Wes Weston knew the minute the ghost smiled that he made the wrong choice. All through his life, he knew that when a ghost smiled, it meant bad things were coming. (Except for Fenton, but that was a whole 'nother can of worms.) Anyway, back to the smiling ghost.
"Don't you feel powerful, Wes?" it leered, smirking at him. Wes felt a queasy ball settle into his stomach as the ring on his finger started to glow. He stared at it in shock, swallowing the lump in his throat.
"Y-yeah..." he whispered, watching green tendrils flare out of the ring, settling around his fist. He smiled, laughing in surprise when it felt like a warm glove, instead of burning. The ghost grinned wider, if that was possible, holding out a small metal crown.
"Then, perhaps you'd like to... complete the set." it offered. Wes looked at the crown. It seemed innocent enough, if a bit girly. Though he could feel more of that strange green power oozing off of it, the metal still sat cold and innocent in the ghost's gloved palm. His hand reached out, seemingly of its own accord, and grabbed the crown. He put it on his head and gasped as another wave of energy ran through him. The ghost laughed delightedly as the metal settled in his hair. "Wonderful! Congratulations, new King..." he chuckled, before vanishing. Wes, about to call out in confusion, yelped as the energy returned. It wasn't warm and gentle this time. No, this time it BURNED. Wes screamed, trying to tug the crown and ring off. That just seemed to make it worse, as the pain intensified until he passed out.
When he awoke, it was to a dark room and a soft glow. He groaned, sitting up and clutching his head. He sucked in a sharp breath when his fingers hit metal points instead of soft hair, scrambling to his feet and a mirror. What he saw made him rear back in surprise.
The boy in the mirror was pale, almost translucent. Wes reached up to touch his cheek, hand shaking as the reflection did the same. His eyes were both sunken and bulging, eyelids spider-webbed with thin blue veins. He felt like crying. He looked... ghostly. "The Ghost King..." he whispered, lips twitching. King... It had a nice ring to it, he decided. He smiled hesitantly at that, before breaking out into hysterical laughter. "I'm KING!" he laughed out, curling up on the floor and grinning, shoulders shaking with the force of it. Abruptly he stopped as a darker, more contemplative smile crossed his face. "I can... I rule the ghosts..." he whispered, grinning widely. "ME! A HUMAN!" he laughed loudly, standing up. He clutched a table for support, grinning madly. "I'll make Fenton talk..." he whispered harshly, giggling sporadically as he made his way outside.
Wes knocked on the door of FentonWorks, wrinkling his nose as his hand came away with a bit of ectogoop on it. He wiped it on his shorts, putting a pleasant smile on his face when the door opened. "Hel-oh. It's you." Fenton sneered, face falling when he saw the taller boy. "What d'you want?" he asked, crossing his arms.
"To talk to you, actually." Wes replied, just barely keeping his face from splitting into a grin. Fenton snorted, breaking down into laughter.
"And why the hell would I go anywhere with you?!" he asked, wiping tears of mirth out of his eyes. Wes grit his teeth, balling his fists up as he tried to control the light green wisps from the ring.
"Because you have to." he snapped out, one of the wisps connecting with Fenton's shirt. He yelped, stumbling forward a bit.
"O-kay... Wes, you're kinda scaring me. Everything alright, buddy?" he asked, straightening up and dusting himself off.
"I'M NOT YOUR BUDDY!" Wes snarled, feeling a warmth flare up on his head. Fenton squeaked and backed up.
"H-Holy shit! That's... Wes, where the hell did you get that crown?! Why is it on fire?!" he stammered, catching himself on the doorway.
"Well, Phantom, it's on fire because it's the Crown of Fire, and as for where I got it? Well, that vampire-wannabe ghost Plasmius gave it to me. Along with this cool ring, see?" he replied as if talking to a child, showing him the ring. Fenton paled considerably, perhaps even more so than Wes himself.
"But... No... Wes, you need to take them off. Right now. Immediately. You don't kn-" Fenton started, but Wes cut him off angrily.
"I don't KNOW?! Tell me, Phantom, what exactly is it that I don't know? That I'm the Ghost King? That I have power beyond anything any human could possibly imagine? That you are now under my control?!" he snapped, voice rising with each question. Fenton shivered, jaw clenching. "Well? TELL ME!" Wes shrieked, grabbing Fenton by the collar and shaking him a bit. Fenton shook his head.
"N-no, you seem to know quite a bit, a-actually..." he stammered out weakly. Wes smirked, chuckles breaking free from his gritted teeth.
"Exactly." he whispered. "Now, about that chat..." he said, starting to walk off while still holding Fenton. He struggled, yelling and kicking, at least until a snarled "QUIET!" from Wes stopped him. Wes snickered the entire way to the docks, gaining a few odd and wary looks from the scattered few that were still out this late.
He brought Fenton to a warehouse and closed the door behind them. "Now, tell me how you do it." he whispered. Fenton sat up and looked at him oddly.
"What? I didn't hear you." he said, standing.
"I said... TELL ME HOW YOU DO IT! YOU CAN'T BE BOTH A HUMAN AND A GHOST! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! SO TELL ME HOW YOU DO IT!" Wes screamed, slamming his fist into the wall. Fenton jumped, a ring of light appearing around his waist. It split in two, revealing the shaking form of the ghost boy. Wes laughed happily, clapping. "Oh, amazing! Now, tell me. What are you? A ghost? A human?" he asked, grinning widely. Fenton shook his head, seemingly choking on words. Wes narrowed his eyes in a glare. "Tell me, Phantom." he ordered frostily.
"I CAN'T! I DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM!" Fento-no, Phantom screamed. Wes laughed hysterically.
"No, why would you? You're special. Show me the light show again?" he said, sitting on the floor. Phantom grit his teeth, trying to fight the order, but it was useless. He changed back, before keeling over. Wes frowned, seeing another green tendril connect with Fenton's limp form. "Again." he whispered, triggering the ring again. Phantom shivered in pain.
"Please stop... I haven't... Please, Wes... Stop it..." he begged. Wes laughed madly, clutching his stomach.
"I don't want to, though! I finally have a way to prove I was right, why the fuck would I stop now?!" he asked, rapidly switching Fenton between forms. Fenton cried out in pain, rolling over to look at him.
"Wes... Your face..." he panted. That pulled him up short. His face?
"What's wrong with my face?" Wes asked suspiciously. Fenton dragged himself into a sitting position and turned to face him.
"Well... All of you, actually... You're... Flickering..." he wheezed out. Wes blinked. Flickering? He looked down at his legs and squeaked as he saw them flashing between the "normal" near-translucency and a truly-transparent electric blue. He yelped, trying to move back, only to fall over.
"M-My legs! I can't feel my LEGS!" he shrieked, starting to panic.
"Wes, just... Calm down, okay? Take off the crown and the ring, they're what's causing this!" Fenton pleaded. Wes shook his head, starting to cry.
"Don't you think I tried?! When I first looked in the mirror and saw... this staring back at me, don't you think I tried everything short of cutting off my finger to get it off?!" he yelled, gesturing wildly at his face. He tried to swallow his tears, gulping like a fish out of water. "Danny... I don't know what to do..." he whimpered, fresh tears spilling over his cheeks. He reached out for the other boy, wincing when Fenton scrambled back. "I'm sorry... Please help me..."