Title: To err is human, To forgive divine.
Author: Invader Johnny.
Summary: Jack Fenton finds out that his former best friend is still alive and goes to see him, to find out why he returned, to kill him? Or possibly to make amends?
Author Notes: Originally this was for the "DP Angst Day", the oh so wonderful day that all of us Danny Phantom fans write to turn the site into it's once former glory, heh.
Well enjoy this, tell me what you think about this twisted idea, surely not one of you ever expected this from Jack, I sure didn't, in fact part of the reason for why he acts so coldly here is because I took inspiration when he left Vlad stranded in space, that was the biggest shock coming from him in my humble opinion.
On a final note I want to make it perfectly clear that what you are about to read is not within in the same universe as my other fic "Autophobia."
Disclaimer: Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman, not me, if I did then Phantom Planet would not have been the series finale, I mean come on, the series didn't go out with a bang as Butch intended, the episode in my opinion only served to bring every ghost that ever appeared in the show.
But in the grand scheme of things, my opinion hardly matters, so now then let's begin with the story!
The Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle or simply known as the RV was nosily making its way into the dark cold steers of Amity Park.
Inside it there was only one man.
And for once he was not driving his RV in an insane speed to reach his wanted destination.
It was going at a normal speed.
That was something no one would ever expect from the residential ghost hunter Jack Fenton.
The man in an orange jumpsuit clenched his huge gloved hand into the steering wheel, anger was evident in his eyes, he fought hard to not show it at home, in front of his wife and kids but now with no one around he could freely vent his suppressed rage.
Earlier that night he had gotten a call from the GIW organization, at first he simply thought that they wanted his son's help but then something he never expected happened.
And no, they didn't ask him to be a Guy in White.
Although in Jack's mind that would have been way better than what he was asked to do.
"Mr. Fenton?"
"Yes, that's me" He said happily holding the phone "What can I do for you?"
"Well we are from the Guys in White" The man said from the other side "I assume you heard of us?"
"Have I?!" Jack responded ecstatically "You guys are my heroes!"
Operative O held a look of contempt but his voice was passive tone "Mr Fenton I'm sorry to interrupt you so late at night but something of great importance came up and we need…."
"You need my son's help…?"
"No and I can't believe I'm going to say this… we need your help."
Jack's eyes widened in joy, at that moment, he felt important "My… help?"
"That's right"
"Well you can count on old Jack Fenton to help you guys, whose ghost butt do I need to kick?!"
"No one"
"No one?"
"Yes, you see, currently what I'm about to tell you is extremely classified" The agent stated curtly "That being said, any information will remain within these walls so you cannot tell anyone what you're about to see... Not your wife, not your ghost son and of course everything you do for us will be kept in secrecy, understood?"
"All right… you have my word."
"Excellent, now do you know where Amity Park's penitentiary is don't you?"
Jack nodded but then he realized that the man from the government couldn't see him so he replied "Hard to miss since it's the size of a football field!"
"Operative O took of his dark glasses and rubbed his blue eyes, his patience with this man was running thin.
"Well, we are currently trying to get someone here to give us information but he won't say a word, wont even respond, he just sits still, not even trying to escape"
Jack was intrigued.
"Who is this guy?"
"I believe you know him Mr Fenton… He is Vlad Plasmius or as you know him Vlad Masters"
His former best friend came back from space and the ghost hunter was less than thrilled.
The GIW had ask him to report to the penitentiary where they held the half-ghost captive, they were sure that he knew valuable information, things about the Ghost Zone that they could use against the rogue ghosts that plagued their city.
The reason why they didn't tell the public about Master's return to Earth was simply to not rise the panic, the last time Vlad tried to blackmail the world and after who knows how long he was out in space, it was likely that he was missing more than a few screws.
After all loneliness was sure to drive anyone mad
No matter how long the time was.
Jack made a right turn and he was now leaving Amity Park, his destination was in view, getting bigger and bigger as he drove.
He made his way to the booth and entered, telling the security guard he was being expected.
The guard was indifferent but simply let him in.
Once Jack was in the parking lot he made his way to the closest space available he could find.
The RV parked and surprisingly, no cars nearby got destroyed by the large careless hunter.
Opening the door Jack came out and made his way to the huge metal doors, right there many agents from the Guys in White organization where waiting for him.
"Is one of you Operative O?" Jack asked.
"I am".
Jack quickly turned to face the dark skin man.
"Glad you could make it" The agent lied trough his teeth, in truth he was just thinking what the hell were his superiors thinking by asking this fat oaf for help.
They shook hands and the leader of the agents motioned for Jack to enter the building.
As they walked Jack looked at the governmental facility, he could easily notice that there were cameras motioning every movement of the place, steel doors that without a doubt contained really dangerous criminals and guards in each corner of the prison.
It was of course a high security jail, nothing could get out without getting killed first.
The large ghost hunter felt a sudden tap on his shoulder, he looked down at the shorter man and frowned.
Despite M Fenton's tremendous size Operative O was not intimidated, he simply thought of him as another civilian.
"Mr Fenton, you are probably wondering why we are asking for you assistance and not your son Danny Phantom"
"That came to mind"
"Well it's quite simple, we want that ghost freak to talk, but like I told you before over the phone, he won't say a word of importance to us, he just keeps repeating a name… your name to be precise"
When Jack heard this well he was overwhelmed by shock "That's… that's not possible"
The dark skin agent simply shrugged "We don't know anymore than you do at the moment but we figure that if Masters sees you then that might be enough to get him back to reality"
He closed his eyes tiredly "I don't think I can do this"
Operative O raised an eyebrow "Why not?"
"Last time I saw him, I… I left him in space, I don't know if I could be responsible for my actions if I see him now"
The agent nodded in understanding.
"Are you afraid that he'll hurt you if he sees you again?"
In an uncharacteristic turn of events Jack looked serious "No, I'm afraid that if I'm left alone with him then I'll kill him right on the spot"
All the agents looked at the usually oblivious man in shock.
No one even thought that Jack Fenton was capable of anger.
For a moment the leader of the GIW wondered if it was a good idea to go through with this.
But only for a moment.
"Mr Fenton, are you aware that there will be many of us watching while you talk to your friend?"
"He's not my friend…" Jack interrupted with disgust "He just a parasite that got into my life twenty years ago"
A few of the agents smirked, this was what they wanted.
"Fine, he's not your friend; let's call him an old acquaintance of yours, that's why you're here tonight"
"I don't plan to stay for long" Jack said, not leaving any room for arguments.
"Understandable" The Guy in White said dryly "We just want you to rattle him up, see what he can tell you"
Suddenly something came to Jack's somewhat slow mind "But what could you get from him?" He couldn't help but ask "He has nothing left, everything that once belonged to him was taken either by the IRS, his companies have been bought and his ghost portals have either been destroyed or are now own by you guys!"
"Well Mr Fenton, like I said to you before, he has knowledge of the Ghost Zone, thing that we could only dream to know, thing that we're sure your son and his friends don't even know about"
"And after I'm done, what will you do to Vlad?"
"That's classified"
Normally when that word came from the government, it meant that the results wre anything but pleasant but then Jack remembered who was the one in trouble here so he didn't really feel pity towards Vlad.
After all the half-ghost was no longer his best friend.
So then he didn't deserve his pity.
"Fine, you don't have to tell me but can I ask something before I go see him?"
"Proceed"
"How did you capture him?"
"I'm sorry?"
"I left Vlad stranded in space when he failed to turn the asteroid intangible" Jack clarified "How did you capture him?"
"We didn't"
"What do you mean by that?!"
The shorter man simply looked at Jack with indifference "He willingly came to us."
Jack gaped at the bald man, if the moment wasn't a serious one then he would look rather comical "That… that can't be right."
Operative O shrugged "I know the seems weird even by your standards Mr Fenton, heck, most of us don't even know what went through his mind"
A thought came to Jack as quickly as it went "Is he… dead?"
"Seems to be the most acceptable conclusion"
The ghost hunter couldn't help but feel a bit of guilt right then, by stranding Vlad in space he indirectly send him to an early grave.
And even thought their friendship ended tragically, Jack would never be capable of killing anyone, not even that monster.
If there was one thing that Jack Fenton was not, it was a murderer.
He clenched and unclenched his fists a few times and after that, he let one tear drop, but quickly got rid of it, now was not the time to dwell on Vlad's supposed death, if anything it was time to talk to the ghost hybrid.
"Where is he?"
After what seemed like forever another agent step in, this one was Caucasian "Follow me."
And he did.
Right, left, left right, down the stairs, right, left, straight line and finally a ghost shield came to view, behind said shield there was a black door, unlike all the other steel doors, this was made of ectoplasm, Jack wasn't sure how they created a door out of ectoplasm but he was certain that the answer wasn't something pleasant.
After learning that his son was a ghost he had had a more sympathetic side to the other species, due to Danny's belief that not all ghosts are evil.
And Jack believed his son.
Operative K patted Jack on the shoulder in fake encouragement "Mr Fenton, we'll be watching on the other side of the window, if there's any trouble we'll be there to aid you right away"
However that wasn't what the taller man had in mind, he was thinking just how this would turn out? And even if this was some really desperate evil scheme of Vlad to kill him and get Maddie?.
But if that was the case, he was not going down without a fight,
He brought an ecto-weapon with him.
It was obvious that Jack no longer trusted the man who he treated like family, like a brother; as far as he was concerned Vlad was nothing more than a plague that infested Amity Park and the world.
"Let me in" Jack requested darkly.
The bald agent complied and entered the password on the small keypad on the wall.
A few seconds later, the ghost shield disappeared and the doors opened.
"Go right in"
Jack nodded and entered the dark room.
Before he knew it, bright lights turned on and the doors behind him closed, the ghost hunter noticed that indeed there was a window in the interrogating room, but right now this served as Plasmius' cell as well.
It was the first time Jack thought of Vlad by his alter ego.
"Speak of the devil"
Right on the far side of the room, the sat there, it was of no surprised that hw was chained to the wall.
Glowing chains were in both his wrists and ankles.
The Half-ghost covered himself with his cape, Jack couldn't help but notice how tattered it became, his white suit was now covered in a mixture of red and green, apparently his captives had already tried to interrogate him by any means necessary.
Jack took a step forward, then another, and another until he was right in front of the fruit loop as Danny so arrogantly called him at times when the subject of Vlad's fate arose in his household.
"… Vlad?"
Nothing, he just keep sitting there, his hands hugging his knees and murmuring "Jack Fenton… Fenton Jack… Jack Fenton, Fenton Jack."
The man in the jumpsuit sat down on a chair and looked down at the former billionaire.
Seeing him in this state arose pity in Jack's mind.
But he suppressed it, Vlad didn't deserve pity.
Not from him.
He tried to get the halfa's attention yet again "Vlad… it's me… Jack"
"Jack Fenton… Fenton Jack… Jack Fenton, Fenton Jack, Jack Fenton… Fenton Jack… Jack Fenton, Fenton Jack."
"Vlad, listen I'm right here!"
"Jack Fenton… Fenton Jack… Jack Fenton, Fenton Jack, Jack Fenton… Fenton Jack… Jack Fenton, Fenton Jack."
"Plasmius!"
That got Vlad's attention, "I don't go by that name anymore"
"Then why are you still in ghost form?"
"I… I'm … a-afraid"
"Afraid?" Jack repeated in disbelief "Afraid of what?"
"That I'll go back"
"Go back to what?"
Vlad finally looked at his former friend "Jack…"
He got up with every intention of getting closer to the man but then he halted.
A weapon was right on his greenish-blue face.
"Don't make any sudden moves Vlad" Jack spat "Sit down and answer my question"
Vlad did as he was told.
"Now I'm going to ask you again" He said sharply "Go back to what?"
"Could.. could you please lower you gun?"
"So you can attack me?" I don't think so"
"The cuffs neutralized my powers… I swear I won't do anything to you"
"Why should I believe that?!"
"Because that's what friends do"
That angered the ghost hunter "THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS DO?!"
Jack threw the chair to the other side of the room in rage, as well as running straight to the keypad and breaking it so that no Guys in White could enter.
"What is he doing?!"
"I told you this was a bad idea!"
"Get a technician over here!"
While the GIW were arguing among themselves Jack angrily walked over to Vlad and slugged him hard on the face.
"What the fuck is your malfunction Plasmius?!"
Never in the twenty years Vlad had known Jack did he imagine he would ever punch him with so much force and rage.
"Did you think you could just come up to me and ask me to be your friend again… after what you done to my family, after you tried to kill me and after you nearly destroyed the world?!"
The half-ghost rubbed where he received the punch and meekly said "I just want to make amends with you Jack"
"And why should I believe you?!"
"Look, I know I screw up big time but I really want to be on good terms with you!"
"Is this the reason why you willingly came here?"
"No… I came here because I was afraid to go back"
"To space?"
"No" Vlad shook his head "To go back what I was… a manipulating bastard"
Jack was not convinced.
"Next thing your gong to tell me is that you want to help Danny fight ghosts!"
"Jack… I..."
"NO!" He interrupted the prisoner "You had twenty YEARS to make amends, you could have come to me and we could have worked something out but you preferred to try and kill me and steal my family and for what?!"
Vlad wanted to speak but Jack glared at him.
He shut his mouth.
"I'll tell you for what" He finally spoke softly "For a pathetic revenge at me"
"I'm sorry"
"No your not"
"Yes I am!" Vlad's voice finally rose "I made a mistake Jack but I'm human I'm allowed to do that, I just didn't see it because I was just bitter… and jealous of you"
Jack glanced at him quizzically "You're kidding me right?"
Vlad sighed dejectedly "No I'm not, you had what I always wanted Jack, a family who loved you, a half-ghost son who was extremely loyal to you no matter what and… that's something I could never buy"
"Money can't buy happiness Vlad" Jack grunted "That's something you should have known from the very start"
"I know that now… but I really do want to make amends"
"I don't think that's possible…"
"Why not?" Vlad asked in desperation.
"Because the damaged has already been made"
"But it can be fixed"
"It takes two people to do that and I'm not gong to be a part of this"
The ghost man's red eyes showed remorse and… sadness?
"Please"
"What do you know about the ghost portals?" Jack asked changing the subject.
"Please".
"There is nothing you can do that will make change my mind Plasmius " He snapped "So just answer the questions so I can leave"
"What happened to you?" Vlad asked "You used to be so trusting of people."
"That changed when a certain someone betrayed me"
Vlad covered himself with his cape.
He felt ashamed.
"Now I'll ask you again… what do you know about the ghost portals?"
"There are many natural portals around the globe; they are usually opened at random moments and places"
Jack nodded "What can you tell me about the ghosts? Do they have a monarchy? Do they have some treaties?
"No they don't, the Ghost Zone has a different realm, each realm is ruled by a different ghost"
"And about the treaties?"
"I don't know"
"Don't lie to me Plasmius!"
"Would you stop calling me Plasmius!" Vlad shouted and turned human, the black rings appearing and disappeared quickly.
"I'm Vlad Masters! PLASMIUS is dead!"
"Yes, well according to present knowledge both of your halves are suppose to be stranded in space but THAT turned false as well"
That was the cruelest thing Jack had ever said.
And it hurt.
The now human Vlad had tears in his eyes "I never thought you could be so heartless Jack"
"An eye for an eye Vlad"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Do what?" Jack questioned darkly Asking you stuff?"
"No… why are you being so.. indifferent towards me?"
"The answer is obvious."
"You are still angry"
"Bingo"
"I don't blame you but please Jack hear me out I'm truly sorry, I don't know what I was thinking at that moment but I know that I want to fix things."
The doors opened and the GIW entered quickly, guns aiming at Masters.
"Good job Mr Fenton" The leader of the agency said.
"I didn't do much"
"Nonsense" The same man said "You got him to talk, now we can take things from here, you are free to go.
Jack nodded "Thank you"
He got up from his chair and gave his former college buddy a final look and finally mouthed a few words, words that made Vlad have the chills.
"Good Bye Forever V-Man"
And he left, ignoring Vlad's pleas to come back.
The ghost run simply walked away from him like he had in space.
He felt no remorse.
One month later Jack received news from the Guys in White that Vlad died on his cell.
He asked of they killed him.
They responded "No"
And told him he died of loneliness.
No tears were shed.
But Jack felt guilty.
This time he HAD killed him.
And went to his funeral alone and said three words to the deceased hybrid.
"I do forgive you Vladdie"
Things could still be fixed.
Maybe.
Vlad may have been dead but his spirit didn't leave.
He was invisible, staring at his own body resting in a poorly made coffin, but that hardly mattered.
What did was the sight of his one time best friend giving his last respects.
Vlad was no longer mad, what was the point? All such anger had brought him was misery and loneliness, both in life and death.
"I forgive you too Jack"
He then flew away.
Since I never written about Jack having a negative perspective of Vlad before this was quite a challange... still, I hope I did ok and in the end that you all enjoyed it.
As always any comments and reviews you sent my way are greatly appreciated.
Invader Johnny Signing Off.