Ectober Week 2015 - Possession
Nov. 26th, 2018 06:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sleepysaurA crosspost from Tumblr. Written in October 2015 for the Danny Phantom Ectober event.
Mayor Montez stood as straight as he could behind the town hall podium. It was still hard for him to believe he was dealing with ghosts, of all things, but the strangeness of it all wasn’t worth worrying about. What was important was dealing with the situation as it was, in such a way that the voters would appreciate it and reward his efforts.
“Citizens of Amity Park,” he began. “I thank you for coming to this town hall during these frightening times. It is vital that we all work together and not lose hope. If we succeed at that much, we are certain to make it through this trial.” The crowd smiled and applauded. Good, Montez thought. They believed him, which meant they had faith in him, which meant they still liked him enough for reelection in the next voting cycle. Probably.
“We have one piece of business today: defeating the ghosts that infest our town.” Montez watched the crowd warily. His proposal was simple and, he was sure, the best option. He doubted many people here would disagree with his plan of action, but he needed to keep an eye on their reactions so he could try persuading anyone who wasn’t convinced. Though really, everyone seemed worried enough to jump on the first halfway reasonable solution. If he said his next sentence with enough confidence, he wouldn’t have any problems. “To do that, I’m calling for a vote to cede all ghost policing and security decisions to Maddie Fenton.”
It was at that moment Montez felt the world turn inside out.
A sudden chill completely overtook his body, and he almost felt like he was drowning as all control over his limbs vanished. His veins painfully turned to ice, then numbed, all in an instant. Montez tried to cry out, but found he couldn’t. Instead his mouth moved of its on volition to say, “I mean, Jack. Jack Fenton. The completely competent Jack Fenton.”
No, he thought as he heard Jack’s excited shout from somewhere in the crowd. Not Jack Fenton. This would be a disaster. Montez tried to protest, tried to wave his arms and get the crowd’s attention before everyone accepted this idea, but his body wouldn’t listen to him. Instead his mouth continued, “And we’ve found the ghost responsible for all the terror inflicted on our town. This one.” His hand grasped a picture of a young-looking ghost Montez had never seen before and showed it to the crowd. The question of where this picture came from only slipped through his head for a moment before raw terror overtook his mind completely. What was going on? And then he heard, or thought he heard, a strange deep voice.
Remember that ghost kid, human. You’ll need to recognize him later.
If he could, Montez would have screamed. A voice in his head? Was this voice what was controlling his body? How was this even happening? He needed to figure out a way to fix this!
The crowd, meanwhile, had started buzzing at the voice’s announcement. Whatever was controlling Montez said nothing for a few moments, probably giving everyone a chance to digest and react to this new information. Montez himself, having managed to pull together enough reason to try and determine what was happening, was mostly confused. The information was false. They had no idea whether or not a single ghost was leading the rest, much less who this ghost would be. What reason did the voice have to claim this unfamiliar ghost kid was the culprit?
That is no concern to you.
Montez mentally started. This voice knew what he was thinking? That just made the whole situation scarier. Even his thoughts had been invaded. On the other hand, if that was the case, maybe he could try talking to it. That was better than just helplessly watching as a prisoner within his body, at any rate. Who are you? How did you take control of me?
That is also no concern to you.
At this point, the being seemed to be ready to speak to the crowd again. “Order, order!” Montez’s mouth said over the din. After they quieted down, his body continued, “All in favor of declaring martial law and allowing the completely competent Jack Fenton to mobilize a massive ghost hunt, please say—”
“I might be too young to vote, but I’m casting one anyway,” a new voice interrupted. Montez’s body tensed and his eyes moved up and allowed him to see the speaker: the ghost from the picture. The crowd responded to the so-called leader of the invasion with panic. The ghost kid said some more words, but Montez lost them in the noise.
As the Fentons prepared to take the ghost on, Montez’s body began to ran away. Then, unexpectedly, he gained a tingly feeling all over his body and slipped below the floor. Montez yelped in his mind as he flew through the basement. How was this happening? He was going through solid objects and floating like… oh. You! In my head! You’re a ghost! Get out of me! The ghost did not respond, much to Montez’s irritation. Instead, the ghost gestured to the shadows, where he saw Casper High’s school officials and some teenagers floating over. More ghosts?
The ghost poked Montez’s head back to the floor above. He had a quick impression of pandemonium before the ghost using his body grabbed the ghost kid and pulled him down into the basement. The rest of the ghosts quickly surrounded the kid, who glared at Montez. “Walker. I should’ve guessed you’d end up in the guy who makes the rules.”
Walker, apparently the name of the ghost inside Montez, did not seem impressed. “Shouldn’t you be running?”
“Shouldn’t you?” the kid shot back, lifting up… a thermos? That didn’t seem like a reason to run, yet the ghosts gasped and inched away.
You know, Montez thought, if you’re possessing me I would at least appreciate knowing what’s going on, because none of this makes any sense.
Walker continued ignoring Montez and backed off of the scene, allowing the other ghosts to attack the kid. Montez watched confusedly as the ghost kid managed to force the possessing ghosts out of the humans. Why? It didn’t make sense. He wished he had the control to close his eyes and take a few slow, deep breaths. That always helped him think. Instead he had to content himself with watching the ghosts, soon joined by Maddie Fenton and another ghost with a canine appearance, continue their fight.
Montez suddenly felt himself move again as Walker grabbed the ghost kid and took to the air. The kid struggled as they flew up. Montez found himself praying for the kid to get out of Walker’s grip and free him too, but it was not to be.
Listen up, human, Walker finally spoke to Montez again. I have some commands for you.
You’ve already got complete control of my body, ghost, Montez thought back. What more do you want from me?
I won’t be here forever, but you need to do your part. So when people talk to you about this? I have to make sure you do what I need you to do.
You can’t make me. Montez could hardly believe the ghost would ask such a thing. He didn’t know what this ghost’s agenda was, but he refused to participate if he could help it.
YOU WILL DO AS I SAY. The voice changed. It became even deeper and more commanding, reaching into the depths of Montez’s soul. YOU WILL NEVER SPEAK OF YOUR POSSESSION. YOU WILL NEVER TELL ANYONE THE TRUTH OF THIS INVASION. YOU WILL MAKE SURE THE GHOST KID TAKES THE BLAME AND IS PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE. AND YOU WILL ALLOW EVERYONE TO BELIEVE HE MADE YOU HIS PRISONER. Montez screamed internally as the words went through him. He felt as though they were clawed hands reaching into his heart and painfully pulling it out of his chest. He distantly realized they were at the town hall entrance and heard words exchanged between Walker and the ghost kid, but the pounding voice in his head kept his awareness away from the scene. He had a brief impression of the canine ghost behind him and Walker suddenly being torn away, followed by darkness.
“He’s waking up! Mayor Montez, are you all right?”
Montez cracked his eyes open and groaned at the bright light. His head was killing him, and the noise wasn’t helping.
“Mayor Montez! Can you talk to us? I think maybe we should bring him to the hospital.”
At the word “hospital,” Montez snapped back into awareness. He never told people about it, but hospitals made him horribly uncomfortable. Every visit made him feel like the specter of death was watching him. Maybe literally now, he thought as he remembered the existence of ghosts with a shudder. “It’s all right. I’m fine. Er, could someone tell me what happened?”
The strange woman in front of him smiled. “Oh, good, you’re awake! Well, during the town hall meeting that ghost kid responsible for this whole mess attacked. He went after you and tried to hold you hostage, but Maddie Fenton managed to beat him and his friends. The ghost kid himself got away though, so we need to figure out what to do about him.”
Montez stared. The ghost kid’s hostage? No, that wasn’t how it happened. He’d been under the control of a ghost, along with some other citizens, and the ghost kid had… had tried to help them, for reasons that still eluded Montez. He opened his mouth to contradict the woman, but instead he said, “Oh, yes, I remember now. I’ll need to thank Mrs. Fenton for her help later.”
What? Why did he say that?
“Mayor Montez!” Another woman pushed past the first one. “I’m a journalist for the Amity Park Angle. Would you like to give a statement on the attack?”
“Well, uh, I think I need a little bit to recover from this whole ordeal before much else, but…” He hadn’t been attacked by the kid. He’d been possessed by a ghost named Walker while speaking at the town hall. “… we’ll need to make sure the ghost gets taken down. We can meet with our local ghost experts to determine a strategy later, but from now on, that ghost kid is Public Enemy Number One.”
“Oh, yes, of course.” The journalist nodded. “That must have been traumatizing. I’m sure you’ll be up to dealing with everything soon, sir.”
“Yes,” Montez muttered as the journalist turned to leave. “Traumatizing.” He realized his hands were shaking. He couldn’t make them stop. “Be up to it soon…”
Mayor Montez stood as straight as he could behind the town hall podium. It was still hard for him to believe he was dealing with ghosts, of all things, but the strangeness of it all wasn’t worth worrying about. What was important was dealing with the situation as it was, in such a way that the voters would appreciate it and reward his efforts.
“Citizens of Amity Park,” he began. “I thank you for coming to this town hall during these frightening times. It is vital that we all work together and not lose hope. If we succeed at that much, we are certain to make it through this trial.” The crowd smiled and applauded. Good, Montez thought. They believed him, which meant they had faith in him, which meant they still liked him enough for reelection in the next voting cycle. Probably.
“We have one piece of business today: defeating the ghosts that infest our town.” Montez watched the crowd warily. His proposal was simple and, he was sure, the best option. He doubted many people here would disagree with his plan of action, but he needed to keep an eye on their reactions so he could try persuading anyone who wasn’t convinced. Though really, everyone seemed worried enough to jump on the first halfway reasonable solution. If he said his next sentence with enough confidence, he wouldn’t have any problems. “To do that, I’m calling for a vote to cede all ghost policing and security decisions to Maddie Fenton.”
It was at that moment Montez felt the world turn inside out.
A sudden chill completely overtook his body, and he almost felt like he was drowning as all control over his limbs vanished. His veins painfully turned to ice, then numbed, all in an instant. Montez tried to cry out, but found he couldn’t. Instead his mouth moved of its on volition to say, “I mean, Jack. Jack Fenton. The completely competent Jack Fenton.”
No, he thought as he heard Jack’s excited shout from somewhere in the crowd. Not Jack Fenton. This would be a disaster. Montez tried to protest, tried to wave his arms and get the crowd’s attention before everyone accepted this idea, but his body wouldn’t listen to him. Instead his mouth continued, “And we’ve found the ghost responsible for all the terror inflicted on our town. This one.” His hand grasped a picture of a young-looking ghost Montez had never seen before and showed it to the crowd. The question of where this picture came from only slipped through his head for a moment before raw terror overtook his mind completely. What was going on? And then he heard, or thought he heard, a strange deep voice.
Remember that ghost kid, human. You’ll need to recognize him later.
If he could, Montez would have screamed. A voice in his head? Was this voice what was controlling his body? How was this even happening? He needed to figure out a way to fix this!
The crowd, meanwhile, had started buzzing at the voice’s announcement. Whatever was controlling Montez said nothing for a few moments, probably giving everyone a chance to digest and react to this new information. Montez himself, having managed to pull together enough reason to try and determine what was happening, was mostly confused. The information was false. They had no idea whether or not a single ghost was leading the rest, much less who this ghost would be. What reason did the voice have to claim this unfamiliar ghost kid was the culprit?
That is no concern to you.
Montez mentally started. This voice knew what he was thinking? That just made the whole situation scarier. Even his thoughts had been invaded. On the other hand, if that was the case, maybe he could try talking to it. That was better than just helplessly watching as a prisoner within his body, at any rate. Who are you? How did you take control of me?
That is also no concern to you.
At this point, the being seemed to be ready to speak to the crowd again. “Order, order!” Montez’s mouth said over the din. After they quieted down, his body continued, “All in favor of declaring martial law and allowing the completely competent Jack Fenton to mobilize a massive ghost hunt, please say—”
“I might be too young to vote, but I’m casting one anyway,” a new voice interrupted. Montez’s body tensed and his eyes moved up and allowed him to see the speaker: the ghost from the picture. The crowd responded to the so-called leader of the invasion with panic. The ghost kid said some more words, but Montez lost them in the noise.
As the Fentons prepared to take the ghost on, Montez’s body began to ran away. Then, unexpectedly, he gained a tingly feeling all over his body and slipped below the floor. Montez yelped in his mind as he flew through the basement. How was this happening? He was going through solid objects and floating like… oh. You! In my head! You’re a ghost! Get out of me! The ghost did not respond, much to Montez’s irritation. Instead, the ghost gestured to the shadows, where he saw Casper High’s school officials and some teenagers floating over. More ghosts?
The ghost poked Montez’s head back to the floor above. He had a quick impression of pandemonium before the ghost using his body grabbed the ghost kid and pulled him down into the basement. The rest of the ghosts quickly surrounded the kid, who glared at Montez. “Walker. I should’ve guessed you’d end up in the guy who makes the rules.”
Walker, apparently the name of the ghost inside Montez, did not seem impressed. “Shouldn’t you be running?”
“Shouldn’t you?” the kid shot back, lifting up… a thermos? That didn’t seem like a reason to run, yet the ghosts gasped and inched away.
You know, Montez thought, if you’re possessing me I would at least appreciate knowing what’s going on, because none of this makes any sense.
Walker continued ignoring Montez and backed off of the scene, allowing the other ghosts to attack the kid. Montez watched confusedly as the ghost kid managed to force the possessing ghosts out of the humans. Why? It didn’t make sense. He wished he had the control to close his eyes and take a few slow, deep breaths. That always helped him think. Instead he had to content himself with watching the ghosts, soon joined by Maddie Fenton and another ghost with a canine appearance, continue their fight.
Montez suddenly felt himself move again as Walker grabbed the ghost kid and took to the air. The kid struggled as they flew up. Montez found himself praying for the kid to get out of Walker’s grip and free him too, but it was not to be.
Listen up, human, Walker finally spoke to Montez again. I have some commands for you.
You’ve already got complete control of my body, ghost, Montez thought back. What more do you want from me?
I won’t be here forever, but you need to do your part. So when people talk to you about this? I have to make sure you do what I need you to do.
You can’t make me. Montez could hardly believe the ghost would ask such a thing. He didn’t know what this ghost’s agenda was, but he refused to participate if he could help it.
YOU WILL DO AS I SAY. The voice changed. It became even deeper and more commanding, reaching into the depths of Montez’s soul. YOU WILL NEVER SPEAK OF YOUR POSSESSION. YOU WILL NEVER TELL ANYONE THE TRUTH OF THIS INVASION. YOU WILL MAKE SURE THE GHOST KID TAKES THE BLAME AND IS PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE. AND YOU WILL ALLOW EVERYONE TO BELIEVE HE MADE YOU HIS PRISONER. Montez screamed internally as the words went through him. He felt as though they were clawed hands reaching into his heart and painfully pulling it out of his chest. He distantly realized they were at the town hall entrance and heard words exchanged between Walker and the ghost kid, but the pounding voice in his head kept his awareness away from the scene. He had a brief impression of the canine ghost behind him and Walker suddenly being torn away, followed by darkness.
“He’s waking up! Mayor Montez, are you all right?”
Montez cracked his eyes open and groaned at the bright light. His head was killing him, and the noise wasn’t helping.
“Mayor Montez! Can you talk to us? I think maybe we should bring him to the hospital.”
At the word “hospital,” Montez snapped back into awareness. He never told people about it, but hospitals made him horribly uncomfortable. Every visit made him feel like the specter of death was watching him. Maybe literally now, he thought as he remembered the existence of ghosts with a shudder. “It’s all right. I’m fine. Er, could someone tell me what happened?”
The strange woman in front of him smiled. “Oh, good, you’re awake! Well, during the town hall meeting that ghost kid responsible for this whole mess attacked. He went after you and tried to hold you hostage, but Maddie Fenton managed to beat him and his friends. The ghost kid himself got away though, so we need to figure out what to do about him.”
Montez stared. The ghost kid’s hostage? No, that wasn’t how it happened. He’d been under the control of a ghost, along with some other citizens, and the ghost kid had… had tried to help them, for reasons that still eluded Montez. He opened his mouth to contradict the woman, but instead he said, “Oh, yes, I remember now. I’ll need to thank Mrs. Fenton for her help later.”
What? Why did he say that?
“Mayor Montez!” Another woman pushed past the first one. “I’m a journalist for the Amity Park Angle. Would you like to give a statement on the attack?”
“Well, uh, I think I need a little bit to recover from this whole ordeal before much else, but…” He hadn’t been attacked by the kid. He’d been possessed by a ghost named Walker while speaking at the town hall. “… we’ll need to make sure the ghost gets taken down. We can meet with our local ghost experts to determine a strategy later, but from now on, that ghost kid is Public Enemy Number One.”
“Oh, yes, of course.” The journalist nodded. “That must have been traumatizing. I’m sure you’ll be up to dealing with everything soon, sir.”
“Yes,” Montez muttered as the journalist turned to leave. “Traumatizing.” He realized his hands were shaking. He couldn’t make them stop. “Be up to it soon…”