Â
He opened the roof door and dropped into the GAV, activating the weapons. âBANZAI!â
The weapons all discharging at once was very satisfying, and they completely demolished the house, which exploded into splinters and small, ghostly rabbits that rapidly disintegrated. Â
Vlad sighed. âI suppose I will be footing the bill for this?â
âMore importantly, how are we getting the GAV out of this hole?â asked Danny. Â
âEasy, weâll call Maddie!â
Danny gave Jack a very flat look. âWith what phone? I know you donât have one.â
Vlad sighed. âIâll make the call.â
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What a productive day! Bonding with Vlad and Danny, defeating a ghost! What more could he ask for? Â
Of course, Maddie had been annoyed that heâd gone without her, but sometimes things couldnât be perfect, and Jack had noticed how flustered Vlad still got with Maddie. It was sort of cute! It had been twenty years and he still behaved like he was in college!
Jack started unloading his pockets. EMF, ectogun refills, spirit box, portable shield generatorâŠÂ Huh. When had Danny put this back in his pocket? Â
Oh, well! Danny could be pretty sneaky when he put his mind to it. Now, only if he put his mind towards other things, like ghost hunting. Â
He hummed, cheerfully. Now, where could he take them next time?
.
Moonlight shone down on the ruins of Rabataceto House. Slowly, however, something began to shine up as well, the bones of a building tracing themselves out in ghostly white light. Light that became more and more solid, and dimmer and dimmer, until all that any onlooker would see was a small, dilapidated, but otherwise perfectly normal house. Â
There was exactly one onlooker. Â
âIâm keeping an eye on you,â said Phantom. âI mean it.â
sjdkskdk I saw this and went, âoh yeah I should totally have a sentence for this!â but even my old old wips donât have anything, I canât believe Iâve never written the word trouble in any of my fics when literally AllTM of the them have a lot of scenarios where it could be used
bee Iâll get back to you once Iâve written something that actually utilizes troubleâ