Into The Woods - The Remake

Chapter 1 "Skully"

It was a crisp autumn morning in the town of Amity Park, wind gently blew and caused leaves to rustle against the ground.

"Jack, the strange readings are over here!" A silver device beeped, it was metal and light with a green hue that flashed from the screen, a radarscope attached at the top, it was like a remote, with buttons all over its front. The beeping became more rapid, a young woman held the device, she wore a teal jumpsuit, her hood coming up to cover her face and secure her eyes with goggles, red optics blurring her vision against the green substances she often worked with.

"Mads, look at that!" Jack, a large man at the height of 6 feet, was taller than his wife, who stood at 5 feet and 6 inches. The woman turned her head to the left and blinked, squinting her eyes to try to be sure of what she was seeing. It was a young boy, he had raven hair that matched Jack's hair, it was short but long enough to cover his face, or at least the white hockey-like mask he wore, it had black lines outlining a skull, and large teeth at the mouthpiece. The mask's eyes were black, making it hard to see the color of the boy's eyes. A small line curved down, a circular curve where the nose sat on the mask, though it was clear the boy was a little too small for the mask to fit.

The child looked up, tilting his head in curiosity at the two adults that stood a yard away from him, they wore rubber jumpsuits, and the large man had orange decorating his suit and it hurt his eyes, he was confused when he noticed that they had the same colored eyes and that they looked the same, he looks at the woman and frowned behind his mask, unable to see her face. It made him anxious, having gotten used to seeing people underneath their masks. Uncle Tim usually didn't wear the mask at home, only Uncle Hoodie did that, he wore his hoodie too. The kid fiddled with his mask, knowing that he wasn't supposed to take his mask off in public, he only adjusted it. He stepped back when the two adults moved forward and he flinched when he heard the beep for the first time, he looked around anxiously and pulled his black hoodie closer around his body.

"Hey there, are you okay? What are you doing out here?" Maddie asked, her voice was soft and motherly and the boy toyed with his sleeves, trying to come up with a response.

"I'm playing..."

Maddie felt like there was something wrong, she looked around, unable to find anyone in close vicinity.

"Without anyone watching you?" She asked, she saw the boy pause, was he trying to hide something from them?

"Yeah, I was trying to find my way home and then I got distracted by something." The boy was committed to his lie, but little did he know just what his words would lead to.

"Oh, Mads! We have to help him!" Jack bounded forward and ignored the child's comfort, he picked him up and held him close in a hug, turning to his wife like a child that was begging to keep an animal they found. "Please?"

Maddie sucked in a breath, her teeth clenched shut as she thought, she watched the boy wiggle in Jack's grip and hit his arm, clearly unable to breathe. She moved forward and put the device she was holding in her belt pocket, the black leather strap holding many pockets. She took the young boy from Jack's hug and held him carefully, noting that he was still anxious and didn't relax into her touch like most children usually would.

"Come on, let's see if we can get him home."

-----

Getting him home was harder than the couple thought. The boy, Daniel, had two dead parents and two missing brothers. He didn't have a family. Maddie, feeling bad was quick to suggest adoption when the foster care system was mentioned. Jack being Jack, quickly agreed, happy to have another family member. Maddie felt the device beep in her belt and she frowned, her hood was down, allowing Danny to see her magenta eyes crease as she took the tracking device from her belt, she brought it closer to him when it beeped again and he tried not to visibly back away. His sneakers squeaked against the floor of the police station, Maddie sighed and put the device back into her belt, shaking her head. "It must be broken already..."

The two adults were given adoption papers and they signed, making Danny's official name Fenton, instead of Woods. They took him to their home and Danny tentatively looked around, despite having to take the mask off at the police station, he'd put it back on when they left. The two stayed with Danny, helping him get familiar with his new home, they planned to turn the guest bedroom into Danny's room, but Maddie left later in the afternoon to get Jazz, his sister from school. Jazz was 12, but she was extremely smart, a prodigy even, it made Danny a little jealous despite having never met her. Jack was talking about her, going on and on with pride as he explored the house, he went down to the basement and Jack stayed in the living room, thinking that the ten-year-old was still upstairs.

"Whoa..." Danny gazed around the pristine metal-lined lab, had the Fentons done this? It was incredible! It was extremely large, multiple different tables were covered in objects, beakers of green goo, torn open machines, tools, and blueprints. However, what caught his attention the most was the big octagonal shape in the wall, it went about a yard into the wall and it was almost 6 feet tall, wires poked out of panels this thing was only at its skeletal phase.

"Mr. Fenton, what's this?" Danny asked, calling upstairs. Jack let out a noise of confusion and followed the noise into the lab, smiling when he saw where Danny was, he jumped down the steps, walked over to Danny, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, hugging him to his side.

"This, my boy is a Ghost portal."