Paranatural: Chapter 8

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Mayview and the Dark Before Daybreak
Description
The Activity Club contemplates the town's uncertain fate. In the darkness under Mayview, something stirs...
Information
Start date:	10/7/2022
End date:	10/19/2024
Preceeded by:	Paranatural: Chapter 7
Followed by:	Paranatural: Chapter 9
Transcript:	Paranatural: Chapter 8/Transcript

The eighth chapter of Paranatural, titled Mayview and the Dark Before Daybreak, began on 10/07/2022 and ended 10/19/2024. It was preceded by Mr. Spender and the Activity Club. The Chapter gives a wide look at current developments with all of the kids in the Activity Club's personal lives, as well as a closer examination of Mayview's secrets.

Summary

The chapter opens on Max and his family in the hospital for the arm injury he received during the hitball game, being treated by Davy Jones. Davy notices the Doctopus he's using for pain relief and his spectral energy, and decides to tell the family his injury is worse than it is so he'll be put in a cast and therefore less able to be a problem for him. Following this, Peter has a reunion with Isabel's mom, while Max has an encounter with Ollie, who offers sympathy for the broken arm but warns Max that Johnny's gang knows there's something supernatural happening in town and they want in, which Max rebuffs.

In a nearby room, Ritz is seeking medical attention for her developing vampirism and spectral sight from an oblivious doctor, though she thinks some of her symptoms are due to her sudden loss of her home and fortune due to her mother fleeing the town. This is interrupted by Paige, who comes to claim her new thrall, Ritz assuming that her compulsion to obey is due to a suddenly developed crush.

In the Slanted Manse, Doorman frets about his current situation, having lost Forge as an ally and knowing Mr. Spender saw his face. Nin tries to push him into using Isaac as a tool for information, though Doorman refuses, simply wanting to be a mentor for the boy. When he meets with Isaac, he tries his best to hide his unease with everything he's excitedly sharing that he learned about the Consortium, Isabel's Grandfather, and the Sphinx Prophecy, but the mood shifts dramatically when Doorman tries to ask about Max's hidden possession without revealing too much. Isaac realizes this means Max is in danger and wants to warn Max, Spender, the Consortium, and Doorman's panic about them reveals he knew the whole time and was hiding it from him. Concluding from the ensuing argument that Doorman doesn't trust him and only wanted to use him as a weapon, Isaac leaves.

At an abandoned pool, Vice Principal DuNacht meets with the Sphinxes of Games, Truth, and Lies. She reveals the Sphinx of Games' true name and power as the Sphinx of Rules, whose presence forces all nearby rules to be followed, and obtains a prophecy that The Witch will claim her prize within a week. The Sphinx of Lies intentionally disrupts her getting any more specific information from Truth, and the group offers her a deal.

Having been dragged by his father to Jackpot Junior's, Max mopes about his current situation and attempts to distract himself with the arcade. Noticing his son's mood, Mr. Puckett pushes in to have a genuine heart to heart about everything, and asks Max to promise he'll ask for help when he needs it, which Max does, knowing he won't keep it. This tender moment is intruded upon by the establishment's mascot, Jackpot Jr.

In a backroom at Jackpot Junior's, the Vampire Trio have a secret meeting about Ritz and the opportunity she provides, as a thrall Davy doesn't know about who has spectral powers from her near death at their hands. This meeting is interrupted by Jackpot Jr accidentally walking into it, the sudden presence of a living human sending the blood starved Ritz into a frenzy and causing her to attack the suit containing Penny Spender. Without thinking, Penny fights back using her spectral energy, and when Gage follows up on the attack, she uses her spirit Phantomime to copy a little of Max's power and successfully jabs him in the eye with the resulting pen claw. As Penny flees, she drops the wallet she pickpocketed off of Peter during his heart to heart with Max, giving the vampire trio the false impression that he was the one in the suit with white spectral energy.

Isabel visits with her dad, telling him about the prophecy of the town's destruction. Disappointed with his reaction and unsure what else to do, she distracts herself by talking to Flipflop. Flipflop tells her about his past, how he and his sworn brothers traveled from Baxborough to mountains halfway around the world in order to learn from Polaris, a wight known for having obtained inner peace, only for Polaris to be captured by a mysterious spectral. He and his brothers eventually found themselves drawn to Mayview and were helped by Doorman in exchange for them trying to help free Doorman's friends from Francisco's collection of haunted objects, only to be defeated and sealed away in that collection as well. Outraged that her grandfather is still keeping her spirit's friends hostage in his tower, Isabel resolves to confront him and get them back.

Doorman contacts his master, The Angel, revealing to her everything he learned from Isaac and the ultimate result of their conversation. After ending the call, The Angel drops her spirit fusion, revealing herself to be Angel Guerra in the back room of his shop, with white spectral energy pouring off of him. He consults with his spirit, Cherub, about their enemies, and ultimate goal to create a world where spirit kind can thrive, by making sure that she is the one to claim the power of the Great Wight. She reassures him about their mission, as he concludes that if needed, he can use the stolen Ghost Train to evacuate his daughter and her friends from the town's barrier before the prophecy comes to pass. Concluding their meeting, he uses the captured power of Polaris to invert the color of his spectral energy, returning it to a common black. Unbeknownst to him, Cherub thinks to herself about what a useful pawn he is.

Dimitri stands alone in his room before Peekaboo forces him into a spirit trance to play. Dimitri struggles to explain to the spirit that he's moving away, something that oddly seems to sadden it even more than it saddens him. He thinks back to the presence it's had throughout his life, always there, never healing and leaving his body, granting him powers beyond what it seemed the spirit was capable of itself. And never maturing beyond what he'd wanted in a friend as a child, becoming clingy and annoying as a result. The fateful accident that led him to leave the club caused by his demand to be left alone, causing the spirit to stop appearing and getting him injured.

After placating his spirit enough to end the trance, Suzy bursts into his room. She's not handling the news of his move very well either, but he's used to handling her extreme reactions. That is, until Isabel shows up unexpectedly, causing years of careful lies of omission to fall apart. Suzy freaks out that Dimitri is friends with the Activity Club and used to be a member, while Isabel lacks any context for Suzy's grudge and Dimitri tries to manage the confusion and chaos. Much to Suzy's dismay, this encounter also allows Isabel to learn that her dad is Mr. Starchman, her most embarrassing secret. After she leaves, Isabel shares the prophecy, racking Dimitri with guilt over his move.

Max tries to get some rest in his room, but PJ and Lefty keep him up. When Max's bat lures and eats a small spirit, he accidentally enters a spirit trance and Scrapdragon tries to eat him. After managing to placate the beast by feeding it his malformed spec-shots, Max takes the opportunity to open up about his feelings to the spirit and in doing so realizes that his homesickness has faded, replaced by guilt for having found new friends so quickly. In a dark corner of the spirit trance, the Sphinx of Pacts bemoans risking her life to keep protecting him in secret.

Ed struggles to sort out their thoughts as they wrestle with Crush at Guerra's Dojo, witnessing Isabel's confrontation with her grandfather, ending in the confiscation of Flipflop's tool. They try to comfort her in the aftermath, but she brushes them off, making them wish they were a better sibling, or smart enough to know what to say. These thoughts are interrupted by Crush spotting something in the woods, but he lies to Ed and says it's a dummy, sending them to bed as the ghost prepares to confront the Death Cultist.

(TBC)

Trivia

• The version of the cover posted to the site has additional text, while the announcement tweet for the page uses a plainer version in the style of the preceding chapter covers.
• Taylor C. came up with the name for this chapter.
• The Chapter Cover depicts the following:
  • One of the Doctopi Brother Ape uses as boxing gloves.
  • The plastic bag Hijack's goldfish body is kept in by Cody.
  • Mister Sun's face.
  • The paw of one of the Sphinxes on a ball of yarn.
  • Fauxbia's face.
  • The Great Unknown's eye in the center.