THE FIRST GHOST’S FINAL JOKE
THE GHOST WHO LAUGHED TOO LOUD · August 6, 2026
The laughter echoed through Shadow Hill Mansion.
Not a funny laugh.
Not a silly laugh.
Not the laugh of Sir Giggles.
This laugh was ancient.
Cold.
Powerful.
It sounded like something that had been waiting for decades.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Max Miller stood completely still.
For once…
He had no joke.
No clever comment.
No silly plan.
Nothing.
Benny Brown noticed.
“Max?”
“What?”
“You look scared.”
Max slowly nodded.
“Yes.”
Benny became surprised.
“You admitted it?”
“Of course.”
“You usually say you are not scared.”
Max looked at him.
“I also usually say I understand complicated science.”
Luna raised an eyebrow.
“And you don’t?”
“No.”
“Then why say it?”
“Confidence.”
Benny sighed.
“Your confidence is just lying with a better outfit.”
The laboratory lights flickered.
The screen continued showing the message:
EXPERIMENT ZERO IS ACTIVE.
Dr. Victor Crow looked like he had seen a ghost.
Which was ironic.
Because there were already several ghosts around him.
Luna stepped closer.
“Tell us everything.”
The scientist remained silent.
“Dr. Crow.”
He looked at her.
“You don’t understand what you are facing.”
Max crossed his arms.
“We have fought a giant monster, a ghost, and a karate chicken.”
He pointed at the chicken.
“At this point, I think we understand strange things.”
The chicken proudly stood on a table.
Sir Giggles nodded.
“He has a point.”
Dr. Crow looked at Sir Giggles.
“You should not be here.”
The ghost smiled sadly.
“I heard that many times.”
Dr. Crow walked toward an old machine covered with dust.
“Experiment Zero was my first creation.”
Luna looked at the machine.
“What made it different?”
The scientist touched the metal.
“I was not trying to create a monster.”
Everyone waited.
“I was trying to create a perfect human.”
Max nodded.
“That sounds less dangerous.”
Dr. Crow looked at him.
“It was more dangerous.”
Max stopped.
“Oh.”
The scientist continued.
“I wanted to create someone who could never feel pain.”
“Someone who could never be afraid.”
“Someone who could never die.”
Benny whispered:
“That sounds impossible.”
Dr. Crow nodded.
“Because it was.”
He looked at the machine.
“The experiment succeeded.”
Everyone became quiet.
“Then why is it a problem?” Luna asked.
Dr. Crow’s face became dark.
“Because it achieved everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
“It could not feel pain.”
“It could not feel fear.”
“It could not die.”
Max frowned.
“So what went wrong?”
The scientist whispered:
“It also could not feel happiness.”
The room became silent.
Suddenly, the laboratory door opened.
Slowly.
CREAK.
A shadow entered.
Everyone prepared themselves.
The shadow became clearer.
A man.
Or something that looked like a man.
He wore an old black coat.
His face was pale.
His eyes were empty.
But he was smiling.
“You finally remembered me.”
Dr. Crow stepped backward.
“Experiment Zero.”
The figure smiled.
“Father.”
Everyone froze.
Benny whispered:
“The monster called him father.”
Max nodded.
“That is never a good sign.”
The figure looked at them.
“My name is Zero.”
Sir Giggles moved forward.
“You are not supposed to exist.”
Zero smiled.
“Neither were you.”
The ghost became silent.
Max noticed.
“Sir Giggles…”
The ghost looked away.
Zero walked around the room.
“I watched all of you.”
He looked at the Laughing Beast.
“My powerful brother.”
Then at Sir Giggles.
“My intelligent brother.”
Then at Max.
“The foolish human.”
Max raised his hand.
“Excuse me.”
Zero looked at him.
“Yes?”
“That description is a little rude.”
Zero smiled.
“But accurate.”
Max lowered his hand.
“Unfortunately.”
Zero looked at Dr. Crow.
“You abandoned me.”
The scientist shook his head.
“I tried to save you.”
“No.”
Zero’s voice became louder.
“You tried to erase me.”
The machines started shaking.
“I was your greatest creation.”
Dr. Crow looked guilty.
“You became something I never wanted.”
Zero smiled.
“Because I became better than human.”
A strange energy surrounded him.
The lights exploded.
BANG!
Everyone covered their faces.
When they looked again…
Zero had changed.
His body became surrounded by dark energy.
The mansion walls cracked.
Sir Giggles whispered:
“He is absorbing the house.”
Luna looked shocked.
“The entire mansion?”
Sir Giggles nodded.
“Shadow Hill was built around his energy.”
Max looked confused.
“Wait.”
He pointed.
“The house was basically his battery?”
“Yes.”
Max sighed.
“Why do villains always have complicated batteries?”
Zero laughed.
“I will finally become complete.”
The Laughing Beast stepped forward.
“You are not complete.”
Zero looked at him.
“What?”
“You are empty.”
The words affected Zero.
For a second…
His expression changed.
Anger.
Pain.
Confusion.
Then it disappeared.
“I do not need emotions.”
Sir Giggles floated closer.
“That is exactly why you are weak.”
Zero looked at him.
“You?”
The ghost smiled.
“You think being emotionless makes you powerful.”
He pointed toward everyone.
“But humans survive because they feel.”
Max nodded.
“Fear helps us run away.”
Benny nodded.
“Food helps us survive.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What?”
Benny shrugged.
“Food is emotional.”
Zero attacked.
A wave of dark energy blasted through the room.
Everyone jumped away.
Max rolled behind a table.
“Okay.”
He looked around.
“New plan.”
Luna shouted:
“What plan?”
Max looked at the chaos.
“Still working on it.”
Benny sighed.
“I knew it.”
The battle began.
The Laughing Beast fought Zero.
Sir Giggles used his ghost abilities.
Luna searched through Dr. Crow’s old files.
Benny and the chicken…
Were somehow fighting together.
Nobody understood how.
Not even Benny.
The chicken jumped.
Benny threw a book.
The book hit Zero.
Everyone stopped.
Max stared.
“Did Benny just attack a super-powered ghost with a history book?”
Benny looked proud.
“It worked.”
Max nodded.
“I hate that it worked.”
Luna suddenly shouted.
“Wait!”
Everyone looked.
She held an old notebook.
“I found something.”
Dr. Crow looked shocked.
“Where?”
“In your notes.”
She opened the pages.
“Experiment Zero was not created without emotions.”
Zero stopped.
“What?”
Luna continued reading.
“The final stage required one human emotion.”
Everyone waited.
“What emotion?”
She looked at Zero.
“Love.”
Silence.
Zero’s expression changed.
“No.”
Dr. Crow looked at him.
“I wanted you to experience kindness.”
Zero shook his head.
“Lie.”
“It is the truth.”
“No!”
The mansion shook.
“I was created to be perfect!”
Sir Giggles looked at him.
“No.”
Zero looked at him.
“You were created to be loved.”
The words hit him.
For the first time…
The empty expression disappeared.
Zero fell to his knees.
The dark energy weakened.
“I…”
His voice trembled.
“I don’t understand.”
Max slowly walked closer.
“That’s okay.”
Everyone looked at him.
“You don’t have to understand everything immediately.”
Zero looked at him.
“Why are you helping me?”
Max shrugged.
“Because apparently today I became the therapist of monsters.”
Benny nodded.
“That is the weirdest job ever.”
Suddenly…
The machine behind Zero exploded.
The energy returned.
Dr. Crow shouted:
“No!”
Zero looked terrified.
“The mansion is collapsing.”
Sir Giggles looked around.
“Everyone must leave.”
Max looked at the creatures.
“What about you?”
Sir Giggles smiled.
“We have to finish this.”
“No.”
Max shook his head.
“We leave together.”
Everyone looked at him.
Even Zero.
Max smiled.
“I am tired of ghosts disappearing dramatically.”
Benny nodded.
“Honestly, it is annoying.”
They ran toward the exit.
The mansion collapsed behind them.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
They reached outside.
Everyone watched as Shadow Hill Mansion began falling apart.
Then…
A final laugh came from inside.
HAHAHAHA!
Everyone froze.
Max whispered:
“Please tell me that was not another monster.”
Sir Giggles looked at the ruins.
“No.”
“Then what?”
The ghost smiled.
“It was the house.”
“The house?”
“Yes.”
“Why was it laughing?”
Sir Giggles looked at the destroyed mansion.
“Because it was finally free.”
The next morning…
The town of Blackwood gathered around Shadow Hill.
The mansion was gone.
The monsters were gone.
The mystery was solved.
Almost.
Max, Luna, Benny, Sir Giggles, and the Laughing Beast stood together.
But something felt strange.
Max looked at Sir Giggles.
“So what happens now?”
The ghost smiled.
“I don’t know.”
Suddenly, a small piece of paper flew from the ruins.
Luna picked it up.
Everyone looked.
It said:
THE STORY IS NOT OVER.
Below it:
THE NEXT HAUNTED PLACE AWAITS.
Max stared.
Benny sighed.
“Please don’t say we are doing another investigation.”
Max smiled.
“We are definitely doing another investigation.”
Benny looked at the chicken.
The chicken nodded.
Benny sighed.
“Of course the chicken agrees.”
A dark shadow moved far away.
Someone watched them.
Someone new.
Someone dangerous.
A voice whispered:
“Interesting…”
“The ghost found friends.”
The figure smiled.
“Now I will take them away.”