Spy Guy: Ok...I can't reply now, but I'll think you'll forgive me because I got this up so fast. Thanks to Hermie for helping with Sam. Thanks to Cordria for giving much better reviews than I'm capable of. And thanks to all of you guys that I really want to name right now but I onyl have like a miniute to get this done, and if I name all of you, who knows how long it'll be postponed. Sorry if anyone has any hard feelings. Just tell me, and I'l...write you a one-shot on request or something.

Disclaimer: Tryping to fast to think of something witty. Me no owny DP.

Vlad liked fire. He liked the dark shadows it cast against the walls, the eerie glow that emanated from it.

He like how it was hard to control.

In the world of nature, fire controlled all. It could help life…and it could take it away.

Vlad was the flame of Axion, the one thing keeping it together.

He controlled everything here. Every person listened to him without question. Everyone gave in to his demands.

But fire never would.

No matter how hard he tried to get the fire to stay, eventually it would die away, leaving his study in darkness, and him hopelessly alone.

The man sighed, taking a match from his pocket and lighting the candle once more. The dim glow flickered back into life, sending more shadows over the walls.

Vlad smiled grimly, turning back to what he was looking at. It was a yearbook from his college years. He looked fondly at Maddie's picture. Her hair was lighter back then. Longer too, with curls.

The man sighed. She was so beautiful. The years had been very kind to her. Very kind. He ran his hand over his own face, feeling the scars left from the accident years ago. He growled as he felt sharp claws grazing his flesh. Looking he saw a black glove covering his hand. Vlad snarled, making a fist, forcing black rings over it, changing his hand to normal.

He hated these powers. Hated them more than anything else. The man touched his cheek again, feeling cold blood from a small cut. He grumbled, wiping the red on the arm of his chair and turning back to the book. His eye narrowed when skimmed through the list of names on the page. His was right at the end, underneath the header, "Picture not available" .

It had been Jack's fault. That idiot!

Vlad snarled, feeling his ghost powers taking over once more. Claws dug into the book's cover, as the man's eyes blazed red. In an instant he had ripped the cover to shreds, throwing the remnants to the ground. Loose pages fluttered to the floor like leaves in the wind. Vlad took a deep breath, changing his hands back. Now was not the time for violence. He would leave that for tomorrow. Phantom was sure to perform underneath expectations. As much as Vlad loved her, Maddie was soft. She was inexperienced in the care and maintenance of a weapon such as Phantom. His skills were to have surely slipped.

No matter. That was what the whip was for…

Maddie couldn't help but smile at the boy as he rested his head against her shoulder. His eyes were shut tight and his breathing calm, despite the pain he had to be in. The woman had given the remnants of the lab coat to him, showing the blue HAZMAT suit that she wore underneath. Jack had always sported an orange one. She still wore hers in his memory.

Phantom's torso was covered in the thin white strips, as well as a few on his arms. He looked so peaceful now, there even seemed to be a small smile on his face. Maddie carefully looked around the room, grimacing when she saw the various brown stains that dyed the walls. A small pile of blue rags lay forgotten on the floor. Maddie turned to Phantom when she realized they were his shirt.

"You poor boy…" She murmured, running her hand through his dirty black hair. She knew she couldn't sleep herself, not after Zimmers mentioned Vlad. He was the last person she wanted to see. She had no trouble fighting him from afar, but when she saw him…things changed…

He had been her friend. Little Vlad Masters, whom she would play with as a child. The boy who took her to the prom, and helped her in literature. The man who's hospital bed she stood by after the accident. All those nights she had spent worrying about him…

… now he did this…

Maddie became aware of a noise coming from beside her. She looked, only to find Phantom, tears coursing down his cheeks. He still seemed to be asleep, though trapped in a nightmarish dream. After a few moments, the woman shook him awake, watching as the blue eyes fluttered open, staring up at her in fear.

"Hush Phantom." Maddie cooed, "It's just a dream."

"But my dreams come true." The boy sniffed. "I don't want this one to. I really don't."

"What happened?" The woman asked, stroking Phantom's hair once more.

"I…" The boy murmured…cutting himself off. He then turned his head to the door, pulling away from Maddie, and flattening himself against the wall.

"Master…" He whispered, quickly ripping the makeshift bandages off before covering his head in his hands. Maddie stared at the door in horror, fearing what was to come. After a few moments she could hear the clacking of dress shoes of the metal floor as someone approached. Then…it stopped.

There was some faint beeping before the door whooshed open, and Vlad Masters appeared, winding his whip around his hand. His eyes narrowed as he noticed Maddie sitting on the floor besides his weapon.

"Get away from her!" The man snarled, cracking the whip dangerously close to Phantom's face. The boy didn't even make a sound as he forced himself to his feet, and ran to the other side of the room, huddling against the wall. Maddie watched in horror as Vlad advanced on him, rage apparent in his eyes.

There was a loud crack as whip made contact with flesh. Maddie gasped, getting to her feet.

"You bastard!" She screamed. "Leave him alone!" The woman regretted it as Vlad turned on her, snarling in anger.

"Who let you in here!" The man demanded. "Who did it!"

"Zimmers." Maddie replied, trying not to show weakness. "It's Zimmers you should be punishing. Not Phantom."

Vlad ignored her, and stormed over to the door, shouting for the man named at the top of his lungs. In an instant Zimmers ran down the hall, pausing for a moment, terror reflecting on his face.

"Get over here!" Vlad snarled. "Now you wretch!"

Zimmers slowly kicked his feet into action, approaching the door, only to be greeted by the whip across his dead flesh. Just because he was a ghost, didn't mean it didn't hurt.

"I'm sorry boss." The man apologized hurriedly. "I didn't mean to—"

"Shut up!" Vlad snarled. "Take her back to her cell, give her some clothes other than that, and a new lab coat. Now!"

"Yes sir!" Zimmers nodded, running into the cell and roughly taking Maddie by the arm, pulling her away. His eyes never broke contact with Vlad's. Soon they were out if sight leaving Phantom alone with his master. The boy stood as tall as he could, not staring Vlad in the face.

"You're lucky, Little Badger." The man said, wrapping the whip around his hand once more. "I want you to be in peak condition for the fight today. You have someone to impress…but afterwards…you may not be so lucky…Come here boy."

Phantom walked over to his master as fast as he could, stumbling as he was pushed into the hall…

He hated preparing for a fight…

Zimmers mumbled under his breath as he walked through the halls, trying to ignore the cut on his chest. It was then that he felt a hand take him from behind.

"What?" He snapped angrily. The man wheeled around only to be greeted by a blonde haired man and a black haired girl.

"I'm here about an internship for my daughter. Mr. Masters, your boss I believe, sent me to find you. Zimmers I presume." The man sneered. Zimmers mumbled for a moment, trying to regain his composure.

"You must me Mr. Manson." He finally managed to choke out. "Yes, I believe my boss told me about you. Sorry for my outburst. Things have been weird around here."

"He told me about the return of the Phantom project." Mr. Manson continued, wiping an invisible speck of dust from his shirt. "He guaranteed my daughter a part on his staff. The best job here, right?"

"The Phantom project is no place for children." Zimmers spat, glaring at the girl. She returned the gesture.

"Phantom can be unpredictable and dangerous."

"Good." The girl snapped. "Then I can just leave. I don't want to work here anyway."

"Hush Samantha." Mr. Manson scolded. "I'm Vlad's new business partner. We have to be polite."

"Business partner?" Zimmers asked. "It's been ages since he's had one of those." He then turned his gaze to Sam.

"Good at science?"

"I was the highest ranking student before my dad pulled me." The girl snapped, glaring at her father.

"You have to be polite Samantha." Mr. Manson snarled. "This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Don't blow it now."

"Whatever." The girl grumbled.

"Attitude won't get you far here." Zimmers growled. "Learned that long ago myself. You're lucky you're father's around, or Vlad would treat you the same as everyone else."

"Joy." Sam replied. "I get special treatment."

"For now." Zimmers replied softly.

Mr. Manson didn't seemed to notice and smiled cheerily.

"Well, I'm off to Vlad's office. We're discussing business deals and such. Zimmers, please do show Samantha around the labs. Your boss ordered it."

"Yes sir." The man snarled in contempt. "I'll get right on that."

Mr. Manson smiled smugly as he walked off, leaving his daughter behind. She turned to the man, a frown on her face.

"You're dead, aren't you?"

"No." Zimmers snapped. "I enjoy walking around with a hole in my chest."

"Great…I'm working with a dead guy." The girl grumbled, crossing her arms. Zimmers snarled at her.

"Great…I'm working with a—"

The man was cut off by a black mask running up, holding a note in their hand. Zimmers growled, taking it roughly, and pushing his glasses slightly down his nose.

"There's a problem with Phantom…great…" He mumbled, shoving the elite away, storming down the hall, Sam in his wake.

"I'm guessing that this is a common thing then, right?" The girl asked.

"Not usually." Zimmers replied. "Phantom's usually very behaved. But that stupid Fenton made him go soft. He's probably screaming cause they tried to use a needle on him. Wouldn't be surprised. He needs to just suck it up like the rest of us."

"So…" Sam paused for a moment. "Phantom's a person? My dad made it seem like he was a robot or something."

"Person isn't really the word I'd use." Zimmers grumbled. "His structure's been altered past the point of humanity. He's had his programming drilled into his mind constantly since he was little. Weapon is the only word to describe him now."

"Since he was little?" The girl growled. "That's inhumane!"

"You'll find that Vlad doesn't care." The man snapped. "He doesn't care about anyone."

"Then I don't want to work here." Sam huffed. "This place seems horrible."

"You don't have a choice." Zimmers snarled, walking to a metal door, and pushing a code into the pad. The second the door opened, the man stormed in, shouting, sending scientists fleeing in terror. He took one by their coat, drawing them close, and breathing in their face.

"So what's wrong with the Phantom project?" He demanded.

The scientist shuddered, trying to mumble a reply. Another quickly came to their rescue barking out the answer.

"Sir, Phantom won't show himself. We tried to take a blood sample, but…he disappeared. He's still strapped to the table, but…we can't continue until we can see him."

Zimmers growled, throwing his prey aside and walking over to the table. The metal straps were fastened tight, slight breathing coming from nearby.

"Phantom you pathetic wretch!" The man shrieked, lashing his hand out, seemingly at nothing. Sam cringed as she heard a loud smack and a slight whimper. In an instant a boy, somewhere around her age, appeared, his blue eyes opened in fear.

"Where did you get the idea that you could hide!" Zimmers snarled. "Did that Maddie tell you that?! Did she tell you that you could run from your problems!? Did she?"

Sam closed her eyes as she heard another smack, this one followed by a sickening crack. When she looked again, the boy was shaking his head madly. A sick smile played across Zimmers' face.

"That's a good little Phantom." He cooed mockingly. "Now let the dear scientists continue. I'll be standing by, just like old times eh?"

Phantom closed his eyes, trying to block out the image of the needle nearing his arm. It's tip dug into his skin, the strange sensation following. There was no gauze pad to stop the flow. The scientists simply took the needle to another room, along with the blood that they had drawn.

"Do you want me to bandage that?" Sam asked Zimmers, feeling sorry for the boy.

"No." Was the man's clipped reply. "He doesn't get bandaged."

"But he's bleeding." The girl snapped.

"So?" Zimmers replied. "He bleeds a lot. He's used to it."

"He shouldn't have to be." Sam growled. Zimmers put his clipboard down, and shot the girl a venomous glance.

"You're going to be a problem, aren't you?" he demanded.

"If this is how you treat him, yeah." Sam snarled. "It's wrong."

"Just wait til you see him fight." Zimmers snarled. "Then maybe you won't think the same of him."

Sam fell to silence as the scientists emerged once more.

"His blood is a little low on ectoplasm." One said to Zimmers. "Do you want us to put him in the tube, or just an injection?"

"Just an injection for now." The man replied. "Vlad wants him in top fighting condition."

The scientist nodded, and walked over to a cabinet, taking out another needle, this one filled with a bright green substance.

"What's that?" Sam asked. Zimmers glared at her, but replied anyway.

"It's raw ectoplasm." He growled. "Phantom's system keeps fighting the impurities in his blood after all these years. In order to keep him alive we have to add more every so often to replace what's been destroyed."

The girl watched in horror as the scientists picked a spot on the boy's other arm and poked the long needle inside. Phantom gritted his teeth as the thick green liquid entered his system. Zimmers grinned in satisfaction walking over to another cabinet and taking out a small black device.

"Let him up. We're almost done here."

Phantom sat up as the restraints pulled back. Sam half expected him to jump and run away, but he stayed still. Zimmers handed him the device, and sneered.

"A new ear piece. This is the fifth one you've had, right?"

The boy said nothing as he fastened the thing skillfully into his ear, turning his gaze to his monitor. An elite approached, holding a black shirt in their hands. Zimmer took it, and handed it to Phantom as well.

"To hide your scars." The man said flatly. The boy slipped the shirt over his head, letting it hang loosely around his frame. The Black mask in the room handed Zimmers a note, stepping back.

"He's ready." The man murmured, pushing Phantom roughly from the table. The boy struggled to keep his balance, as Zimmers forced him from the room.

"You too." The man snarled, glaring at Sam. The girl was taken by surprise for a moment, before she ran after them...