"Prisoner Specter!" One of the cyclops guards hollered from across the pit. "At ease! Lord Betrayus demands your presence!"

Specter sat reclining, bored, checking his nails – or at least pretending to – on the back of one of the many disgusting dragons in the pit. He cooed, "Oh, really? Then why doesn't he just come down here himself?"

"Lord Betrayus has given you an ultimatum," Replied the cyclops, now reading off of a scroll. "He says, either you comply and go see him, or you leave yourself open to scientific testing via Dr. Buttocks."

Disgusted by the idea of letting that creepy little man put his hands on his dazzling ecto-body, Specter allowed himself to be handcuffed and taken from the pits of the Netherworld. Talking to that egotistical geezer certainly beat attempting to hold conversations with monsters and dragons.

The travel up to Betrayus's lair seemed to take ages, as the young man felt like he was being paraded through the rest of the Netherworld. Female and male ghosts alike seemed to swoon over him as he passed by openings to various sectors. Some sneers were mixed in throughout the stares; Specter wasn't sure which of the two forms of attention he preferred.

Eventually the guards made it up to the sweltering centre of Betrayus's lair. One of them gingerly grabbed the doorknocker and rapped at the door with it.

"U-Uh..." The cyclops quickly and awkwardly cleared his throat. "Lord Betrayus, prisoner Specter has been obtained."

The lord of the Netherworld shrieked from the other side of the door, "Bring him in!"

The sound of clattering glass resounded inside the room; opening the door revealed Betrayus angrily clearing a table before him by whipping the goblets and various decor off of it while Buttler watched with slight terror. The older ghost turned, pointing a clawed hand at the two cyclops. "And leave him! I can handle him myself!"

"Oh, really?" Specter couldn't help but drawl. "Didn't you stuff me down in the bowels of the Netherworld because you weren't safe with me anywhere else?"

Betrayus's hands lit up with flames. "D-dooh-! You little cretin! Twins, out of the room too!"

Buttler and Dr. Buttocks grazed past Specter as they fled out the door. The doctor quickly whispered, "Hide under ze chair if necessary. Zat thing's fireproof like you would not believe."

The doors to Betrayus's lair soon slammed shut, leaving just the two men in the room, isolated. Specter put on a smug grin, wearing his handcuffs proudly, as Betrayus floated towards him with a look of pure murder in his eyes.

"So," Betrayus sneered. "I invite you up for an exclusive meeting with your lord and commander, and you can't even respect me for two seconds?!"

Specter chortled. "An 'exclusive meeting'? I'd have at least expected some champagne and Playpac Bunnies in my presence."

"You insolent brat!" Betrayus, enflamed, glided right up to Specter's face, his dark, sunken eyes locking with the younger ghost's.

Specter was unfazed. "Which of us is making the biggest fuss, now?"

The two remained face to face for a moment; disgust and ego met in one grand, unholy fashion. Neither man was intent on backing down. Suddenly, a slow, eerie sneer appeared on Betrayus's face, and while Specter wouldn't admit it, he was terrified of what the older man had planned.

"Now, now..." Betrayus cooed. "I have to say...your cockiness is what made you so appealing in the first place!"

"Oh? How so?"

Betrayus glided back, shrugging. "Day in and day out, I'm surrounded by talentless losers and classless schmoes! It clashes so much with my sensibilities! You can't even imagine how glad I was to find another person in these pits with an ego like mine!"

"...Like yours?"

"Oh, yes!" Betrayus drew slightly closer. "But truly, your ego's far more inflated than mine."

He set one clawed hand on Specter's handcuffs and heated them, causing them to explode in a small shower of plasma.

"Get comfortable, won't you?" Betrayus asked – no, ordered – as soon as the younger man was freed. "Name your poison."

Specter leaned against Betrayus's throne. "Rose Champagne. A gob martini. Maybe a gold-flake smoke."

"How pretentious!" Betratus shouted across the room, digging through a drawer full of mostly junk weaponry. Specter figured neither one of them would need a drink, if he knew where this was about to go. The older ghost uncovered a long-forgotten bottle of red wine and drifted back to the centre of the room. "I've got everything you could ever want. So long as it's red wine. Heh! I've been saving that one for months."

"So, what's the real reason you brought me up here?" Specter asked.

"I want a talk with you!" Betrayus poured some wine into a gothic goblet, sliding it onto the table before the throne before preparing another one. "Tug my heartstrings the right way, and I just might take you back under my wing."

"I think you want more than your heartstrings tugged," Specter replied, taking the goblet. "If I may so bold."

"Bold?" Betrayus seemed to inhale half the contents of his goblet. "I'd sure call you clever."

"So I'm not far off?"

"Not at all," Betrayus replied, the fanged grin spreading across his face. "Not...at...all."

The two drank awkwardly for a second, with the realization of Betrayus's intentions now fully processing in Specter's mind. The young man chuckled at the thought, remarking, "Sure makes a man miss his corporeal body at a time like this, eh?"

Betrayus grazed back proudly. "Ooh, you'd be surprised! I used to dabble in researching the occult and the 'Great Beyond', if you will, before I wound up in this form myself, and believe me...there's a way!"

Before he could react, Specter was grabbed by his left arm and thrown onto the table top, knocking wine goblets, napkins and a remote onto the floor with a clatter. He hissed in pain as Betrayus's clawed glove fingers dug into his left upper arm, and then the right; Specter almost felt pleased to no longer be of flesh and blood, knowing those claws would have left a brutal mark.

"Are you familiar with the act of 'merging'...?" Betrayus asked smoothly, now perched over Specter. "If not, you're certainly about to-!"

He shoved himself forward, pressing where his lower torso would be into Specter's. The two collided at first, but suddenly, a sweeping, soothing tingle flourished throughout Specter and he squirmed, gasping, trying to make sense of it. Betrayus pulled back, his grin now the slightest touch flustered.

"Weeeell?"

"Wha-what..." Specter sputtered. "Wh-what in damnation was that?"

Betrayus floated back, freeing his hands so he could proudly wave them before himself. "Merging, you dense delinquent! Never tried it to completion before, but hey, why not invite my would-be protege?"

Specter woozily got to an upright position. "That wasn't even the whole damned thing?!"

Betrayus spun around, pacing in a circle a bit. "Well, certainly not. The whole act takes some practice, you see?"

Specter crept closer.

"I mean, like, you do it wrong and you're just slamming your body into the other person like an idiot!" Betrayus was wrapped up in this now. "Or worse yet, you just pop into their ghostly body, and that's just embarrassing. You need to concentrate your spectral energy into one pl-"

The older man made a squeak as he was yanked sideways into the seat of his throne. Specter floated over him, their chests just grazing. The blue ghost cooed, "Why don't you let me have a hand at this?"

"Ugh!" Betrayus rolled his eyes. "Ooh, fine. But if you start getting sloppy, I'll have you lit on fire!"

"Tut tut, old man...you're the one who'll have the flames of passion!"

"Oh, that is just the worst comeb- eee!" Specter was now carefully merging with him. "Ooo-hoo-hoo! A little to the left, will you?"

Specter only nodded, shifting in the correct direction. He thrusted with slow and steady strokes, on instinct, sighing blissfully. "Now this is good...! Even better than the real thing...!"

"K-Keep the yapping to a minimum, will you-?" Betrayus sputtered, panting and barely containing his satisfied smirk. "Less m-mucking, more fucking!"

"No need to be so crass!" Specter exhaled, letting the euphoric sensation swim through himself. He let his form glide further into Betrayus's, sending more waves of warm, tingling sensations through either of them. Specter's eyes fluttered, just barely able to focus on the squirming older man beneath him. Something felt so right, so empowering about taking solid control over such an egotistical two-bit dictator.

Betrayus dug his clawed fingers into the seat of the throne, making the most satisfying squeaks of delight as he writhed in agonized rapture. He whimpered, "I-Isn't this-s-s fan-tas-tic? Th-the whole blas-s-sted thing is one l-long climax-!"

"Ooh..." Specter's eyes fluttered, barely focusing on Betrayus, letting his head tip back. He was inside Betrayus, but far more than he'd ever expected; it felt like the two had combined their spirits and energy, their respective fiery powers combining into a shower of sweeping ecstasy.

Betrayus, after a moment, held up his hands in a half-launched attempt to push his would-be boytoy off of him. "Th-that's enough for today," he swooned. "Don't want this to get old, now, do we?"

Specter, now parted, nodded with smug satisfaction. He mumbled, "Y-yeah...I...sure as hell don't know what to say...!"

They had slimed each other where they had connected. A somewhat manageable mess of white and blue was plastered on each other's lower stomachs. It was oddly pleasing to see this for either of them, and Specter quickly swept it off his tuxedo jacket – Betrayus seemed to hurriedly alight himself and burn off the slime, Specter knowing full well it was to cover up his own blush.

Specter glanced at the wine goblets on the floor. "So...any other plans for this evening?"

"You could at least thank me for getting such an exclusive experience!" Betrayus pointed one clawed finger at Specter, pulling himself up into a seated position on his now sweat-dotted and slightly-singed throne. "I sure as blazes wouldn't test that out on very many other clods in the Netherworld."

"Oh, so I'm your exception?"

"Certainly! Not that anyone would believe you...!" Betrayus said this with a bit of a giggle, suddenly hitting the assistance button beside his throne. "Good talk today, Specter. I'll consider your pleas for mercy."

Specter caught onto the cover immediately, and as cyclops guards scooped him up by the arms, he replied, "Ohhh yes, your lordship. It would be truly appreciated."

"Stamina is a 10 out of 10, but acting's a 6 out of 10. Work on it before I call you up next time!" Betrayus shot back, his fanged teeth gleaming through his grin.

Specter grumbled under his breath as he was lead out of the room. Behind him were orders from Betrayus to Buttler, commanding the tinier sad man to wipe up the quickly coagulating wine mess. It was as if their merging never happened.

Well, aside from the lingering buzz that very faintly fluttered through his form. He sighed, letting himself be carried back.

"So hey, what'd Lord Betrayus want with ya?" the cyclops on his left asked. "Is he plannin' another big stunt?"

"Sort of, but it sure got a little rough..." Specter smirked, not looking at either guard. "Probably the start of more intense one-on-one sessions."

"Oh. Neat." Both cyclops nodded, going on with pulling Specter back to the pits. The young ghost couldn't help but smirk proudly to himself.

Right over everybody's heads, again, he thought. Good times. Play the old man right, and I'll get even more of this satisfaction...

Fin