WARNING: CHARACTER DEATH; READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

"I won't…you can't make me" Maddie gasped as she stared at the writhing figure on the dissection table before her. She glanced around for an escape from the pressing situation, only to see the one exit was blocked by him, his crisp black suit and dress pants seeming to look more sinister than Maddie could have ever imagined a high class outfit to be.

"On the contrary my dear Maddie, I most certainly can make you sign this document. And come now, what is it but a few signatures her and there? It's perfectly legal, and in fact, it's a most professional act by my top paranormal scientist"

Maddie's eyebrows shot up in surprise as she felt the words reverberate in her head. "Top scientist?" she asked in bewilderment "but I am only a mere researcher, I just enter the numbe…"

"I never did like John Klein, he was too…single minded for the head of the Axiom Labs paranormal division" he replied, his oily voice filling with disgust at the thought of Maddie's current superior. "He's been giving an indefinite vacation…without pay and in his absence; you will take his place, IF you sign these papers"

Maddie faltered, the lure of the top dog of the Axiom Paranormal wing filling her head, before a whimper of the pained figure before her brought her back to her senses "No, I…I can't, it's a violation of Franz's rights as a worker at Axiom Labs and I can't replace John, I can't fill his shoes. If I sign these papers, I'll be partially lying to the government, no Vlad, sorry but I can't"

He sneered, his face turning more malicious, something in his bright blue eyes hinting at malice hiding in his mind "Well them, shall I have to resort to more…base methods, shall we say to…convince you that this is your only choice?"

Maddie turned to Vlad Masters, horrified. "What…happened to you Vlad, I can't believe you are resorting to blackmail, especially to me. What happened to the Vlad Masters I knew at the University of Wisconsin who loved the Green Bay packers and had an addiction to Ramon noodles, and would take me places every Friday night? The Vlad Masters I know was ambitious, yes, but never cut throat, especially to sink to this base level of operation to his closer friends"

Vlad seemed to freeze, his expression and posture seemingly lost in time, and for a moment Maddie seemed to glimpse a flash of remorse behind those cold yet bright blue eyes, before he smiled, a smile of pure deviousness. "That was a poor Vlad Masters, a college student who had no higher ambitions than to find a girl friend. Then your wretched oaf of a husband spilled that acid in my hair and on my face, and I lost all that innocence and immature foolishness. Oh I have forgiven Jack FENTON" Vlad spat out Fenton "and indeed, I almost want to thank him for literally burning out that early imprudence of my college days. I became a new man, the Vlad Masters that buys, trades, ruins, and builds companies, the Vlad Masters who is in multiple international lists of the wealthy and famous, the Vlad Masters that is worth billions, the Vlad Masters who has become a force in the world on every level from economics to culture. I am Vlad Masters, Maddie. I'm sorry if you don't like me, but I must do what I must do"

"For what?" Maddie asked, aghast at the tirade that Vlad had just given to her "To prove your superiority? To make yourself king of the world? To what end are you chasing after Vlad?"

"For AUTHORITY Maddie. There is nothing more gratifying to me than to receive word that more is under my command. It is a game, a game of pulling strings. I see why Napoleon kept invading and Caesar continued to influence and gain more control, because there is a lust for power that is a near euphoric experience, but ENOUGH! I have said too much. Thank you Maddie for briefly being my psychologist and letting me give someone a piece of my mind, I feel so much better now." Vlad said with a sarcastic and vicious tone of voice. "and now, sign there"

"NO! Vlad, after what you said, I will stand against you since you are a cruel, sadistic, son of a gu…"

"Tut tut tut Maddie, such cruel words to an old college mate and love interest of yours. But that is quite enough resistance. Very well, I am afraid to inform you that your bank accounts will be, ever so 'accidentally' liquidated tomorrow and both you and your lovable husband's employment here at Axiom labs terminated for a serious, criminal violation of your contracts in a combined plot to scam my company out of millions. My attorneys are sickened by your acts and have evidence they will take to court and prosecute a successful case. Your names will become synonymous in Amity Park for scandal, making it ever so difficult for you and your husband with your demanding toddler Jasmine and ever so dependent infant Danny, to find employment with all but the most desperate of employers who will make sure to give a low pay. If the more legal path doesn't work, a series of inexplicable accidents will ensure for you, Maddie dear, life will be indeed grim"

Maddie was speechless, her face in absolute shock as she stared, unable to wrench her eyes from Vlad who was a good deal taller than her, towering over her trembling form. Vlad was grinning in Grinch proportions, seeming to enjoy the absolute havoc his words were playing on Maddie's mind.

"Shall I describe the possible physical dangers that your children may encounter as well?" Vlad spoke, sounding like a child telling a good story

Maddie's mouth moved, but no words came out, her mind like a car with its wheels spinning helplessly in the snow. There was a moment of absolute stillness before the words began to pour from Maddie's lips "you can't…you're despicable, evil, you wretched little…I despise you…you are a…you can't!"

"Oh but Maddie, look around my companies and realize, I do this all the time. One more person on my black list certainly isn't a challenge. Just be grateful I haven't even considered the arsenal I could use against…"

"ALRIGHT! I GIVE IN I'LL SIGN" Maddie shouted, her imagination finishing the job Vlad started. "Just leave and never see me again!"

Vlad laughed, seeming to delight in Maddie's state of panic "Oh and one more thing Maddie dear, your dreaming. This may be a dream of your imagination,or a memory of 12 years ago when you did become head researcher at Axiom Labs, but rest assured, imagination and memories aside…I'm coming for your son"

"ghaaaah!" Maddie shot up in a cold sweat, her heart beat palpable as she breathed hard. Her eyes darted from side to side and looked for Vlad Masters, only to see the non-descript waiting room, a few cheap paintings on the walls, slightly worn chairs that were poorly aligned along the walls, a dead plant in the corner next to the beat up door. And of course, a viewing glass before her that allowed her to see Danny on a hospital bed, a series of white coat doctors and nurses surrounding him as they examined him from head to toe. Around them were a series of machines that had digital readout recording heart rate and other body functions. But her attention was focused on Danny, in the center who was in pain, irises flashing between blue and that sickly green that were battling for dominance, arms literally glowing and occasionally becoming translucent. Most alarming was when his hands, from his normal flesh welled a terrible emerald energy that surged through the skin and distorted the image of his palm and fingers in a swirl of ectoplasm. The doctors were treating Danny as though he had small pox, delicately injecting chemicals and manipulating tools.

Maddie scrunched her eyes shut and buried her face into her arms, squeezing tears from her eyes.

"What have I done Danny, what are you becoming?" she asked in despair. "I must fix you before Vlad finds out"

….

Doctor Phoebe Grey's office was spacious and austere, with nothing flashy or an indication of a personal life of the paranormal doctor save a few photos that were plainly framed and sitting on her simple yet functional desk that was surrounded by orderly file cabinets and plain, white dry wall. It went to show that Phoebe Grey was an extremely organized woman, to the point, efficient, and had a keen mind for problem solving that had placed her as one of the finest researchers at the Medical Wing of Axiom Labs, aka Axiom Medical, one of the only paranormal medical centers across the country. It also placed her in conflict with her daughter.

Valerie Grey was nearly as efficient and organized as her mother but preferred to blow problems up, rather than work them through. The 18 year old senior at Casper High school was hot headed, extremely athletic, and couldn't stand her mother's dislike for her extracurricular activities; working closely with her father, Damon Grey.

Working for Axiom labs seemed to run in the family, as Damon Grey worked in a building adjacent to the medical wing; the engineering department. Like his wife, he too was a problem solving person, but liked to build things to solve problems, specifically ghost problems. He designed and executed defensive anti-ghost devices for the local Ghost Investigation and Weapons SWAT team unit, and to that end, used Valerie as a guinea pig of sorts to test new, experimental technology for the GIW; her extracurricular activities. Nothing Damon could have done could have thrilled Valerie more, as her ambitions were to become the leader of the GIW SWAT team and perhaps continue to the director of the National Paranormal and supernatural administration. Much to the appall of Phoebe Grey, who would have liked nothing less than for Valerie to go off to an Ivy league school and forget about undertaking such physically dangerous jobs.

"MOM! What in the world were you thinking, you forgot to pick up my package from the post office!"

"Valerie, just calm down, let me expla…"

"Calm down! I have been waiting for that package for months and need it today! And you just happened to forget to do the simple task of picking it up on you way to work and taking it to work."

"Valerie, what in the world was in that package?"

"That's none of your concern." Phoebe snorted indignantly, her eyebrows furrowing as she began to scowl. "Valerie, I was busy this morning, I had to work on our family's health plan here at work before the deadline, and I am sorry I decided to pick up your package this afternoon, after I finished with the daily checkups, but for Pete's sake honey, you can't expect me to put picking up a unknown package at the top of my priority list if I don't know what the heck was in that package! Now Valerie, please tell me, what was in that package!"

Phoebe was by now becoming emphatic, her voice rising to a high volume and she could hear Valerie on the other end of the line, her breathing rate increasing as her anger rose "Mom! You're so nosy, and when I ask something to be done, it should be just simple to do what I ask when I ask, it was just another anti-ectoplasmic knife"

The Doctor lifted her eyes to the heavens and sighed, mentally asking why she was given such a daughter "Valerie! A Knife! You're only 18 and already…"

"Mom, I don't have the time to get into another debate over what I do INDEPENDENTLY, in my OWN life, and what I buy with my OWN money, and follow my OWN dreams. Stop imposing yourself on me goodbye!"

The line clicked dead as Valerie Grey spoke with her mother, for the last time.

Slowly, Phoebe Grey placed the phone back in its cradle, a look of remorse and sadness crossing her face as she reflected on her increasingly alien daughter. What had happened to her only child? What had she done wrong? She shook her head slowly, frowning as she removed those depressing thoughts from her mind. Never the less, the renowned paranormal doctor considered, she felt unappreciated. Valerie always had been her father's daughter, and the relationship between Damon and Valerie was close whereas the relationship between her and Valerie was as far apart. But somewhere deep, Phoebe loved Valerie with an unbreakable love that she felt and knew Valerie reciprocated. It was just hard to see sometimes. However, some things were just the way they were, and Valerie was becoming independent after all. Within 2 years, Valerie would hopefully be off to college and by then, she would be her own person. Perhaps trying to hold her back was trying to stop the inevitable.

A tap on Phoebe's shoulder brought her back to reality as she turned to face her fellow co-doctor who had a worried look on his face and said "Phoebe, we need you back in the ER, now; the patient Daniel Fenton, he's destabilizing"

Phoebe Grey was short, plump and quiet. She couldn't stand hysteria or panic, and always had a rather calm demeanor. Therefore when she had received a frantic phone call just 15 minutes earlier, she had been none too happy and even more unsettled when she recognized that the frantic caller. She could recognize the voice anywhere; it was the one and only Maddie Fenton, one of Phoebe's oldest friends and closest. They had known each other for nearly as long as both of them had studied the supernatural, and they had worked and laughed together ever since. They had met in college, graduated together, applied for work at Axiom Labs together, worked as coworkers in the early days of their careers and still treated each other like sisters. Phoebe therefore knew Maddie Fenton well enough to know that when Maddie was in hysterics, it either meant somebody had refused Jack Fenton some fudge and their life was jeopardized by that, or her children were in danger, or in this case, Daniel Fenton had come into Axiom Medical's ER with the highest ectoplasm contamination she had ever seen. He seemed fine at first, but at a second examination everything was wrong. Heartbeat, temperature and breathing rate were haywire, and on the inside, Danny was an unsolved mess that neither Phoebe nor any of her fellow doctors and nurses could help. Now he was physically destabilizing, and Phoebe felt her heart leap into her throat.

"What'd you do!" Phoebe asked quickly as they began to dash back to the Emergency Room.

"He seemed fine, the patient was calm besides his ridiculous body statistics of temperature and heartbeat, so we began the normal ectoplasm decontamination procedure and injected him with a slow drip of the Ecelyne but then he went off the charts. Things are getting dicey in the ER Phoebe, be careful" the doctor replied "We stopped the injection and inserted some anti Vackline but he's only slowly improving. This is not a regular case Phoebe; we're in trouble"

Phoebe nodded and halted her rapid pace as she came to the ER swing doors to take a deep breath and prepare her mind for whatever would happen. With a swish the doors swung back, allowing her to lay eyes on Daniel Fenton who was still squirming in pain, a cry or two slipping from his throat. Green energy seemed to well from the interior of his body before coming to the surface of his skin and snapping out, alarming any person who dared get close. The light themselves were flickering and the equipment was mirroring the chaos, adding sirens and alarms of their own, while the team of medical personal stood around, at a loss of what to do.

"Is he getting better?" Phoebe asked, trying to prevent the anxiety from slipping into her voice

"It is" A nurse replied in fright "2 minutes ago we thought he was going to jump out of bed and, cause trouble or something like that" Phoebe closed her eyes briefly and shut out the world, thinking hard.

"We do nothing" Phoebe proclaimed, to the astonishment of her team. "We'll wait till he hopefully returns to normal and then send him through the ECP asap. I'll be talking to the boy's mother so go on ahead and get him ready for the ECP, but skip the various chemical injections, too risky, and then see me when you are ready"

The team paused, shrugged and then returned to Danny who was apparently, ver gradually, calming down as his spasms became more few while Phoebe brushed them aside and burst into the waiting room, to see Maddie Fenton, her head in her arms.

"Phoebe, we've been friends for so long, and I know you can fix my son, so where's the solution? How come he's only getting worse" She said, voice shuddering and broken up.

Phoebe didn't answer as she walked over, pulled up a chair, and sat down. "he'll be ready for the ECP soon, we're just having some issues with some of the injections we have to give him, he's having something that is analogous to a very bad allergic reaction". Phoebe waited for a reply, and when that didn't materialize as Maddie remained silent, she continued, trying to sound as professional as possible "I will give him a checkup in a few minutes, and if everything checks out, we'll send him to the ECP."

Maddie nodded, slowly raising her head to look at Phoebe. She stared, blinked, the tear marks on her checks painfully obvious, her hair ruffled, all and all showing the mess that she was both physically and mentally in. "It's my fault Phoebe, it's all my fault" She trailed off, repeating the phrase, her mind degrading into a downwards spiral of despair, much to Phoebe's alarm.

"Now now there Maddie it's okay, if what you told me about the accident is true than you're guilty of nothing more than self confidence and bad luck. In a few minutes, you can watch while the ECP hopefully cleanses out any ectoplasm that has bonded to him. By the way, where are all those scientists that were with you earlier?"

"They left, I asked them too and Jim Foley agreed that they would go back and examine the portal for the reason of the accident, I just can't let them watch Danny like he's a rabid dog or something." The auburn haired scientist answered as her voice continued to waver due to inner turmoil. "It's just…it was my invention and the"

Phoebe came up to Maddie as her friend lapsed into despair, gave a sigh and buried her face in her arms again. She affectionately caressed the women's back and looked to the side, attempting to formulate a way to console her, when Maddie feebly whispered "I'm scared Phoebe, I'm afraid he'll find out"

"Who?" Phoebe gently asked. Moving her gaze to Danny through the glass, watching as he slowly calmed down from his reaction to the chemicals.

In a whisper that trembled, and was so quiet that Phoebe prayed that it was her imagination, her long time friend whispered "Vlad Masters"

In the past, Phoebe had listened to Maddie's fears, her anxieties and frustrations while Maddie had done visa versa for her. Over the years, both women had become familiar with each other on a close level. Therefore, the name 'Vlad Masters' struck a chord of fear, due to the fact that Maddie, over the years had confided her greatest terror. It wasn't a monster, criminal in the night, but someone that Phoebe knew little about, a man named Vlad Masters. Phoebe had learned that Maddie had once known a happy go lucky Vlad during college, when a lab accident somehow changed him. Now, Maddie had told Phoebe, that Vlad Masters was more a monster than man, with a mind conditioned only to search for power. He moved like a snake and struck with the force of a enraged bear. Story after horror story Maddie had leaked to Maddie, to the point that Phoebe feared Vlad almost as much as Maddie did. She had never seen Vlad, the only personal knowledge being that he was an important figure somewhere high in the chain of command of Axiom Labs, and that Maddie held his name synonymous with as much tyranny and terrible influence as the great dictators of the Second World War.

Phoebe grabbed Maddie by the shoulders and forced her to look into her eyes. "Maddie, if its Vlad Masters you fear, than we must move fast; I'll have Danny moved to the ECP regardless of the consequences."

Maddie could only nod hopefully "it's good to have a friend who understands"

…..

…..

"Argghhhh!" Danny yelled as another spasm rocked his body, muscles tensing and locking up as the pain continued on, interminably. One moment he was in the observation room, the next his mother had literally dragged him out and strapped him to a hospital stretcher, and then wheeling it rapidly to some doctors and nurses who were trying to inject chemicals into him. Following that was pain, as if he hadn't had enough from the accident.

Danny did know that whatever was going on was entirely unnatural. Between the black outs of stings and electrifying shocks that seemed to drag on for hours on end, Danny could see with his blurred vision that his body was fading in and out of visibility, green glows erupted beneath the skin and shot out reminding him of solar flares that arched from the surface of the sun. Besides the pain, the sensations he was experiencing had left him in a state of total confusion. Chills that felt they were from the arctic blasted through his body at what felt like gale force winds while other alien feelings bounced around inside of him, seeming to flow through his heart before surfacing near his skin and then diving back down like fish playing through his organs. More than ever Danny wanted out, to escape the repeating cycle of pain, terror, confusion, and then pain again. The worst was the mental cycles, and Danny imagined himself looking into the face of death and then torture, two subjects that seemed to manifest themselves in his mind and laughed at him, tempting him, encouraging him too unleash some terrible will within him and destroy all that inflicted him.

Slowly, it subsided, the throbs of emotions and pain combined being muffled and softened. Danny managed to squeeze his eyes and take a blurry view of his surroundings, seeing a collection of fuzzy figures around him. He seemed to recognize a single one.

"Mom!" Danny cried out in inquiry, in a voice laced with pain, but unable to express a single question on his mind; why? Why was this happening? When would it end? He had come for another boring day at Axiom Lab's bring your child to work day, not a day when Danny lived through the worst pain he had ever imagined possible.

….

"Mom!" Danny cried out, and Maddie shrunk back. That voice! It was filled with accusation, question, pain and suffering. A physical manifestation of everything Maddie feared her son was experiencing. She turned her eyes away and looked to Phoebe for comfort, wanting to fall into her arms and let a lake of tears spring forth.

"Don't worry Maddie, the pain for him will be over soon alright, no need to weep" Phoebe hushed as she embraced Maddie, odd considering how much taller the other woman was. "Do you think it's safe Phoebe" she asked, still in their embrace, to which Phoebe returned in a firm voice "whether it's safe or not, it's worth a try"

But Maddie had doubts. The famous or infamous ECP looked like a cat scan, worked like a cat scan except for some subtle differences. Rather than a scan, it was a purification device, hence the name Ectoplasmic Contamination Purification machine. Nicknamed, the 'Fenton guillotine', it rose from ceiling to floor, a stark white and plastic machine with several displays and controls that permitted the machine to be set at various settings. At the center was the 3 foot wide tunnel that allowed a rolling bed to slide a patient through the tunnel and out through the other side, rather than back and forth like a cat scan. The most important difference between a generic cat scan and the rather hazardous ECP was a within the laser, a full 2 feet wide at the center of the tunnel under which the unfortunate subject would be moved, a laser that would dissolve any offending ectoplasm that might have bonded to organic cells in the body, or in other more unusual cases, terminate a possessing ghost all together.

The machine had been built to treat post-exorcism patients and eliminate any remaining ectoplasm that was left residue from the harrowing experience of being overshadowed by a ghost. Ectoplasm typically reacted with organic cells like oil and water do; they repel. But for long term victims of possession, it was hazardous to have any remaining supernatural matter remain, and the ECP was a quick and effective method to deal with that. An alternative use was for possessed victims where the exorcism was considered too risky to try, and the ECP literally acted as a guillotine for the invading ghost; dissolving it.

Maddie would have been worried about the device regardless of the state her son was in, no matter what case or scenario necessitated the machine's use, because it hurt. And pain was something which Maddie was trying to prevent any more of to Danny, who was just starting to calm down, his body falling limp, his face becoming more peaceful.

Phoebe nodded to Maddie reassuringly as she punched in the necessary numbers into the ECP's controls, a faint whirring indicating the machine's preparations for the grim task of attempting to expel any and all ectoplasm from Danny's body.

Running her hand through her son's messy hair, Maddie sighed, looking over her son in anxiety. Was this all her fault? She was glad she had sent Jim Foley, Ben Marse and the rest of the team away to investigate the portal and why perhaps it had activated so prematurely, but she knew on the inside that if Danny was not fixed of his-condition soon, he would become a scientific specimen, chained as a living experiment in the name of science. Deep within her, the scientist was screaming and complaining due to her desire to explore such a treasure trove of possible discovery, and Maddie knew well what might possibly be lying before her. She had seen, like her coworkers, her son transform, perhaps on sheer accident, his body from bands of a strange ectoplasm that the scientists back at the observation room had never picked up or seen before into what seemed to be organic matter. It neither made sense nor could it be the least explained by any theory that Maddie, her fellow coworkers, or possibly any paranormal expert in the world had drawn up.

"m-mom" Danny turned over and opened bleary eyes on his mother, his voice a croak. "Shush Danny, just go to sleep" Maddie whispered back. If there was anything that was keeping her stable, it was the thought of Danny, and the memories of the good and bad times with him. She sat on the rolling bed that would take Danny through the ECP and hopefully cure him and stroked her son's hair. Her heart was heavy, filled with accusations of negligence and stupidity for letting this happen to Danny, yet she smiled to see her son, resting, eyes shut.

"Well, if I believe what I saw" Maddie mused aloud, albeit quietly and to herself "I guess, Danny, you are some strange hybrid between a ghost and human" Maddie felt a pang in her heart of more guilt over what was her fault "but no matter what" She leaned down to whisper in Danny's ear, in spite of whether he heard or not, "monster or angel you might become" Her heart felt as if it were sinking like a stone in the deep ocean, a thousand voices in her head chanting the accusation of lack of maternal care "I will, and always will, and do love you so" Maddie fought to work the words out. Something within her, much to her disgust, was repelled by the thought of loving a freak. But you're my freak, you're my son and nothing changes that! She thought in a final definitive thought that seemed to cap those other ideas of culpability. She would carry on, as a mother does.

"We're ready Maddie" Phoebe tapped her on the shoulder

"Is it safe?" Maddie asked, still gazing at her son.

Something within Phoebe was the opposite of Maddie's thoughts, ones of extreme foreboding. She had used the ECP many times in the recent past and knew just how to work that machine like a pianist can use a piano. But with a patient like Daniel Fenton, Phoebe felt like it was like trying to play piano to sheet music for a violin. He was a strange case with no precedent, and Phoebe was not actually using medical pre-knowledge to send Danny through, she was simply using the procedure they used with all other patients. Wasn't she rushing? She hadn't taken full and proper stats on Danny's exact condition, although the ones she had managed to collect were wrong from even a lay man's glance.

Phoebe looked at a sheet one of her fellow doctors had drawn up after their first limited examination on Danny. They had given the basics, but Danny was indicating an alarmingly low heart rate, a low breathing rate to accompany that, and more significant was a fluctuating temperature. His internal body temperature was fluctuating with the environment temperature, almost as if he was cold blooded.

We don't have time Phoebe reminded herself. Maddie had instilled in her a sense of urgency; the sooner Danny was well, the better. Her tender looks directed at Danny reinforced that train of thought. Phoebe didn't want to spoil a family life, or at least be indirectly responsible for doing so. No, she had to go through with this.

"If Danny is anything like previous cases, its safe enough" Phoebe spoke confidently. Hopefully she mentally added. Pulling her friend away, Phoebe Grey motioned for a nearby nurse to inject the sedative that would neutralize any reaction from Danny till he had passed through the tunnel.

"errr w-what?" Danny groaned as the nurse came up and swabbed his arm with disinfectant, found the vein and before Danny gathered his wits, injected the sedative.

"Bye bye son" Maddie cooed and waved good bye as Danny took a final, bewildered look at his mother before falling into a sedative induced sub-consciousness.

Phoebe put her hand on Maddie's shoulder and squeezed, smiling as she saw Maddie's motherly affection for her son rise to a climax. A final push of a button and the ECP engaged, humming as the laser inside the tunnel flickered on and grew bright in intensity, a warning light flashing above the tunnel opening an exterior indication of the machine's activation. With a shudder, the sliding bed began to move slowly towards the tunnel, carrying an inert Daniel Fenton towards the bright beam of energy meant to purify him of ectoplasm. Phoebe guided Maddie away, regular procedure to allow the machine to operate in solitude, noticing how she never took her eyes off Danny, and moved her out of the room.

Inside the tunnel, Danny moved slowly, the bed transporting him into the darkness of the tunnel, only illuminated by the green laser which hummed, getting ever nearer to Danny's head.

Unfortunately, one fact that Phoebe Grey, the lead researcher at Axiom Medical, had overlooked was the fact that machine was regulated to purify subjects with up to a 10% contamination rate. The machine had never been built with the motive in mind to destroy a potent ectoplasmic entity, or at least a hybrid of one.

The laser touched Danny's head, and upon contact, Danny's eyes shot open, iris and pupil gone and replaced with that eerie green that filled the entire eye. His body was faced with a device that was attempting to rip Danny in half, a lethal action, and without his mind's consent, Danny's body took action on its own, either the machine would triumph and kill Danny, or Danny would destroy the machine, in a move no-one could have anticipated.

…..

A local bank, single story, built in the 1980's with a sparsely filled parking lot and its name modestly displayed in plastic lettering on the concrete front wall captured the image that would literally shake Amity Park and much less the entire nation for days to come through a small, very basic security cam that happened to have its electronic eye trained on the Axiom Labs compound less than a quarter of mile away up the street from the bank.

Just 10 seconds can change everything, and within the 10 fateful seconds on that wintery and bitterly cold night, at 5:36 PM that fateful evening, Axiom Medical was wiped off the face of the earth, and the rest of the Axiom Labs complex didn't fare much better. At least the other buildings remained standing, a feat in comparison to the utter destruction that Axiom Medical met at the hands of a 14 year old teenager with black hair and blue eyes that was unconscious.

The microphone on the security cam delivered the first indication of the disaster, a noise sounding somewhere between ripping paper and shattering glass. Witnesses to the event reported differently saying it was a combination between the howl of the wind and the howl of a wolf. News reporters would dub it the 'ghostly wail' but whatever the sound was, it was the result of the sound that rocked the city.

A green wave of energy, actually several of them radiated in second intervals off the Axiom Medical Wing, reminding some witnesses of the northern lights, except brighter in their pallor and intensity. Dissipating nearly at the bank's front door, their effect was disastrous. The security cam watched and recording as Axiom Medical disintegrated. First the long lines of inset windows went, shattering in explosions of glass, followed by the wall cladding that cracked and tumbled off the walls, which came down themselves just milliseconds later, fragmenting and devolving into an avalanche of a mixture of glass, concrete and general rubble. A second after that, the building collapsed in it's entirely. The entire building, not designed to withstand the ectoplasmic assault it was under, wavered and stood briefly before falling to the ground, the matrix of steel beams giving way to gravity, crashing to the ground while the view was quickly obscured by the rolling clouds of debris and dust that billowed out from the base of the collapse. The clouds of dust came down the street and the security cam became useless as the sun was blotted out by the haze that turned day momentarily into night.

For a second, all was silent and dark as the security cam continued to film, doing its duty even when there was nothing to see. Half a minute passed before the dust began to settle, light filtering through the great folds of dust that drifted away and putting that area of Amity Park awash in the pale, afternoon light.

When the dust settled, Axiom Medical was gone, in its place a enormous pile of destruction, twisted I-beams and rebar, broken concrete slabs, shattered microscopes and beakers, files and papers lost forever amidst the obliteration, and more rubbish that remained after the event. The rest of Axiom Labs stood, if just barely. Many of the once proud buildings of the complex were reduced to steel skeletons; others were stripped bare of their walls, their crumbling floors deemed structurally compromised by engineers for days to come.

Incredibly, the Ghost Portal Containment building stood, its massive concrete walls meant to hold an explosion within inadvertently preserving the building almost intact, the portal continuing to operate along with the team of paranormal scientists that had survived in the bunker like building, including Jim Foley, Ben Marsen, Dom Leoson, and Christina Dease. Also among the survivors that day was Jack Fenton, who was seen darting in and out of the office complex of Axiom Labs carrying injured coworkers to safety. His actions were mirrored by Valerie and Damon Grey who had a dramatic escape from their destroyed workspace in the engineering wing. Not among the survivors was nearly the entire medical staff, including Maddie Fenton and Phoebe Grey, their bodies never recovered despite the near superhuman efforts of the cleanup crew to search the wreckage.

It was a nightmare for the emergency services of Amity Park, the phone lines tied up in a matter of minutes as dozens of phone calls flooded the 911 number, some from within the ruined complex itself, most from the rest of the city as they saw the massive plume of dust and destruction rise into the sky where the city's biggest employer had once been. Fire departments from other counties were called in to assist, and hospitals miles away sent aid. The police department nearly had their entire force mobilized within 10 minutes of the disaster, followed by news crews which descended like vultures to a carcass from cities far and wide.

Several miles away from Axiom Labs, in a forrest clearing marked for land development by a home builder company, on top of a bed of snow and partially rotted leaves from the previous fall, Daniel Fenton appeared in a swirl of green, asleep and totally unaware of the mayhem which he caused unfolding within ear shot and seen from the hill where he was on. He was guiltless of his act…but he would pay dearly for it.

….

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ughghgkjkhd! Sorry I was just throwing up at how terrible this chapter is! Ugh…hate this chapter like the plague. Don't even know why I started it this way. Anyway, its kinda important to the plot and oh yeah, be wary of character death at the end. Have fun, if you can with this wretched chapter. It has problems and issues. But thank you to Pixie Dust of Doom who I thank most heartily for the sorely needed review, Kiomori who I hope sees what happens, Samara , the famous and great Prophet of Greed who I must say has been instrumental in this story in terms of encouragement, and the wonderful Biisaiyowaq who is one of my favorite chronic reviewers in this story . You guys make my day and…(sniff) you're just so wonderful! (cries in delight) But now the story should pick up so stay tuned for the next installment of 'can't run nowhere to hide'. Sorry if there was so little Danny in this chapter, he'll be around soon enough.