My other lil bit of Halloween fun is technically not ready yet but in the spirit of âI want to go to bedâ, yâall can have an unpolished lil early snack! And Iâll try and get the good one up over the weekend!
So sit back, relax, and enjoy the Dead And Loving It Halloween Special, The Haunting Of Hood House! (Most of part 1âŠ. Part 2 possibly next year I dunno)
The Haunting of Hood House
Honestly, Jason was fully aware he shoulda said no. Between his now-triple life as a crime lord/vigilante, Fright Knight to the ghost king, and now university student, his dance card was full for more than just every hour in a day.
He was a busy bee. Probably shoulda given university another year or so, to be fair, but that was just the thing. Before all this ghost stuff came along, heâd figured he finally had time for a second half to his life; it was why he came back into the public eye at all.
He hadnât gone in for the summer semester, counting on the tabloids being a whole ass thing (and they were), but heâd figured that getting himself announced at the New Years gala would give plenty of time for stuff to settle down so he could go to university in the fall.
And then, on Christmas day, heâd met Danny. And his life gained another side whether he liked it or not. And it had been too late to walk back the gala by the time he realized just how time consuming it would be.
(On the plus side, his ghost training was coming along well enough that it was finally helping him cut down on time spent on the crime/vigilante side. He wasnât exactly up to olâ Halloweenâs standards yet, but he had full control of the powers he currently had, and was learning more about being a Fright Knight from the man himself.
Theyâd even had time to plan and make a run on their first Lazarus pit, which had gone⊠as well as could be expected.)
The point being? His schedule was full. Between homework and crimework, he didnât have time for fun university extracurriculars the way heâd kinda hoped he would.
But when some of the geeks from his Gothic Lit class asked him to help them set up a haunted house⊠how the hell was he supposed to say no to that?
Danny sure as hell hadnât been able to (and had laughed his ass off when Jason mentioned exactly why he had to reschedule one of their hangouts - after all, the two of them just showing up meant that the house was technically being haunted), which was how theyâd roped in a couple more kids from the engineering department. At least three were planning to use parts of the set up as their final projects.
(Harper was having a field day rigging all of the floors for piezoelectric lights, sound, and fog machine. The more people jumped or ran, the more dramatic the atmosphere would get.)
So, despite already having basically no free time, he and Danny were now partially responsible for setting up a haunted house.
Jason was pretty sure his classmates had initially wanted him mostly as financial backing; ten minutes after agreeing to help, heâd been shyly approached with links to a set building company and day rates to have them build a âhouseâ on the university grounds.
Jason Todd himself would be damned if he would just be the money man though. No, he wasnât having his name attached to a haunted house project that wasnât the best it could possibly be.
And, well, he had access to a lot of surplus construction supplies and actual local handymen, in the form of his gang. He was pretty sure most of them knew that Jay, Red Hoodâs right hand man, was Jason Todd Wayne by now; it had never actually come up, but heâd made a few media splashes.
No one seemed actually confused or surprised to be asked to come put up haunted house on university grounds. Just the shell though; Jason demanded integrity from goons and student body both, and firmly told the rest of the Lit class that if they wanted to throw a haunted house, they were bloody well going to decorate and staff it with their own hands.
(About two people had been disappointed. As soon as heâd admitted heâd also footed the bill for supplies, all the rest had been eagerly battling it out over room themes and who got to use the nail guns.
Jason confiscated the nail guns on day three, after Danny and Harper got into a ânail fightâ. Because of course they did.)
And, really, most of them had also taken Dannyâs âcontributionsâ well too. Because along with the more normal special effects the other engineers was setting up, Danny was serious about putting the âhauntedâ in the house.
âItâs an ecto-accelerator,â heâd explained cheerfully, slapping the large, chunky device that Jason knew full well was at least three blenders jammed together with car parts. âGothamâs got a lotta ambient ecto for a normal city, so weâll get half a dozen blob ghosts by the end of the week.â
A couple of the Gothamites in the group had tittered a little at Gotham being called ânormalâ, but one or two (the ones Jason happened to know were doing way better in their classes) had looked thoughtful. Slightly suspicious.
Cuz yeah, sure, Gotham was far from normal in almost every way, but most of the people were still unaware of how serious the âoccultâ menaces to the city were. It certainly wasnât âthe most haunted city in Americaâ, and while the Danny/Phantom secret was still well under wraps, Danny being from Amity Park wasnât.
Heâd made waves in the engineering department from his first solo project, and honestly none of them looked too surprised any more.
One of the Lit geeks had raised a hand like they were in class, which Jason had bullied Danny about for hours.
âUh⊠what are blob ghosts? And do we want them? Like⊠isnât that cheating if you have actual ghosts? I thought you guys wanted to build effects systems,â they added quickly, glancing from Danny to Harper.
Danny had stared blankly for a moment (possibly from the hand raising), then shook his head.
âOh, no, the accelerator was my project from last semester. This semester itâs gonna be the ghost shield which keeps all the blob ghosts trapped in the house!â
(And should keep the Curse and the asshole entity locked out and away. Not necessarily, yâknow, necessary, but itâd be good to see if it worked.)
Harper had just grinned, hands in her pockets.
âAnâ it means I have to build my stuff more than just people-proof, which has gotta be worth bonus points.â
Their other two engineers had agreed, apparently completely down with the occult at this point.
The formation of the blob ghosts was apparently going pretty well. Jason couldnât reliably sense them yet, but he trusted Dannyâs word on it.
Because yeah. That. Was a thing that was also happening.
This one was also entirely Jasonâs own fault; back at the beginning of October, when heâd first agreed to this whole mess, heâd had to tell people why he was going to be busy.
It made sense at the time to just tell the elder Fright Knight the truth about why theyâd had to shift their training schedule. He was the Spirit of Halloween! It was even thematically appropriate!
And frankly, the speed at which Danny had started shaking his head and trying to stop him should probably have been a warning.
But so would telling Jason ahead of time not to tell Halloween that they were going to be working on a haunted house! Danny had even shared the story of the time he stole the original nightmare blade, the Soul Shredder as a prop for his own school haunted house!
And, yâknow, incurred Halloweenâs wrath and started a whole Thing, but heâd also given the sword back and all seemed to be forgiven now.
(Although. Given. The look in blazing eyes when Danny mentioned it. Not forgotten.)
And it seemed to go fine at the time, so Jason had kinda figured it was just another of those things where Danny was weirdly protective of his ânormalâ life. Didnât want ghosts getting involved.
Cuz Halloween was very supportive. Agreed immediately to switch up their schedule, no muss no fuss. Offered to help.
And Danny had refused outright, which obviously made Jason want to agree. And Danny hadnât actually said why he didnât want Halloween to help.
(Which, yâknow, the guy was right there, but still.)
His arguments had basically boiled down to âno oneâs supposed to know Iâm the Ghost King, we canât have the actual Fright Knight following me aroundâ, which was apparently the argument that had carried to keep Frighty from following him to Gotham.
But neither of them had known Jason then. And Jason was a Robin; they were very good at loopholes.
Because really, it wasnât all that hard for an actual ghost to go undetected. Especially if they only popped in for short visits.
And could there be a better haunted house consultant than the Spirit of Halloween?
âSir Jason, yon webs are sagging.â
The answer, it had turned out, was yes.
âMy liege, real blood would serve much betterâŠâ
And apparently the Box Ghost had overheard somewhere that Danny was now allowing visits to Gotham, on the dual condition of short duration and invisibility.
Snatching the box of tiny robot spiders before it could be dumped out, Jason glared at the spot Pitty was growling at.
âBoxy, seriously. We talked about this!â He hissed, wrapping both arms firmly around the box.
A few plaintive tugs, and then the Box Ghost gave up. On that box. And another five cardboard boxes of supplies rose into the air.
âFEAR THE POWER OF THE BOX GHOST!â
âOnce the damn house is finished, Boxy! Thereâs still stuff in all of these. Didnât I promise to build you a box fort if you could just be cool for another week?â
A blue, capped head popped into visibility behind one of the floating boxes. He did, at least, look mildly contrite.
âIndeed you did, young knight⊠but! The Box Ghost needs no assistance! There are none more ferocious nor powerful in the world of objects cardboard and cubular!â
Jason pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut.
âThatâs not even a word, BoxyâŠâ and paused when another breath froze on its way out of his mouth.
So did the Box Ghost, floating boxes stilling from their orbit of the room. Almost on reflex, he popped into full visibility just as Halloween did, directly behind him.
The Box Ghost turned slowly, peering up at the much larger armoured figure. Fright Knight narrowed blazing purple eyes down at him. The Box Ghost narrowed his back.
âNone. More. Ferocious.â He growled, boxes rising slowly around him.
Halloween put his hand on his sword.
Jason pressed his lips together so he didnât laugh. Fighting in the living world was currently a Danny-only activity, with Halloween having the only exception - to stop anyone else trying to start trouble. Technically, throwing down over who was scariest with the Box Ghost was not covered.
And, really, not all that much of a question. Even Boxy knew it, deflating as armoured fingers curled around the hilt.
âBut in matters of Halloween and frightfulness I will concede,â he grumbled, boxes settling gently back to the floor.
Halloween pointedly turned his attention to Jason instead, who was still very specifically not laughing.
âYoung knight, the woman âHarperâ has once again weakened your electrical traps. Shall I destroy her, or will you deal with this yourself?â He asked, voice dropped below his usual booming tones only because Danny had sworn to send him back if another student caught him.
Amusement dying almost immediately, Jason rolled his eyes.
âLook, Sir Halloween. Weâve been over this. Theyâre hers, theyâre not death traps, and you shouldnât be touching them. You know how Danny feels about electricity around his tech.â
A lot of ghosts seemed to know how Danny felt about electricity in general, and how it related to his death. Despite a temporary team up with Vlad, Jason didnât actually know if the Spirit of Halloween was one of them.
Until it was proved one way or another, or Danny brought it up to the ghost himself, Jason was sticking with plausible deniability.
And the Fright Knight huffed, drawing himself up as his flaming hair flared.
âIf the mere existence of such a trap may displease the King, she should be destroyed with all the more vigour!â
Showing irritation never worked with the old knight; for one thing, he couldnât stop himself from escalating. He just couldnât. He didnât know how to back down.
Luckily Jason was more than used to dramatic and boisterous hotheads. He folded his arms instead, raising an eyebrow at the Fright Knight.
âSheâs building the power system, Sir Halloween. We talked about this, remember? Using the steps and fear of the guests to power Dannyâs stuff?â And the entire rest of the house, but Frighty only cared about Danny.
And had been over this with him and Danny both half a dozen times.
As always, the mention of fear perked him up.
âAh, yes! Using their own terror against them to power our devices! And⊠how does that relate to the electricity?â He asked, a little suspiciously.
Well, if he paid attention this time Jason might not have to go through it again. Putting his reclaimed box down, he leaned against the table it had been on.
âItâs called piezoelectricity. Harperâs sensors in the floor detect where people are walking, and the receptors take the extra energy when their feet hit the ground and turn it into electricity. The faster they walk, or if they start to run, the more energy gets converted, and since the electricity powers the lights, sounds, and fog machine, the more people react the more intense the house gets.â
It was actually surprisingly harmless for Harper; she hadnât even put in any of the small shock plates that had found their way across the floors. That had been all Frighty, and as soon as they found out where heâd gotten them, theyâd be going back. Once Danny phased them back out.
Silence reigned for a long moment, and for once the Spirit of Halloween seemed to be really chewing over and digesting this information. Jason let himself hope.
âSo⊠the electricity⊠itâs definitely not for shocking the unwary intruders?â Halloween asked, with just the faintest tinge of hope still in his own voice.
Fighting not to let his die, Jason shook his head.
âNot even as a backup plan?â
âNope. We want people to come and visit, Frighty, thatâs the whole point.â
âBut what if your enemies use this opportunity to infiltrate your stronghold?â Fright Knight asked boldly, drawing himself up like he was even now standing against such foes.
âItâs not a stronghold, Sir Halloween. Thereâs nothing here they could use against us.â
âNot even just a little shock?â
âStill nope,â Jason shook his head, arms folded. Safely hiding where his fingers pinched the skin just below his ribcage, holding in a laugh.
Fright Knight was practically pleading.
âJust a small one? A little static shock? They probably wonât even die from it,â he wheedled, and Jason had to stifle a snicker in a cough.
âNo! Look, most people will be wearing rubber soled shoes anyway. They wouldnât even notice,â he pointed out in what was a mostly level voice.
Fright Knight huffed, turning away and grumbling under his breath.
âRubber can be made to meltâŠâ
Aaaand they were back on that again. Stepping forward, Jason caught him by the shoulder, schooling his face to his most earnest expression.
âYou know your advice is always appreciated, Sir Halloween, and the king and I take it very seriously. Should we ever need such traps, youâre the very first person weâll ask. But this is a diplomatic venture, and chivalry demands we not allow harm to come to our guests.â
It was a line theyâd used before; the very first explanation Jason had hoped the bombastic ghost might understand. And he did, usually.
He just. Didnât seem to remember it. But then, he wasnât exactly the overly chivalrous kind of knight.
And once again, Halloween drew himself up and pounded on his chest, nodding seriously.
âOf course, Sir Jason! And I shall ensure that this venture of yours is of the utmost success! With no traps that shall interfere with the Harper womanâs electronics,â he added in a low grumble, probably hoping that Jason wouldnât notice that he hadnât just said âno trapsâ.
Buuuut so long as they turned the traps off before guests showed up, there was no reason he couldnât ask the other Bats to come do a pre-show run through and see what they made of it.
Pretending to be oblivious, he turned and scooped up the power drill heâd originally come to the storeroom for and saluted the ghost with it.
âAlways appreciated, Sir Halloween.â
Danny stuck his hand through the wall, brows furrowed in concentration. He could have used the panel about three feet further down, but then heâd have to reach around at an awkward angle, or yank cables to pull the bundle closer.
Honestly, in his plans the circuitboard should have lined up near perfectly with the damn panel; heâd done his measurements and everything before he started! But no, it was all the way over here, and now he had to deal with this
It was almost like something had snapped off the supports and tangled all the wires upâŠ
There were more cables than there should be.
No, wait, the intruder wasnât a cable. It felt⊠like a rope?
Fighting the urge to bang his head against the wall, he sighed heavily. The temptation to just yank the damn thing out was tempered only by the sounds of construction, impromptu karaoke, and occasional screams of every other member of the project.
Who knew what Fright Knight had rigged this one to do, or where it would actually go off? Other than, yâknow, completely fucking his own wiring.
Danny breathed out slowly through his nose, shifting his grip until he was only touching his wiring and not the rope, and phased the whole lot through. Heâd turned almost everything off to go wire-spelunking anyway, so it should-
A loud thunk behind him preceded a sudden silence where a low humming had been pretty much ignorable. Danny grimaced, but kept going until the junction was back in place at the access panel before letting it rejoin the physical world.
The ghost shield didnât immediately power back up, but that was fine. He could give it a couple kicks, maybe try a hard reboot if it was really fussing.
More importantly, he had to find what the hell the Spirit of Halloween had done now. His ecto-accelerator was working as expected, and blob ghosts would all be kept around to feed on the concentrated ectoplasm anyway.
Really, heâd been shutting the shield down anyway to let Halloween in and out.
Maybe he should stop doing thatâŠ
Then Danny brightened up.
It was Jasonâs fault Halloween was here at all. And it was Jasonâs classâs haunted house.
This wasnât a Danny problem, this was a Jason problem. And maybe next time the stubborn fuck would listen when Danny said something was a bad idea.
Humming cheerfully, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent off a quick text, wandering idly back towards the ghost shield generator. One quick kick and it chugged back into life, good as new.
He was gonna have to put some internal batteries in on the next rebuild though. It had to be able to survive a power cut to be worth anything in Gotham.
Flicking into his notes app, he added it to the list of improvements.
While he didnât actually know where Jason was, he was pretty sure he wasnât close enough to hear Jasonâs response to his text. That was fine though, because he could feel the pulse of exasperated-resigned-annoyed the second he saw it.
Humming happily to himself, he dug out the extra set of cords to let the lights dim in time with any power surges from the ghost shield. Itâd only take a few seconds now that the damn board was back in the right place, and should add some extra spooky ambiance once the house started seeing guests and he turned off the accelerator to let the blob ghosts play.
Really, he owed Harper for the idea. Heâd been explaining to her how the little guys always chewed on power cables, lack of physical teeth or not, just to get to the current. And technically what sheâd actually said was âman itâd be cool if we could get them to fuck with the lightsâ.
And technically Danny could probably have trained them to actually play with light switches. This would be much easier though, and interestingly random as the blobs bounced around.
All he had to do was hook up these last few connections⊠and test it out.
And since Halloween was clearly around anyway⊠he was definitely big enough to make the ghost shield hum a bit. Thatâd be great for calibration.
And he owed Danny for fucking up his circuitry with his latest booby trap anyway. It all worked out nicely really.
By the time Jason poked his head through the door, Danny was just finishing the last of his adjustments, almost every wire properly soldered into place.
âWhatâs he done now?â Jason sighed heavily, exasperation both so clear and so clearly a put on that even a normal human would probably feel it radiating off him.
Danny nodded towards the stretch of wall near where heâd last seen the rope.
âNo idea, but heâs tied something to something else that got in the way of the ghost shield controls. I fixed that, the inevitable booby trap is all yours,â he added sweetly, blowing Jason a kiss as best he could with both hands busy.
Jason pretended to chomp it out of the air like a shark, and then puke it out. He was getting creative.
Danny could respect that.
âGreat, thanks,â he said sarcastically, then frowned at the offending section of drywall. âIs there-â
âNo, the access panel is over here,â Danny told him brightly, twisting the last screw down to hold all of the less permanent wires in place. Really, at some point he should probably put a casing over the whole mess. Keep any damp or curious critters out.
But any curious critters were going to be a little busy avoiding curious ghosties, and the ghosties wouldnât try and move the wires. Thatâd stop them from being able to siphon the electricity.
Maybe also some extra ghost shielding. Hell, the power going into the shield was controlled from this panel, and the main power cables were nicely strung along the back. How hard could it be to extend a little extra shieldingâŠ
Jason cut him off from the thought with a heavy, dramatic sigh, thunking heavily into the wall just beside Danny.
âGreat. We got time to take another panel out and fix it again?â He asked semi-redundantly, taking in Danny and Heatherâs carefully applied pattern of sprayed on filth and decay.
Grinning and straightening, Danny cracked his back and moaned happily.
âIn your dreams. Halloweenâs a week away, and we open this weekend.â
âSo how do you want me to track the trap, your majesty?â Jason asked with a heavy roll of his eyes.
Danny grinned up at him. All the brighter for the sass.
âOh, thatâs not my problem. Iâm not the one who said he could be such a huge help,â he shot back cheerfully, taking the moment to roll out his shoulders and do a couple of twists too.
He spent a lot of time hunched over between classwork and this little side quest, and while he wasnât suffering for it yet, heâd rather not start.
âBesides, do you have anything else to do?â He pointed out with a cheeky grin.
Jason raised an eyebrow at him, arms folded.
âAbout a million things, yeah. But none more important than making sure our guests donât get electrocuted,â he added with a sigh, turning to frown at the wall. Reached out and knocked against it gently. âWish I could just bring the hood out.â
âA little x-ray vision would be a big help,â Danny agreed, already looking for his next task. Would he have time to fuck with the ghost shield a little more to protect the board?
Probably not. While the machine itself was already doing excellent work as the centrepiece of a truly excellent mad science lab (although not up to Fenton standards), it still needed a quick coat of grime of its own, and probably some webbing.
Most of the rest of this room was ready, between Harperâs piezo-floors and Heatherâs expert spray paint skills. So long as the shield could affect the lights throughout the house, he could probably finish here in half an hour.
Or delegate to Heather, once all the parts of the ghost shield were safely protected from rogue spray.
Danny could have run by the 3D printers in the Makers Club for some custom shielding pieces, but why bother? Leaning into his toolbox, he pulled out a roll of duct tape.
Glancing back, he was pleased to see Jasonâs quiet was because the big guy had already stuck his head in the wall.
Sure, officially no one here was supposed to know about either of their ghost powers (Harper being the obvious exception), but no one was around. And itâd save time dismantling the trap so they could get back to work.
The Lit nerds had come up with the full floor plan by themselves, and while only a couple of them got nail gun privileges, theyâd all been excited to get hands on.
And had clearly been relying on their giant tank of a nerd for some of the more hard to reach set up.
Danny could get it floating, or they could schlep ladders around, but why bother when Jason could reach the top of every doorframe already?
Once Jason was done dismantling yet another booby trap.
Reaching out with a foot, Danny gave him a light kick in the ass, knocking a shoulder into the wall.
âDude, just go invisible and trace it directly. Paintingâs gotta be finished tonight to be dry for tomorrow,â he reminded the larger man when Jason pulled his head out to glare at him.
âSuch insightful. Very wisdom,â he snarked, straightening himself and returning said glare to the wall.
âIâll tell Tucker youâre after his Miette status.â
âIâll tell him you called him that again,â Jason shot back immediately, flipping Danny off without looking.
Rather than concede the point, Danny got back to his own efforts instead. Time to tape up any cracks and crevices except the heat vents⊠and yeah, actually, putting a suitably ratty bag or strip on linen to cover those (both for spray paint protection and to flap dramatically) would only add to the atmosphere.
âJust get going while weâre still young and pretty.â
He could feel Jasonâs amusement too, a warm balm on his back even over the exasperated-tired-over it from Fright Knightâs continued escapades. Felt it when Jason changed, his aura amping up automatically with his ghost form.
âYeah, yeah. Why donât you get your subject in line and remind him weâre not trying to kill anyone?â Jason asked, immediately phasing through the wall to get the last word.
Danny rolled his eyes despite the grin, carefully taping around the joins in the main control panel.
âWhat, again?â He muttered under his breath, chuckling softly.
As far as he was aware, more than half the problem was that olâ Halloween wasnât actually all that clear on what was lethal to humans at all. And that? That wasnât a problem Danny could solve.
Technically, he could Command the spirit to stop putting up booby traps. Force him into an advisory role only.
(And yeah, Danny had to admit, for all he was a pain in the ass? Heâd been right about adding a couple extra googly eyes in covert spots on the bubbling slimes. Super creepy when one rolled up and looked at you.)
Except that Danny hated using his Command on anyone, even when they were being a pain in his ass. It was creepy, kinda gross, and made him feel like a dick.
Besides, with ghosts it was actually way politer to just smack someone upside the head if they were being a shit. Hell, that was usually why they were being a shit.
Danny hesitated, a new thought blooming slowly.
Could⊠that be why Halloween was being a pain in the ass? Jasonâs training hours had been cut back, but their time spent with the original Fright Knight was actually going up now that he was âhelpingâ with the house.
Did he just want their attention? Or was he bored enough to fish around indirectly for a little ghostly rumble?
That would also have to be Jasonâs problem, he decided with a philosophical shrug. Like most of the other older ghosts, the old Fright Knight actually avoided throwing down with Danny these days.
Whether it was the same fear that made him bend the knee to Pariah Dark or just plain not wanting to risk even a temporary win and the burden of the crown didnât actually matter. It wasnât loyalty; Halloween had been eager enough to bend the knee to Dan, but Dan also commanded him to run around wreaking terror and mayhem.
Danny mostly just asked him to wrestle with any ghosts who tried anything in Amity Park while he was gone; a duty Halloween kicked ass at and seemed to be taking seriously, but wasnât his idea of fun.
But hey, it got him out of his pumpkin, and out of his lair without the fear of someone trying to seal him again. So long as Frighty mostly obeyed Dannyâs orders, no one could even try it without having Danny come kick their ass.
Maybe Danny should let him wreak a little havoc in Gotham on Halloween though. As a treat.
Not his usual âturn inanimate objects into hordes of ghosts to take over the worldâ shtick, but since Scarecrow usually had dibs on the holiday (and was still decidedly out of action), some of the up and coming rogues were looking to make a name for themselves.
A not particularly nice smile pulled at Dannyâs lips.
After all⊠apparently no one else had ever tried anything on Halloween while Crane was out and about. It could only be a good thing for Gotham as a whole if someone else staked an emphatic claim this year.
Aaaand itâd keep Frighty out from under their feet, or setting up any more booby traps while they got the last details into place.
If any of the bats objected, they could take that up with Jason too. After all, this whole thing was his idea.
The Spirit of Halloween drifted through the house, muttering disconsolately to himself.
All he wanted to do was what heâd been asked; to improve this âhaunted houseâ his king was constructing.
It was certainly a better effort than the one which had first brought the ghost boy to his lair; that had been a single room, and a rather pathetic showing. Bouncy spiders, inflatable figures, utterly unfrightening.
This house had some real potential! Between the elaborate traps the humans were setting in each room and the far more convincing decor, it would be so easy to make something truly terrifying.
All it needed was some more sharp edges⊠something a little heavier to hang above the doors⊠and while apparently electrical traps were out of the question, he was sure that something horrific could be done with those powered floors.
Possibly an eject port. Those were new and the potential fascinated him ever since the doctors Fenton showed off their new flying seats.
If the king would only give him a chance, Halloween was sure he could turn this building into a true House of Horrors.
But no. Once again, his ideas were discarded. They would undo his modifications to the floor (and frankly he was rather pleased with how heâd managed to warp its purpose without transforming it into an independent entity; heâd needed to make use of young Sir Jasonâs âphoneâ to learn to adjust the voltage the human way. Heâd used his hands and everything because the king did not want him using his blade).
Honestly, why would you invite such an expert if you did not wish to use his advice?
And he wasnât even supposed to let these foolish humans know he was here, so he couldnât properly howl his woes to the winds.
Grumbling under his breath instead, he stalked back to the nest of wires heâd modified. If his work were to be undone, he could do it. He was here to help, if theyâd just let him.
âWho the hell are you?â A sharp voice asked from behind him as he knelt before the nest, and he froze.
He wasnât in the habit of being covert; that had been about the most interesting part of the whole debacle thus far.
He wasnât a stealthy ghost. His presence was part of his armoury, inspiring fear and awe in all who could see him coming. Which only worked if they saw him coming.
Heâd forgotten to be invisible.
For all that the kingâs wishes had been annoyingly vague, there was just one thing heâd been explicitly clear on.
No mortals were to see him.
Very slowly, his helmet creaked around to face the glowering young mortal woman in the doorway, her hands on her hips.
He. Could. Use the Soul Shredder to send her to her own nightmare dimension. Then no one would know sheâd seen him.
Except that the king had forbidden him from using his sword. And the young knight liked the woman Harper and would likely notice her absence.
She also didnât seem the sort to scare easily, which he usually appreciated in a foe.
Even under the glare of his blazing purple eyes, she marched straight up to him, hands on her hips, and glowered.
âAre you the asshole whoâs been fucking with my power supply?â She asked sharply, actually prodding! Prodding him! With her feeble mortal finger!
And he was unable to appropriately respond!
And if she were a true ally of his king, simply fading from sight would only affirm what he was in her mindâŠ
For a brief moment, he wondered if he could persuade her that he was the Box Ghost, but discarded the idea immediately. No, he was no coward to hide behind anotherâs name!
Especially not that lowlife.
He would face the punishment from his king, content at least in the knowledge that it would be just, and would not maim or destroy him.
Which meant not smiting the puny mortal whoâd rumbled his plans.
She was an ally to the young knight. And fearless. And endeavouring to build and properly haunt this house. Perhaps she could be of aid to his own missionâŠ
Which meant he had to be (a grimace hidden entirely under his helmet) tactful. Appealing even.
Straightening to his full height, he then bowed just below hers.
âIndeed, Dame Harper. I must apologize; Sir Jason has informed me of the true intent of your most excellent devices, so I came to repair what I have wrought.â It grated on him, a ghost of his calibre forced to treat any human as an equal⊠but less than it used to.
A useful opponent, and a worthy one, was hard enough to find. And⊠horror of horrors⊠under his new king, he was almost⊠getting used to it.
She didnât seem overly impressed, folding her arms and giving him another, more sceptical once over.
âYeah⊠and from that get up, Iâm gonna guess youâre probably not from the university,â she said dryly.
The Spirit of Halloween cursed internally. Of course! That would have been the perfect excuse! A mere student in a costume! His time of year was all about disguises!
Yet already heâd declared his association to the younger Fright Knight by use of his title. She had already seen through such a potential escape.
Still, it meant she was observant. Passably intelligent. Good marks in an ally.
Better to act like heâd never intended to deceive her, though. It may let him glean some more insight into just how trusted she was.
From lands beyond and sights unseen
Your cohorts called upon me for aid
To plan a magnificent Halloween
So that all who enter be truly afraid.â
One of his better works off the cuff, he thought a little smugly⊠then deflated a little.
âI was not aware your devices were not some form of trap,â he added in more normal tones.
The corner of her mouth twitched upwards, although her stern expression did not change.
âUh huh. Yeah, ghost bullshit was gonna be my next guess. You thought the generators were a trap?â She asked, a little incredulously.
Sir Halloween shifted uncomfortably. He still wasnât used to explaining himself, and wasnât sure how little he could get away with.
âI believed them an excellent tactic to terrify and incapacitate any land-bound intruders,â he agreed cautiously.
Definitely a smile pulling at her lips this time, though she fought it. Perhaps she would be more amenable to his suggestions than the halfasâŠ
The Harper woman sighed and uncrossed her arms, hands on her hips once more.
âI guess they would work pretty well for that⊠but nah. I prefer more direct methods if Iâm gonna fry someone, donât want anyone else getting caught in the crossfire,â she added with a wicked gleam in her eye that he very much liked.
Then she pointed her chin at the wiring heâd been about to restore.
âGo ahead and fix that up then, and Iâll decide if I forgive you.â
Commands from a mortal rankled, but it was to do as heâd intended anyway. And would give him more time to assess her potential.
From his understanding, this woman no longer hunted the night, but had been a mighty hunter while nought but a child. Those habits were hard to break.
About to turn back to the panel, he hesitated. If. She was going to watch him work. He would need to remain visible.
And there were far too many mortals in the house.
âAh⊠Dame Harper. I have been commanded to remain unseen by those unaware of the Infinite Realms. If you wish to observe, we shall need to ensure others do not come across me.â He hoped she would assume that he hadnât been meant to hide from her.
He wasnât sure if heâd succeeded as her smile became distinctly wider and far more devious, looking him up and down one last time.
âNo oneâs allowed to know about ghosts, huh? And youâre not exactly a subtle one. No worries, I have the perfect plan.â
Grumbling to himself as he pulled the last of the blades from the swinging arms Sir Spookier-Than-Thou had set up through the upstairs and downstairs hall, Jason gave the mechanism one last look.
He could dismantle the whole thing if he had to, but thatâd take time. And besides, it was pretty good work.
All he had to do was slow the swing a little, find something a little more family friendly to add to each arm, and itâd be a pretty banginâ addition to their haunted house.
He wasnât sure if he should tell the Spirit of Halloween that or not; if heâd feel better knowing his work was appreciated, or get over excited and back on his bullshit.
Either way, someone was going to cart these mysteriously glowing blades back to the Ghost Zone that theyâd surely come from, and it wasnât gonna be him. About six of his classmates were waiting on him to help with some final additions, and while most of it could pretty easily have been done with a scaffold, they didnât have time to build one.
Not when Jason could just reach up.
Or a couple of the other guys could just stand on a bucket, but hey. His room was pretty much complete, all he needed was to test the spring loaded launchers on his âbatarangsâ and he was done.
(The day heâd discovered the cute, stylized little marshmallow bats heâd known exactly what he had to do with them. B was just lucky it had been close enough to Halloween that Jason decided to go with this first.
It did make a nice test run for the Bat Cave though.)
There might be a couple more cosmetic tweaks, some spit and polish, but heâd be essentially ready.
They werenât exactly in competition, no scoring or voting or anything, but the Lit geeks in particular had been gushing and bragging about their own horror rooms from day one. Some of them were honestly really impressive; Heatherâs 13 Ghosts setup that Danny had hooked the ghost shield into was extremely well designed, and used pretty much every inch of the master bedroom.
Ray and Tyra had both gone with more classic horror (and adjoining rooms; Jason particularly liked the chase from Tyraâs Grimm fairytale forest to Rayâs werewolf lair), and they actually had four different set ups featuring Bram Stokerâs Dracula.
While those might have been more obscure before Dracula Daily (and included less internet jokes), Jason enjoyed the narrative that started in the back room of the first floor, up the stairs (the road to castle), a gorgeous crypt, and then the final ascent to the roof and the opportunity for guests to âclimbâ down the wall (in lizard fashion, obviously) over an air bag or take the âDescent To Hellâ (an inflatable red twirly slide that Danny still wanted to slick with dish soap. Jason and OSHA both disagreed).
There wasnât exactly a unifying theme beyond âhorrorâ, but they had at least planned ahead enough to group the rooms by type. The decorations along the halls to gradually show the genre changes would be the last things going up, but Jason was pretty sure the new swinging arms would be a great addition.
It wouldnât be a seamless change, but it would be on brand.
And sure, technically his own Phantom of the Opera room was also one of the outliers from a thematic and stylistic perspective (because heâd chosen the book, not the stage show - although he had snagged the score and had a play around in an editing suite for background music).
Heâd taken the âbasementâ for the forgotten halls below the opera house, so it didnât really matter that his dripping stone, hall of mirrors, and final Grand Decision were a lot more classically gothic than the rugged and rural first floor, or the more urban and scifi second. Heâd been able to source a bunch of old theatre dressings from a recent rogue attack, so it had been easy to set the bones up.
It was a great house, and while heâd been a little worried about the size when theyâd drawn up the plans, they were pretty much on schedule.
Despite the interference of the Spirit of Halloween.
Who was gonna go drop stuff off in the Ghost Zone, and maybe just stay there until the night itself. Jason couldnât give the command or make it stick, but Danny could, and probably would if the Spirit mucked with his new tech one more time.
For all that he insisted this whole mess was Jasonâs fault (and therefore Jasonâs problem), he was the one who decided how far any of it went.
Wondering idly what he could suggest to get Frighty back under Dannyâs feet, he tossed the last blade in a decidedly triangular box and hoisted it quickly.
He wasnât entirely sure what the blades were made of, or what theyâd do (the Soul Shredder was a unique weapon that he hadnât made himself, but Jason had no idea what he could make), but he wanted the Box Ghost to get his hands on them even less than he wanted his fellow students to.
All he had to do was find olâ Halloween⊠and the big guy never really bothered to shield himself. It took very little focus to expand his aura through the rest of the house these days, and he didnât even need to get past the first floor. The Spirit of Halloween was at the back, the room below Dannyâs where Harper had her main boards and batteries set up for ease of use.
(It wasnât technically part of the attraction, but sheâd still made it look spooky and on theme in case anyone peeked around the door.)
But the Fright Knight had better be in there fixing things or hiding from people, not fucking with the piezoelectrics again, or Jason was gonna start a training session of his own on the spot.
(Not that heâd reliably win a regular fight; he was damn good, but the Spirit of Halloween was older, more used to ghost powers, and loved his sword and duels almost as much as he loved poetry and terrorizing the wretched.
But on Earth, with more than half of their powers denied them by Dannyâs rules? Jason could come for his ass.)
Listen. This is not the universe for short oneshots, okay?
But there are some sneaky hints for the road ahead in our main timeline too, for attentive eyes đ
