Chapter 15: Midnight Meat Train

A short while later, everyone was gathered in the main room of the Mystery Shack, scattered about the room in similar positions as they had been in the night before.

"So, you're saying you can see the future now?" Tucker questioned as he quirked an eyebrow at Ember.

"Oi don't know if it was de future," Ember replied as she ran her hands over her face, her guitar now slung over her shoulder, "Felt more like sometin' happenin' roight now, and even then, Oi only saw flashes of it."

"But you're sure of what you saw?" Danny questioned as he leaned against the front desk with his arms crossed.

"Yep," Ember confirmed with a nod, "Big, scary looking bloke, meat hooks and a boxcar."

"The Boxcar Butcher," Tucker mumbled as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Who?" Neil questioned as he looked at Tucker in confusion.

"So, back in the thirties, during the Great Depression, there was a serial killer on the loose here in New England," Tucker explained, "Basically, trains would pull into stations and the workers or whoever would find the bodies of people who had been literally slaughtered in the boxcars."

"What do you mean by "literally slaughtered"?" Wendy questioned apprehensively, her sword in a sheathe strapped to her back.

"Like, they had been skinned, chopped up, hung from meat hooks, all that jazz," Tucker replied.

"W-Why would someone do that?" Mabel questioned, her face pale.

"Well, they usually found parts….missing afterwards, so they figured someone was probably….eating them," Tucker explained, awkwardly.

"Jesus Chris, Tucker," Danny groaned, "How many cannibals are we going to have to deal with!?"

"You say that like it's my fault that these nut jobs keep eating people," Tucker replied defensively, "Look, anyway, the cops eventually figured out it was this guy named Wayne Jefferies. Apparently he used to be a butcher who lost everything in the stock market crash. He essentially became a hobo, traveling the railways looking for work."

"Where does the eating people part come in?" Stan inquired.

"Food was hard to come by for a guy like him back in those days," Tucker explained, "I guess hunger must have driven him over the edge, and he decided to use his butcher skills on his fellow hobos. Left murder scenes in his wake from Bangor to Providence."

"So, what's his connection to Blithe Hollow?" Norman asked.

"Well, like I said, the authorities, specifically the FBI, finally caught wind of him," Tucker elaborated, "They managed to figure out he would be in Blithe Hollow and set up an ambush for him. And for whatever reason, the FBI decided they weren't going to take Jefferies alive."

"So, what did they do?" Mike inquired.

"You ever see how Bonnie and Clyde ended up?" Tucker questioned in return, "Well, in case you haven't, it involved a lot of machine guns. That's what Jefferies faced when he hopped out of a boxcar in the Blithe Hollow trainyard. And that was the end of the Boxcar Butcher."

"Until tonoight," Ember commented.

"Until tonight," Danny agreed, "So, it sounds like we know what ghost we're dealing with. But do we have any idea where the Boxcar Butcher will be?"

"I mean, the Lunch Lady showed up at the same school that she killed people in," Wendy observed, "So, wouldn't it make sense if the Butcher was at the trainyard? It's the only part of Blithe Hollow that he's connected to, and he did kill people on trains."

"Oi did see what looked like a boxcar or somethin'," Ember confirmed, "Seems like our best bet."

"For finding him sure," Neil agreed with an uncertain expression, "But when we all went against the Lunch Lady, she kind of kicked our butts. How will this be any different?"

"I take it you don't think you have it in you to properly banish this ghost, Mike?" Stan asked as he looked at his old friend.

"No, I'm worried I won't ever be able to pull that trick off ever again," Mike answered with a defeated sigh.

"And I take it the kid isn't up to the task?" Stan pressed as he gestured at Norman.

"Not even close," Mike replied with a quick shake of his head.

"Well, what are we supposed to do then?" Tucker pondered aloud.

"I have an idea," Dipper spoke up, bringing everyone's attentions to him.

"What idea?" Mabel inquired as she looked at her brother in confusion.

"So, Grunckle Stan showed me this book that used to belong to his brother," Dipper explained as he held up the book in question, "In it is this….well spell I guess. A spell capable of sealing a ghost inside of a person."

"How does that help us?" Neil inquired.

"Well, in most cases there's a good chance that doing this to a person would let the ghost take them over," Dipper elaborated before he pointed at Danny, "But you're not most people."

"What?" Danny asked in confusion.

"You already have the ability to let ghosts into your body," Dipper answered, "But he doesn't take you over or anything, right?"

In response, Danny glanced over at where Alistair was floating and crooked an eyebrow at the ghost.

"No, Daniel," Alistair answered with a sigh, "I cannot possess you."

"No," Danny replied as he looked back at Dipper and shook his head.

"Good, so hopefully, that means that if we were to seal other ghosts in you, they wouldn't be able to take you over either," Dipper went on.

Again, Danny shot a questioning look at Alistair.

"Of that, I am unsure," Alistair replied as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Our symbiosis works because you paradoxically both do and do not possess a soul at the same time. As such, it could theoretically be possible to seal a second or possibly even more ghosts within your body."

"Alistair says he thinks it might be possible, but he's not sure," Danny said for everyone's benefit.

"Well, it's as good a plan as we've got," Stan announced with a shrug before he pulled out his shotgun, "Let's go and see if we can't get ourselves killed by the ghost of a cannibal serial killer."

As everyone rose to their feet and began making their way towards the door, Mike paused before stepping in front of Norman, Neil, Dipper and Mabel.

"Whoa there, kids," Mike said as the children stopped and looked up at him, "There's no way-"

"Don't waste your breath, pal," Ember interrupted with a laugh.

"They're just going to follow us anyway," Tucker added with a helpless shrug.

"Besides, we kind of need Dipper with this whole sealing spell thing is going to work," Danny pointed out.

Looking back at the children, Mike watched as Neil shrugged at him while Dipper smiled with chagrin. Sighing in defeat, Mike stepped to the side to let the children pass.

"Sorry, Uncle Mike," Norman apologised as he walked by the man.

As the younger members of the group left, Mike looked at Stan for help, but only received a helpless shrug in reply.

"Hey, what's a little child endangerment among friends?" Stan questioned as he followed the others out. Mike sighed and rolled his eyes at this before following along as well.

Later,

A short while later, the group had gathered at the entrance to the trainyard, which was surrounded by a tall, chain link fence with a padlocked gate.

"So, how do we get in?" Wendy questioned.

Wordlessly, Danny, who had already taken the time to merge with Alistair, walked up to the gate and used his intangibility to remove the lock. Turning back towards Wendy, Danny tossed her the lock with a smirk and pushed open the gate.

"Wicked," Wendy commented with a grin as she tossed the lock onto the ground and walked with the others into the trainyard. Pulling out a flashlight, Neil used it to illuminate the way for the group, as the trainyard was pitch black except for what little light shone in from streetlights that were near the property.

"So, where are we going to find this ghost?" Mabel questioned as she glanced around, clearly nervous.

"Well, Ember said she saw a boxcar in her vision," Danny replied, "So, we should probably look for one of-"

Danny was interrupted by the sound of a loud thump somewhere in the trainyard. Neil quickly spun his flashlight towards the noise as the other's froze, but the light illuminated nothing but a few stationary train cars.

"Well, I've been doing this long enough to know that's probably something we should go check that out," Stan observed.

As everyone else nodded or voiced their agreement, the group began heading towards where the sound had come from. As the group made their way between two sets of tracks with large train cars on either side of them, Ember let out a gasp and stumbled, managing to catch herself on one of the train cars before she fell.

"Are you alright!?" Wendy exclaimed as she ran over to Ember's side and helped her back to her feet.

"He's here," Ember replied with a ragged voice as she looked at Wendy with pure black eyes while inky tears ran down her cheeks.

At that moment, the group heard heavy footsteps approaching them. Looking in front of them, the group saw the Boxcar Butcher approaching them from the end of the alley created by the train cars on either side of them, the meathook clutched in his hand dripping with fresh blood.

"Beware," the Butcher whispered as he approached, his dark eyes glaring at the group.

"Alright, kids, get behind us!" Stan ordered as he stepped forward and pointed his shotgun at the Butcher while Wendy drew her sword and took up a flanking position on the old man with Danny, "We'll-"

"Guys!" Ember interrupted, bringing everyone's attention to where she was again leaning against one of the train car's "Oi tink we've got a problem!"

"Go tell Aunt Rhody," a singing voice floated down from the other end of the alley the group was in, "Go tell Aunt Rhody."

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Tucker groaned as the group looked back towards where the voice was coming from.

"Go tell Aunt Rhody," the voice continued before the Lunch Lady Killer stepped into view, dragging her giant meat cleaver behind her, "That everybody's dead."

"Um, what do we do?" Neil questioned, his eyes wide with fear as he glanced rapidly between the Butcher and the Lunch Lady as both ghosts approached the group from opposite directions.

Suddenly, a pounding noise drew everyone's attentions upward, where they saw six of the Lunch Lady's strange and horrible children crouched on top of the surrounding train cars, looking down at the group before they all let out blood-curdling screams.

"Scatter!" Stan shouted as he pointed his shotgun upwards and fired off a shot, causing the Lunch Lady's children to instinctively flinch back. Reaching out, Mabel quickly grabbed Dipper's hand and dragged him towards one of the train cars, the twins quickly disappearing as they scrambled beneath one of the cars. At the same time, Mike scooped up Norman before rushing in the opposite direction, managing to squeeze his bulk through the gap between two of the train cars.

Letting out another terrible shriek, one of the Lunch Lady's children leapt down at Neil. Screaming in fear, Neil dove to the side, causing the creature to land on the ground and roll to a stop.

"Come on!" Tucker shouted as he grabbed Neil's arm and pulled him to his feet before leading the boy under one of the train cars the same way the Pines twins had done. As Neil crawled under the train car, though, the creature lunged forward and grabbed him by the ankle.

"Tucker!" Neil screamed as the Lunch Lady's child began to drag him back. Spinning around, Tucker grabbed Neil's hand and began a tug of war with the creature over the boy. As Tucker and the creature fought over Neil, the boy twisted around and kicked the creature in the face, causing it to squeal in pain as it released its hold on him, allowing Tucker to fully drag the boy under the train car.

As the creature recovered, it moved to follow Tucker and Neil. Before it could however, there was a resounding bang as Stan fired his shotgun at it, blasting a chunk out of the creature and slamming it into the ground.

As Stan reloaded his shotgun, Danny moved to aid the old man. Before he could, the Butcher's hook snagged him around the waist and he was yanked backwards. Tumbling through the air, Danny was abruptly stopped as the Butcher caught him by the throat, his large hand slowly constricting the young man's neck as he held Danny above his head.

"Beware," the Butcher said as he looked up at Danny with his beady black eyes.

"Yeah," Danny choked as he lifted up one of his feet, "I heard you the first time."

With a grunt, Danny slammed his foot into the Butcher's face, causing the ghost to cry out in pain and release his hold on the young man. Flipping around, Danny landed on the ground before kicking off hard, flying through the air and tackling the Butcher in the stomach, lifting the ghost off his feet and dragging him away from the others.

Running over to Ember, Wendy helped the other girl back onto her feet before she noticed the Lunch Lady charging at them with her cleaver raised. Pushing Ember back, Wendy blocked the Lunch Lady's attack with her sword, struggling against the ghost for a moment before she managed to push the Lunch Lady back.

"You okay?" Wendy questioned as she glanced over her shoulder at Ember.

"Yeah," Ember replied as she wiped the remains of the black tears from her cheeks, "Worry about yourself."

Nodding in reply, Wendy turned her attention back to the Lunch Lady as the ghost rushed her. Stepping to the side, Wendy avoided the Lunch Lady's attack as she slammed her cleaver down at her. Lashing out with her sword, Wendy sliced the ghost on the arm, causing the Lunch Lady to scream in pain and stumble back. As the Lunch Lady lashed at her with another wild swing, Wendy ducked under the attack, only to be stuck by the ghost's follow up attack with her free hand.

The punch from the Lunch Lady's massive hand completely lifted Wendy off her feet, and slammed her against the train car behind her. Grunting in pain as the wind was knocked out of her lungs, Wendy fell onto her hands and knees, unable to do anything as the Lunch Lady lifted her cleaver to finish the young woman off. Her eyes going wide, Ember grabbed her guitar and looked at it thoughtfully.

As the Lunch Lady brought her cleaver down, she was interrupted by Ember running up behind her and slamming her guitar against the back of the ghost's knee. As the guitar connected, a loud musical wail emanated from the instrument as a shockwave exploded out of it and completely knocked the Lunch Lady off her feet.

Blinking in surprise, Wendy watched as the Lunch Lady picked herself up off the ground, before looking up at Ember as the other girl offered her a hand.

"Did you know that would happen?" Wendy questioned as she took Ember's offered hand.

"No, but Oi'm happy it did," Ember said as she pulled Wendy back to her feet before examining her guitar, "Tis is a better axe dan Oi tought."

"Hell yeah," Wendy agreed with a laugh as she wedged her foot under her sword and kicked it up into her waiting hand, "Want to help me beat up this ghost?"

"Sounds like a deadly idea," Ember replied as she rested her guitar on her shoulder and the two turned their attentions towards the Lunch Lady who snarled and moved to attack.

In a different part of the trainyard, Dipper and Mabel ran side by side, while one of Lunch Lady's children chased after them.

"Does that book have any magic spell or something that could help us?" Mabel questioned, huffing and puffing as she ran.

"I uh, I don't….." Dipper started to say as he tried flipping through the book as he ran, only to trip over his own feet and fall to the ground.

"Dipper!" Mabel exclaimed in horror as she slid to a halt and turned to look back at her brother.

Rolling onto his back, Dipper screamed in terror as the monster leapt upon him. Instinctively, he held up the thick book as a makeshift shield, which managed to protect him as the creature locked its jaws onto the tome. Still screaming, Dipper continued to struggle with the creature as it tried to rip the book out of his grasp and attack him.

Suddenly, Mabel came running in from the side, screaming at the top of her lungs. Reaching Dipper, Mabel kicked the creature in the head as hard as she could, knocking it off of her brother, causing it to wrench the book out of his hands in the process.

"The book!" Dipper exclaimed as he sat up.

"I know, I know!" Mabel shouted back as she ran over to where the creature had rolled to a stop. Grabbing the book, Mabel yanked it out of the creature's mouth, causing it to snarl and lunge at her. Screaming in reply, Mabel swung the thick tome and struck the creature on the side of the head, knocking it to the ground. Still screaming, Mabel lifted the book above her head and began beating the creature in the face with it, brown goop flying in every direction with each blow. After a half-dozen such blows, Mabel stopped, breathing heavily as Dipper walked up next to her and looked at the resulting mess with wide eyes.

"I guess there was something the book could do to help," Mabel observed as she handed the tome back to Dipper, "Here you go."

A look of disgust on his face, Dipper gingerly took the book, observing the splatter of brown gunk that marred the cover and dripped off the spine.

"Thanks," Dipper replied queasily.

A loud screech caught the twins' attentions, allowing them to spot one of the Lunch Lady's leaping off a railcar and charging towards them.

"Okay, but seriously, is there something in that book that can help us!?" Mabel asked as she looked at Dipper, a note of panic in her voice.

"I, uh, I think I saw something while I was flipping through it," Dipper quickly replied as he opened the book, and shuffled through the pages, "Here! Some kind of banishment."

"Well hurry up!" Mabel shouted, watching as the creature drew closer and closer, "Banish it already!"

"Alright, alright!" Dipper yelled in reply before he held one hand outstretched towards the charging creature, "Clatto!"

At this, the creature stumbled to a halt, clutching its chest in pain.

"Verata!" Dipper went on, causing the creature to fall to its knees and begin wailing up at the sky. As Dipper looked at the last word in the incantation, his heart sank as he saw that it had been obscured by an ink blot.

"Dipper!" Mabel called in warning as the creature began to rise back to its feet, "Hurry."

"N-N-" Dipper mumbled, squinting his eyes as he tried to make out the word, "...Noodle?"

At that, the creature froze in place. Then, suddenly, the creature began to inflate like a balloon before popping like a soap bubble, splattering the area, including the twins, with more brown gunk. For a moment, none of the twins said anything, blinking in shock at what had just occurred.

"I, uh," Dipper said after a moment, "I don't think I did it right."

Wiping her face with one of her hands, Mabel examined the brown gunk for a moment before, to Dipper's shock, she stuck a finger in her mouth and licked it off.

"Mabel!" Dipper exclaimed in disgust.

"What?" Mabel questioned in reply as she wiped some of the gunk off her face with a finger and licked it again, "It's hamburger."

In a different part of the trainyard, Tucker ran while pulling Neil behind him, with one of the Lunch Lady's children in pursuit. Ducking behind a railcar, the two listened as the creature raced past their hiding place before they sighed in relief and took a moment to catch their breaths.

"What do we do if one of those things comes back?" Neil asked as he looked up at Tucker.

"Well, I got this," Tucker said as he fished a stun gun out of his pocket, pulling the trigger experimentally to show that it worked.

"Is that my mom's stun gun?" Neil questioned.

"Yeah, I held on to it," Tucker explained with a shrug, "The electricity seemed to work on the Lunch Lady, so I figured it might work again."

"Well, I hope you won't have to find out," Neil said.

At that moment, one of the Lunch Lady's children stuck its head out from around the railcar and shrieked at them. Looking at the creature, Tucker and Neil screamed in fear. Acting on instinct, Tucker struck out and stabbed the stun gun into the creature's face and pulled the trigger, causing the creature to begin spasming as the electricity coursed through it. Falling to the ground, the creature continued spasming even as Tucker pulled back the stun gun. Taking advantage of the creature's helplessness, Tucker and Neil began kicking the creature, trying to ensure that it stayed down. After a few moments, the two backed away, breathing heavily as they looked down at the creature's still form.

"See, I told you," Tucker said as he held up the stun gun, "Worked great."

Elsewhere, Mike and Norman were running side by side through the trainyard. As they ran, one of the Lunch Lady's children suddenly leapt down in front of them, causing Mike to skid to a halt, pushing Norman protectively behind him.

"Stay back, Norman!" Mike said as he focused his gaze on the creature, which began charging towards him. Concentrating, Mike thrust his hand towards the creature, causing it to suddenly freeze in its tracks, though its whole body was shaking as it seemed to fight against whatever was holding it in place.

"Alright, I-I got it," Mike said as sweat began to form on his brow, "Now you need to-"

Mike was interrupted as a scream ripped through the air. Turning towards its source, Norman's eyes widened as he spotted another one of the Lunch Lady's children charging towards them.

"N-Norman, you have to go!" Mike exclaimed as he tried to thrust his other hand at the charging creature, only to grunt in pain and pull it back, "I can't hold them both!"

"No!" Norman argued as the creature drew closer, "I'm not leaving you!"

"You have to go, Norman!" Mike insisted through gritted teeth, "Run!"

"No!" Norman shouted as he turned to face the creature, closed his eyes in concentration and thrust his hand forward, fingers splayed.

After a quiet moment where nothing seemed to happen, Norman opened his eyes to find the creature frozen in place only a few inches from his outstretched hand. Norman blinked owlishly at the sight for a moment before he turned his head to look at Mike with a large grin on his face.

"You did it, Norman!" Mike observed with a laugh, "Great job, kid!"

"Thanks!" Norman replied as sweat began to form on his brow, "Now what do we do?"

"Uh," Mike replied uncertainly as he glanced between the pair of creatures they were holding, "Well, I suppose the first thing is to-"

Mike was interrupted by a loud bang that accompanied the arm of the creature Norman was holding being blown off, causing the boy to jump in surprise and lose his concentration, allowing the creature to flop limply onto the ground. A moment later, there was another bang and a hole formed in the other creature's chest, prompting Mike to release his hold on it as well. Looking towards the source of the noise, Norman and Mike saw Stan walking over to them, reloading his shotgun as he walked.

"Well, don't just stand there," Stan said as he walked by and jerked his head for Norman and Mike to follow him, "We got work to do!"

Screaming in fury, the Lunch Lady swung her cleaver in a horizontal arc at Ember and Wendy. As Ember hopped back to avoid the attack, while Wendy dropped into a slide that took her under the swing. Popping back to her feet, Wendy slashed the Lunch Lady across the stomach, causing the ghost to shriek in pain and stumble back, clutching at the wound that began to ooze a viscus green substance.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Ember came charging in from the side and slammed her guitar against the Lunch Lady's leg, forcing her down onto one knee. Reversing her motion, Ember then spun around and smashed her guitar against the Lunch Lady's chin, the cacophonous blow completely knocking the ghost off her feet and sending her tumbling away.

"Not bad," Wendy commented as she walked up next to Ember.

"What?" Ember questioned as she grinned and arched an eyebrow at Wendy, "You tink you can do better, Red?"

"Absolutely," Wendy answered nonchalantly, "I should give you some lessons in hitting things sometime."

"Meat!" the Lunch Lady shrieked as she rose back to her feet, leaving her cleaver on the ground, "You're all just worthless sacks of meat!"

Grabbing hold of her dislocated arm with her other hand, the Lunch Lady yanked it off before hurling at Wendy and Ember. Gaping in surprise, the girls leapt out of the way as the arm crashed into the ground where they had been standing. As the girls recovered, they saw the hand spring up and balance on its fingers before scuttling towards the pair. At the same time, the Lunch Lady scooped her cleaver off the ground with her remaining and began making her way towards the pair as well.

"Alright, you handle de big woman," Ember said as she turned to face the disembodied hand, "Oi'll deal wid Cousin It."

"Cousin It was the one covered in hair," Wendy replied as she faced the charging Lunch Lady, "You're thinking of Thing."

"Whatever, just go foight de feckin' ghost!" Ember shouted as she ran at the hand.

Rushing the Lunch Lady head on, Wendy parried the ghost's opening attack, the force of the blow sending her skidding back a foot or so on the gravel ground. Regaining her footing, Wendy stepped to the side as the Lunch Lady slammed her cleaver down again, avoiding the attack. Before the Lunch Lady could pull her cleaver back, Wendy stepped forward and slashed the ghost across the hand. Screaming in pain, the Lunch Lady pulled her arm back, green gunk spurting from the wound.

"Alright," Wendy said as she planted her sword in the ground before she grabbed the Lunch Lady's cleaver with both hands, "Let's see how you like some of your own medicine!"

With a heave and a grunt of effort, Wendy pulled the cleaver out of the earth, holding the weapon aloft as she turned towards the Lunch Lady. As the ghost recovered and turned her attention back towards Wendy, her eyes widened in surprise as she found the girl swinging the cleaver down at her before she wailed in pain as the blade dug into her shoulder. As the Lunch Lady stumbled away from her, Wendy pulled her sword out of the ground and moved to continue her attack on the ghost.

Nearby, Ember gripped her guitar by the neck as she watched the Lunch Lady's arm scuttle towards her like an angry spider. As the arm pounced at her, Ember swatted it out of the air with her guitar, the instrument making a satisfying clang as it impacted against the phantom limb. Landing on its fingertips, the arm skidded to a halt before charging at Ember again. As it reached her, the arm leapt into the air before clenching into a fist above Ember's head. Her eyes going wide, Ember leapt to the side as the fist slammed down on the ground, sending gravel flying.

As Ember picked herself up off the ground, the arm flipped around so that it sat on its stub before it reached down and grabbed at her. Ember let out a scream of surprise as the arm's cold fingers wrapped around her and pulled her into its grasp, prompting the girl to thrash around in an attempt to escape. As the arm began to constrict Ember, she grunted in pain while trying to escape the appendage's grasp. As the pain became unbearable, Ember let out a scream, one that was extremely loud, even to her own ears. The very air seemed to ripple as she screamed and in response the arm began to spasm as if in pain, and released its grasp on Ember. Blinking in surprise as she landed on her feet, Ember quickly grabbed her guitar by the neck and swung it at the arm, knocking it flying with the loud wail of a rock solo.

"Well," Ember said as she lowered her guitar and felt her throat with one hand, "Oi'm learnin' all sorts of tings tonoight."

Grunting in pain as he flew backwards, Danny managed to catch himself midair before facing the Butcher as the ghost charged at him. As the Butcher moved to punch him, Danny quickly dropped down and phased into the ground, causing the ghost to swing at nothing but empty air. The Butcher looked around in confusion for a moment before Danny flew out of the ground directly beneath him, rematerializing and hitting the ghost with a flying uppercut.

Stumbling back, the Butcher caught himself before glaring at Danny, who grinned mischievously in reply. As the Butcher moved towards Danny, the young man quickly phased back into the earth. His eyes narrowing, the Butcher grabbed his hooked chain and began twirling it in his hand. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the Butcher hurled the hook at the ground, the weapon phasing through the earth and disappearing from view, its rusted chain trailing behind it. A moment later, the chain suddenly went taut and the Butcher pulled back on it, yanking a surprised Danny out of the ground and grabbing the young man by the throat with his free hand.

Danny struggled against the ghost's grip for a moment before the Butcher choke slammed him onto a train rail, the impact causing the young man to briefly see stars. The Butcher held Danny in place for a moment, before phantom chains suddenly burst out of the ground and wrapped around the young man, tying him to the rail. Standing up, the Butcher moved away from Danny while the young man struggled against his bindings, finding that he could not phase through the phantom chains.

Looking over at the Butcher, Danny watched as the ghost threw his chain and hooked it onto something. Turning his head towards where the ghost had thrown the chain, Danny's eyes widened in shock as he saw that the Butcher had hooked a boxcar on the same rail that the young man was tied to. With a powerful yank, the Butcher pulled the boxcar towards them, the wheels of the railcar screaming as it rumbled down the track down towards Danny.

"Daniel!" Alistair's voice called from within Danny's mind.

"I see it!" Danny shouted back as he desperately tried to free himself from the chains, "I can't phase through these chains though!"

"Think, Daniel!" Alistair barked, "Flight and intangibility are not the limits of our powers!"

Taking a moment to think, Danny was struck with realization. Then, grunting with effort, Danny began to stretch and distort his body in ways that would be painful or impossible for a normal person, but was only mildly uncomfortable for him. Eventually, Danny managed to slip one shoulder low enough that he could wiggle free of the chains, rising to his feet as his body reset itself. Lifting his head, Danny spotted the boxcar barreling towards him before he went intangible at the last second, the railcar passing harmlessly through him.

"Ha!" Danny laughed with a mocking tone as he turned to face the Butcher, "You got to try harder than that to-"

Danny cut himself off as he saw that the boxcar had come to a dead stop a short distance away. As Danny watched, the Butcher grasped the end of the boxcar before lifting it off of the tracks. A moment later, the Butcher held the boxcar above his head with both hands as he focused his beady eyes on Danny.

"Uh oh," Danny muttered before the Butcher slammed the boxcar down on him, the railcar striking the ground in a cacophony of bending metal and splintering wood. Silence fell as the Butcher looked over its handiwork. Then, suddenly, an intangible Danny came shooting out of the wreckage, turning solid before striking the Butcher in the face with a flying dropkick that knocked the ghost completely off his feet and sent him sailing through the air.

As the Butcher slammed into the ground, Wendy continued her duel with the Lunch Lady a short distance away. Ducking under the Lunch Lady's cleaver, Wendy stepped up to the ghost and slashed her leg, forcing the Lunch Lady down onto one knee. Then, with a spinning flourish of her sword, Wendy slashed the Lunch Lady across the face, causing the ghost to wail in pain as she dropped her cleaver and grasped at her face, stumbling away from the young woman in the process.

"Oi, Red!" Ember called from behind Wendy, prompting her to turn and look at the banshee.

"Heads up!" Ember shouted before turning her attention towards the Lunch Lady's arm, which was scuttling towards her on its fingertips. Stepping to the side, Ember swung her guitar low, sweeping the arm's fingers out from under it and knocking it into the air. As the arm tumbled back down to earth, Ember gripped her guitar tightly and swung it like a baseball bat, striking the appendage with an electronic twang and sending it rocketing through the air towards the Lunch Lady.

By that point, the Lunch Lady had recovered her wits, only to be struck in the face by her own arm. The blow knocked the Lunch Lady off her feet, sending her crashing into the Butcher just as he was pulling himself to his feet, knocking both ghosts to the ground. At that point, Norman and Mike came running onto the scene. Spotting both ghosts down on the ground, the two looked at one another before nodding as looks of determination came over their features. Turning their attentions back towards the ghosts, Norman and Mike both thrust their open hands at them, causing the Butcher and the Lunch Lady, who were in the process of rising back to their feet, to freeze in place.

"Well, alright," Stan said with a chuckle as he followed behind Norman and Mike, "Let's put an end to this. Dipper!"

"Here!" Dipper called as he and Mabel ran into view, followed by Tucker and Neil.

"You got that spell?" Stan questioned as he turned to look at the boy.

"Give me a second!" Dipper replied as he crouched down and began flipping through the pages of the tome.

"Hurry!" Norman shouted with a strained voice, sweat forming on both his and Mike's brows, "I don't know how long we can hold this!"

"Daniel," Alistair spoke up within Danny's mind, "I believe the most advantageous position for you to be in for the spell would be between the two ghosts."

"Right," Danny agreed with a nod before he flew over to where the Butcher and the Lunch Lady were and settled between them.

"I found it!" Dipper declared as he looked up from the book.

"Do it!" Danny called as he watched the Butcher and the Lunch Lady fighting against the hold Norman and Mike had on them.

Nodding in reply, Dipper took a breath to steady himself before he began reading from the book.

"Malorum geniorum ac spirituum status malus, et abierunt!" Dipper called out in a clear voice, "Malorum geniorum ac spirituum status malus, et abierunt!"

As Dipper chanted, the Butcher and the Lunch Lady let out screams of pain and fear while their forms began growing misty and insubstantial.

"It's working!" Neil shouted excitedly.

"Malorum geniorum ac spirituum status malus, et abierunt!" Dipper continued, his voice gaining confidence as he saw the effect the chant was having on the ghosts, "Malorum geniorum ac spirituum status malus, et abierunt!"

"I can't hold it!" Norman called.

"It's okay, Norman!" Mike replied as he began to lower his arm, "I think the others can take it from here."

Nodding in response, Norman dropped his arm at the same time his uncle did, ending their hold on the Lunch Lady and the Butcher. Immediately, the ghosts rose to their feet, but as they did, parts of their forms began to break away like burning pieces of paper, turning into a sickly green smoke that floated away and gathered in a cloud over Danny's head. Together, the ghosts quickly tried to flee on foot, desperately trying to escape from the spell being cast.

"Malorum geniorum ac spirituum status malus, et abierunt!" Dipper called out at the top of his lungs, his words echoing across the trainyard.

At this, the Butcher and the Lunch Lady both let out terrible screams before completely dissolving into green smoke that flowed into a single roiling cloud above Danny. For a moment, the cloud hung there, the wisps of smoke forming the screaming faces of the Butcher and the Lunch Lady as they twisted and turned. Then, all of a sudden, a tendril of smoke shot down towards Danny, who was looking up at the cloud with wide eyes. Danny let out a cry of surprise as the smoke hit him in the face, the sound of his voice mixed with the noise of rushing air as the cloud forced its way into his body through his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. His body spasming, Danny began to rise into the air as he absorbed more and more of the ghostly essence.

Soon enough, Danny had absorbed the entirety of the ghostly cloud and hung motionless in the air, his head and limbs hanging lankly while his eyes were closed. Then, suddenly, Danny's eyes snapped open, glowing bright green, before he contorted into a tight ball as wisps of green energy began to swirl around the young man. Then, Danny snapped his arms and legs out, causing a rush of energy to surge from him in every direction, rippling the air and forcing the others to shield their faces as small bits of debris were kicked up and sent flying. Then, just as quickly as it started, the rush of energy ended and Danny floated gently back to the ground.

"You okay, Danny!?" Tucker questioned as he, Ember and Wendy ran up to the young man.

"Yeah," Danny confirmed with a grin, his eyes having returned to their previous appearance, "Better than okay, actually. I feel great!"

"So, you're not possessed by a pair of cannibal killers?" Wendy questioned with a smirk.

"I don't know," Danny replied with a chuckle, "Ask me again when I get hungry."

As Danny and his friends laughed at this, Mabel wrapped her arms around Dipper and shook him vigorously.

"You did it!" Mabel said exuberantly, "You cast a magic spell!"

At the same time, Neil ran up to Norman and slapped his friend on the back.

"That was awesome!" Neil exclaimed as he pounded fists with Norman, "You stopped that ghost cold."

There was a pause as Neil looked at the twins in confusion while sniffing the air.

"Why do you guys smell like hamburger?" Neil questioned.

"Alright, everyone!" Stan interrupted, bringing everyone's attentions to him, "We raised a hell of a ruckus, so I'm sure the cops are on their way. I say we vamoose before they get here, unless we want to spend the rest of the night answering uncomfortable questions. "

Nodding in agreement, the group quickly began making their way out of the trainyard as sirens began sounding in the distance. Unbeknownst to any of them, a figure watched from the shadows of a nearby alleyway. As the figure observed the group run off into the night, they clenched their hand into a shaking fist before slamming it against a nearby wall in frustration, the sound of the blow resounding through the alley as the brick cracked under the force of the blow.

A/N: So this chapter turned out to be a lot of fun to write, and so it may have gotten away from me somewhat. All the same though, I think it turned out pretty great, and I hope you all enjoyed it as well! As always, feedback and critiques are always welcome, so please review! Later!