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Jack's bad aim never bothered them too much. His enthusiasm just makes it harder to aim. That's all.
Maddie always found it charming. They both loved how competent she was in comparison, Jack admired her for it and it always touched her. Maybe did something more for them that they don't always get to indulge in.
She never wanted him to stop at times.
But, that was before.
Before the changes started.
Before they started and snowballed.
As they grew blind to the other things around them.
For some reason this time, when he accidentally hit himself, it burned. Not just a stinging sensation like usual, but a blistering wound that's hot to touch. And that was while he was wearing his orange suit, the one he designed for this custom made.
Thankfully he is not made of ectoplasm, the weapons intended target and function, if it's this bad on a human.
That was their first, noticeable sign.
If that was all, it could be easily ignorable. Just sweep it under the rug with all the other things they don't dare think about. If only their anti-ecto devices and projects didn't react to them. Even the trackers.
They found that one out while Maddie was fixing the Fenton Finder. That one has been wrong before, kept pointing them at Danny, but then the Ghost Gabber started going off at them, too. Parroting them before ending each sentence with an 'I am a ghost, fear me'. Maybe that one needs more of a touch up than they thought if that's how it hears things.
It might not mean anything.
It can't.
Because these things happen for Danny as well. They must have just been very contaminated.
It's what makes sense.
What they need to make sense.
Except it hasn't gone away. Just keeps growing somehow...
Also just like Danny.
They do not notice the looks shared between their kids the fewer and fewer times they see them.
The two keep away as best as they can in case whatever is wrong could make them hurt their children.
The more time passes, the more worried they become over this development.
They've been doing tests, secluding themselves in the lab, to try to isolate what's wrong.
With their devices.
With themselves.
Despite all their efforts they can't help but notice it.
It's been getting worse.
It's been harder to disengage from their projects than usual. Sometimes days pass without them noticing unless Jazz comes down to drag them upstairs. They don't know when the last time they saw Danny was.
When they do catch sight of him, he seems so nervous.
Like he's expecting something bad to happen.
They all feel the unspoken tension growing amid their home.
They want to reassure their kids before the tension snaps.
But...
How could they tell their kids when they don't even understand what's happening?
Why they have caught their eyes glowing without explanation and actually started forgoing important things unrelated to ghosts, a lifelong passion that is turning into something more extreme. Why they are stealthier than she should be, especially Jack at his size whose thunderous steps have quieted unless he tries. Why they feel the same as they ever had yet slightly to the left.
Dead end after dead end lead to arguments and rising panic, not wanting to admit defeat or their theories wrong unless they have to.
"We wear our protection all the time! How are we still this contaminated?! Why is it getting worse when we've treated ourselves time and time again? The decontamination never failed this hard before!"
Weeks of testing has left Maddie Fenton frustrated and at the verge of tears at such a roadblock. They've tested the samples, the portal, their inventions, even themselves to no avail.
"That can't be the only source, right? Does all the ectoplasm in our house come from the lab?"
Jack Fenton tries to keep the mood up. Tries to help. There has to be something they haven't tried.
"That's what would make sense, the portal is up and running and the lab is the only place with this much ectoplasm."
Frustrated resignation rang in her tone. Still no closer to an answer they've so desperately sought.
"Wait... Where do we store our samples, again? Not really a place down here. It needs consistent cooling to be viable and there's no storage for it in the lab. An oversight on our part."
That last part was said under his breath, a regret given sound without much forethought.
A look of horror passes over Maddie's face, Jack soon follows.
"Right. The fridge. Upstairs. Where they all eat from. Where food has been reanimated. Time and time again. Where we attempt to cook powering the devices with ectoplasm despite what the kids warn us about. From ecto-wienies to holiday meals. What have we done to our kids, to ourselves. We ate more contaminated food than our kids. They refused it even after we declared it a safe level... Was any level of contamination actually safe?"
Realization over what they allowed to happen in their own home, what happened to them was shaping up to be more and more the consequences of their actions, what they may have allowed to happen to their kids without realizing it and unintentionally pushing them away.
"We... We can't rule it out at the very least. It's the only lead we have, now."
Jack looks so tired upon saying that. Like he aged ten years at this revelation.
But they still have work to be done.
Another answer, another angle.
They are human, end of. Wouldn't they know if they weren't? Or did they somehow die and not know it, deluding themselves into believing they are alive with everything that it entails. What would that mean for their kids?
It all comes to a head when Jack reaches for a wrench and it went straight through. They wouldn't have believed it if they weren't watching, but his hand was see-through with a faint outline. Fingers move when he wants them to yet it cannot pick up the wrench.
The sense of doubt and dread that has long since set in makes itself unignorable.
Then...
It just... Went back to normal?
Like it never happened.
But neither adult could process what had happened.
Humans with these abilities should be impossible! They have dismissed it long ago! Maddie especially cannot believe it and she saw it herself this time, unlike when all those high schoolers were taken by that creepy doctor after they all caught a strange illness.
It should be impossible.
It just should!
But-!
But they can't be ghosts, they know they are still alive! They breathe and their hearts beat! They still feel and... and remember...
Even if...
Even if evidence points at it...
It should be...
Impossible.
But can it be 'impossible' if they've seen it first hand?
They can't live in denial anymore.
Is it too late for them?
For their children?
They need to accept that they...
...Might not be human...
...Not anymore, not for a while anyway...