*cries because chapters are slowly getting shorter* Sorry about the wait, assuming you're still reading this. Have fun!
Chapter 9: Always a Weakness
"Everyone has their weak spot. The one thing that, despite your best efforts, will always bring you to your knees, regardless of how strong you are otherwise."
-Sara Dessen
"Do you want to know a secret?" Clockwork heard the soft whisper in his ear causing him to morph into a middle aged ghost. He turned to see Najla floating besides him.
"A secret I don't already know?" He raised an eyebrow.
"That's because it's outside of time." She responded in a tempting voice to capture his full attention.
"I'm waiting." He changed into an old man and eyed her curiously.
"I-" she walked around his private liar nonchalantly, picking up objects to examine them in pretend fascination. "-happened to return from a meeting with the council. The Observants brought up an interesting accusation."
"What did they say about me?" Clockwork rolled his eyes.
"Well, maybe if you'd actually attend the meetings once in awhile, you would be there to defend yourself." The grim reaper crossed her arms.
"But that's what I have you for." He morphed into a young child. "So tell me, what happened?"
She rested her hand on her palm and sighed. "They know it was you who released all the relics: the gems, the power source...the reality gauntlet."
"And? I helped make the reality gauntlet. It partially belongs to me." Clockwork shrugged it off. He needed them for his plans. Everything seemed to be falling perfectly together.
"Not to worry. The council granted you control over whatever you are scheming, much to the dismay of the Observants." She eased his conscious. "But you won't be in their favor for long."
Clockwork glanced over his portals, changing into a middle aged man. "I hope I can pull this off."
"Me too. Lately, you've had a track record for plans gone horribly wrong." She retorted from her position on top of the clock tower.
"Don't you have some poor souls to be reaping?" He remarked with a condescending voice.
"You know the thing about a day off is that you actually have to take the day off." Pamela stepped out into the balcony of the cabin tucked away into the mountains. It was a small two story building completed with a view of a lake where the children were currently playing. They only brought a few ghosts with them for protection and service.
Vlad grunted and scooted over on the lounge chair to make space for his wife. "Can't you tell I'm enjoying myself."
She sat down lightly, peeking at the notebook he was writing on. In his hands were papers from the file they retrieved at the abandoned apartment building. "Oh." He was attempting to perfect the scientists data to cure himself. "Any luck?"
"If his handwriting were more legible." Frustrated, he closed the book at threw it on the table next to him. He watched the small frames of Sammy and Luz playing near the lake while grabbing a cigarette from the drawer. Pam frowned. Vlad only smoked once in a blue moon when he was absolutely stressed.
Leaning on the balcony, he stood in thought for a few seconds while lighting the cigarette with his powers. "I was thinking-"
"-uh-oh." She laughed.
Vlad smiled and sat down next to her. "Funny, but this is serious."
"What if the reason certain people transform into ghost after they die is because they all have genes of ectoplasm descent."
"So what...everyone's related to ghosts?" She looked at him warily and took away the cigarette. "How many of these have you had?"
"I'm not joking. Frederick told me something interesting the other day. He said Pariah's lover was a human and her death caused his rampage, but what if they had intercourse beforehand. What if they're genes were compatible and they were able to successfully reproduce? They create a half-ghost introducing ectoplasmic genes into the future generations of the human race."
His response was a raised eyebrow and a confused expression. "What? You got this from a circus performer!"
"Just speculate with me, those people were among the first humans. It might have affected the gene pool-"
"-Okay hold on." She pulled out a calculator and punched in estimated numbers. "That means approximately 1 in every 10 people must turn into ghosts after they die."
"Maybe not everyone. The just harness the potential. Perhaps only the ones who have some sort of eternal obsession activate the gene and become a spirit." He proposed.
Pamela sighed. "Fine. Let's assume you're, surprisingly, right. Why is this important?"
Vlad grinned excitedly and held her hands. "If I can find how part of me was changed into a ghost...I can figure how to change that part back."
She smiled and threw her around her husband. "I love you."
"I love you too."
Meanwhile, down below Sammy and Luz were enjoying their weekend. "I love the mountains. This is our first vacation in a while." The light ghost said as he threw a rock into the lake.
"Yeah, with the stupid war going on." She sighed. "I wish dad would let me fight. He let you."
Luz shook his head. "I didn't get to fight, he just used me to an entire squadron of Nerium's people. Water and electricity don't mix."
In the past year Vlad had found his investment in Luz had not been in vain. Luz was growing to be more powerful than adult ghosts. Plasmius knew when he grew, he would be just as strong as Crypt.
"But at least you got to see a battle." She thought about it for a second. "You think if I was a full ghost with actual powers, he'd let me?"
"He's just trying to protect you." He cheered her up while balancing himself on a log. "Besides what's that expression? Brain over brawn?" He jumped into the shallow part of the lake.
"Hey look! There's fish here!" Luz bend down to try to catch one.
"Yeah we're supposed to go fishing later, but catch and release." She warned.
"Why wait? Watch this!" He dropped to his knees on the lake and stuck his hands into the water. Bolts of electricity appeared wildly over his arms as he focused the energy into the lake. That portion of the water immediately ran rampant with sparks of light. Soon bodies of fish rose to the surface.
Sammy's eyes widened in horror at the mass onslaught of innocent animals. "Dad!" She screamed as she took off for the vacation house.
Luz quickly flew after her. "It's not true, Plasmius!
Dark wisps of smoke circled the room, covering the light trying to enter through the window. Crypt sat on his throne like chair, twirling a ball of light in between his fingers. "I could win the war easily, I just need to eliminate one man."
"Maybe we should just focus on finding a weakness." Suggested a close advisor.
"Ugh, if only I knew more about him. Who his parents were, who his family was, who his family is now. He came out of nowhere! I don't even know where he draws his powers from!" He slammed the light he was holding in his hand on the table. "I don't even know where his main home is located."
Crypt poured himself a drink. "He always has the element of surprise. Always a trick up his sleeve."
"A man like that has many secrets. I'm sure there's at least one we could use as leverage." An older ghost responded. "We just need to grab a hold of."
As fate would have it, their moment of opportunity appeared in the most timely, convenient and ironic of manners. A loud knock at the door captured their attention. A guard in uniform opened the door once Crypt acknowledged him. He entered, dragging a green girl wearing a red cloak. Crypt raised an eyebrow at the girl as he leaned back into his table. "Who is she?"
"She was apparently captured as a slave but escaped, sir. She turned herself in at the gates requesting to speak to you." He explained.
Lydia breathed heavily with hidden fear. Trying to focus on Crypt who poured himself another drink, she ignored the other dozen eyes in the room that were focused on her, eyeing her with various emotions. This was a huge risk on her part but... she had to take it!
"So," the leader started, taking a gulp, "a slave came back. Either you're a masochist or you have a proposal."
"You took something from me." She said slowly while staring into his eyes. Settling in her stomach was the familiar feeling of nervousness. "When I was captured, they stripped me of my belongings including a red jewel. I would like it back."
Her demand was met with suspenseful silence while Crypt stared at her curiously. He reached behind his desk to open a drawer. Pulling out a ruby, the shadow ghost raised an eyebrow. "This?"
Lydia's eyes widened as she unconsciously took a step forward as if to grab it. He eyed it in disinterest. "Doesn't seem to be worth much. And I feel no power from it. Why would you risk your life trying to retrieve this ruby?"
"It was my masters before he died. Its only worth in sentimental value." She frowned. Lydia didn't like the idea of her master's prized possession being held in his hands.
Crypt suddenly laughed. "I don't care if it was a speck of dust you're trying to barter back. Take her away." He waved her off.
"No wait!" Lydia tried to break free from the man's grasp. "Wait! I have something of value to trade! I met Plasmius-!"
The second the name left her mouth, his eyes widened and, in a flash, he was standing over her. Steeping back, Crypt's guard let go leaving Lydia under the shadow ghost's towering frame. He held on to her collar and pulled her closer. "Everyone leave."
Exiting quickly, in a matter of seconds they were alone in the same threatening position. Lydia forced herself to make eye contact with his sulken terrifying eyes. "That better not have been an empty promise, for your sake."
Her panic-struck voice responded quickly. "No, I was um...captured by Plasmius after I escaped. He offered me a deal... and I stayed at his place. I-I'll exchange you any information for my freedom and the jewel." Her eyes watered slightly as he seemed to be tightening his grip on her.
"I don't want just any information. If you can't provide me with what I want I'll kill you right now." She released a sharp gasp. "You have one minute to tell me Plasmius' weakness."
Lydia began to tremble as her voice tried to form words. "He has a Jewel for the reality guantlet. and... he..He has a daughter!"
Absolute surprise took over Crypt face as he dropped the girl. She took heavy breaths as he stared at her in disbelief. "What do you mean he has a daughter?"
"She's young -maybe ten years- hardly anyone knows about her because he's protecting her." She quickly said.
"What kind of ghost is she?" He asked with growing interest.
"She's not. Plasmius said she was a half-ghost. He has a human lover, but that's all I know!" She cringed hoping it was enough information.
"I knew it!" Crypt laughed as he threw her the red jewel to which she barely caught. "Ha! That's why he's so protective of them! Because a little human stole his heart. A www, how sweet." Crypt shook his head. "I can't believe this!"
He looked at Lydia with praise. "I'll tell you what: tell me his lover's current location and I'll let you go."
She stared at him with a guilty expression. "I know where you can find the daughter."
"Hey what's that?" Vlad leaned over the coach to watch his daughter draw. It was already dark out
Luz answered. "She's drawing my insignia. Look." On her sketch pads were various versions of the same idea and certain other symbols: a scythe in front of a crescent moon for Crypt, a trident for Narium, a red flame for Plasmius, the GIW logo for the guys in white and finally a bat, the symbol for Freakshows faction.
She seemed to take a fascination with him, that a full human could own so many ghosts. Of course, they weren't aware of his hypnotism. In the middle was a sun, the rays flaming off from the center in an extravagant pattern.
Plasmius nodded. "It looks amazing Sammy, you should have designed my insignia."
"What do you mean, Plasmius, the red flame looks really cool!" Luz assured him. "It looks like you put a lot of effort making it."
Pamela laughed. "He was under a lot of pressur when he introduced it because he barely started the faction and was expected to already have one."
Vlad grinned as he walked behind her on the coach and hugged her from behind. "I believe the flame was your idea, my dear."
"You're welcome." She kissed him on the check. "If it wasn't for me, you would have done something stupid."
Luz looked at his insignia proudly. "Cool! Can I get it tattooed?"
Plasmius nodded until he heard Pamela say "Absolutely not," causing him to shake his head. "But Lydia has tattoos! And so does Johnny!
"Who?" Pamela asked.
"He's the new prisoner, but he's actually a good mechanic." Sammy explained to her mom. "He's really cool."
"Kitty thinks so." Luz said to Sammy causing them to chuckle.
Vlad frowned. "If he wasn't such an excellent mechanic, I'd lock him up. Roden doesn't appreciate his newfound friendship with Kitty."
"Phone call." Sammy yelled knowingly. Vlad reached into his pocket to pull out his cell. A few seconds later, the call came. "Finally a good use for your powers." Luz teased causing her to punch him
"Yes?" Vlad answered. His face melded into confusion as he shook his head. "Hold on, speak clearer.
"Damn it Widget, vacation! Va-ca-tion! That means you don't call me for every single thing!" Vlad walked around the room. "I don't care what Roden said! Fine, put him on the phone."
"You're joking. I'll be right there." Pamela turned around immediately. "Where are you going?"
He morphed into his alter ego as he met his wife. "Something odd occurring in a territory. It might be a gem." Kissing her, he assured her worried expression. "Relax, I'll be right back."
Vlad kissed Sammy on the head and ruffled Luz' hair. "I'll be back."
"Wait dad! Where are you going?" She asked.
"Just to check out some activity on an island." His explanation was met with a disappointed face. He was supposed to spend the entire weekend with them. Sighing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a chess piece. "I promise it won't take long." Sammy caught the king as he closed the door.
"He always says that."
"Okay you brought me out here. Make my effort worthwhile." Plasmius crossed his arms. The second he saw his leader and friend, Roden stepped off his horse to greet him. In the Ghost Zone, it was daytime.
"Oh, I think you'll find it to be." Roden answered. A squeal sounded from behind them. Vlad turned around to see a Griffin flying towards a tree at top speeds. "USELESS! RIGHT! RIGHT! THAT'S LEFT YOU IDIOT!"
Both men cringed as they watched him crash into the tree. "You actually got Widget to leave the mansion?"
"A huge mistake, I'm aware of now." They watched in amusement as the ghost tried to climb down from the tree.
"That's his first time flying it, isn't it?" Plasmius rhetorically asked.
"Ughh, I shouldn't have come!" Widget stalked over to them with his Griffin close behind. "Go away Useless!" The pet whimpered as he offered the piece of clothing in his mouth to his master, Widget narrowed his eyes and snatched his cape from the griffin's mouth.
He stood up straight and greeted Vlad. "Eww. Outdoors!" He exclaimed as he jumped off a puddle of mud.
"I didn't journey out here to discuss your lack of testosterone." Plasmius retorted. "Where's the gem."
"Hmp." Widget strapped his purple cape on and walked towards a crater. "The sensor says it picked up traces here. Gem of life."
"It has one thing right." Their mouths opened in awe as they stared down at the crater. Below was flowers and mushrooms walking about and talking to each other. It was a strange sight that seemed pulled out of a children's movie. Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm still drunk."
"Hmmm….somethings weird." Widget checked his scanner. "There's no sign of the gem. I'm pretty sure someone took it before us."
"That impossible. Then how are these...flowers still ..alive." Vlad asked, still wary of the fact that the plants were animated.
"Umm, Maybe it has long lasting effects. It'll probably wear off after a few minute. I don't know." The ghosts walked around the area. "But the question is who got the gem?"
Widget accidentely stepped on a small flower crushing the poor thing to pieces. Suddenly, the little creatures ran up to him with little battle cries. Not quite sure of the possible damage flowers had, Widget quickly made a run for it. Plasmius rolled his eyes. He was sure lucky he was a computer genius.
He ran into the woods with a long string of flowers following him. The computer ghost tripped on a root allowing for the attackers to climb on top of him. "Aghhhhhhh! Vlad!"
"Oi!" Widget looked up into the tree to see ghost birds with a strange accent. "Quit it with your screaming! I can hardly hear myself thinking!"
Roden caught up to the young adult and shooed away the flowers with his ectoplasm sword. Widget thanked him and stood while Vlad approached them. Looking up at the trees, he addressed the vultures. "You three? Did you see any other people in this area before us? Perhaps carrying a gem or something of the sort?"
"What do we look like?" Answered another green vulture. "Customer service associates?
Vlad narrowed his eyes at being blown off but his anger passed once another vulture answered. "Don't mind him. Yeah, there were a few creepos in suits with white masks. In fact I think they're still here."
All three widened their eyes. "What?!"
A green laser whisked towards them with barely enough time to duck. "They are still here!" Plasmius looked up at the birds from behind a rock. "You think maybe you could have told us that before!"
"Wasn't our problem." The vultures shrugged as the three ran for cover. Two squadrons of about 30 men in heavy hazmat suits made their way towards Plasmius. The Ghost Zone was different than the human world. Here, they had a little more of an advantage. The halfa motioned for Roden to take Widget somewhere safe.
"What about you?" Roden asked.
"I'll fight them off." He peeked over the rock. "Shouldn't be too hard."
Roden nodded and led Widget into the tress away from the open space that would soon be a battle field. Useless tried to follow his master only to be pulled back by Vlad. "Oh no, you're staying with me." He examined the animal closely. "What can you do?"
Meanwhile a few feet away, the head supervisor of the GIW and Laura Gray stood in a little tent observing the jewel. "I can't believe we actually found the gem!" Mrs. Gray said.
Agent J observed it closely. "Yes, finally Narium provided us with something useful."
"Sir!" An agent ran into the white tent. He held up a cage of three ghost vultures. "We caught these three near the forest."
"Help us!" The birds yelled out to the halfa they encountered before. "Ve know you're out here!"
Agent J hit the cage. "Shut up. Since we know you're intelligent birds, you're due for tons of painful expiriemnts!" The birds gulped as he covered their cage with a giant cloth.
Quickly, another agent ran in. "Another ghost was spotted nearby! More powerful!"
Despite his urgent tone, none of them seemed to fazed or worried for the matter. "Just use the new weapon we designed. Now will be the best opportunity to see if it works." Two agent opened the hefty brief laying in the middle of the room. Allying with Narium allowing for the GIW to study ghosts closely and create new weapons. Anti-Ghost technology had finally advanced as Plasmius would soon find out.
The ground agents assumed it was a just a regular ghost they were pursuing that is until Plasmius began to fight. "This is too easy." the halfa thought. Attacking from the air, he easily batted away their ecto-guns and defended himself without difficulty.
"Let's finish this." Vlad announced.
He took ahold of his cape and began to spin in the air. Agent J and Laura stepped outside the tent just in time to see a redish tonardo wreak havoc among the GIW agents. Laura gasped. Suddenly, they all realized who the enemy was: Vlad Plasmius.
The strong winds and dangerous human tornado stopped leaving Plasmius standing in the center surrounded by bodies laying on the ground. The halfa looked around. Admiring his work, descended to the ground. Now for the gem.
"Freeze!" Plasmius watched as every agent inside the white tent surround him. He came face to face with the director of GIW and the head analyst.
Little did they know, Useless was sneaking behind them into the empty tent to recapture the jewel. All Plasmius needed to do was distract them.
Plasmius raised an eyebrow. "You do realize I can fly?"
Laura stared, amazed, at the leader. She'd never seen him in person. Even with their secret weapon, she still felt threatened. Here he was, surrounded, by a dozen deadly men and he still acted as if he had the upper hand.
Agent J just smiled and flipped a switch on their weapon. "We'll see about that."
Suddenly, a green, yet clear, shield came over Vlad. The halfa stared at it in curiosity. First he tred to pass his hand towards it, only to find he couldn't. Creating a sphere of plasma, he shot it towards the wall. It still didn't break.
"Like it?" Agent J captured his attention. "It's a ghost shield."
He passed his hand harmlessly through the dome. "Extracted from ecto-uranium. You're not going anywhere."
Plasmius wondered how they even knew about ecto-Uranium! How has they managed to stay this far into the war? Oh well, he would have to figure it out later. For now, he needed to escape.
Laura stepped forward as Plasmius slowly started creating an energy blast causing the dust inside the dome to move around. "It's no use. No matter how powerful, you won't escape."
Plasmius observed her as if acknowledging her presence for the first time. "I know how ectoplasm-uranium works, my dear. Unfortunately for you..." He peered at her name tag, "...Laura Gray, I'm always one step ahead."
She tilted her head before he released the ball of energy creating a storm from the uplifted dirt. The agent ran inside dome in an attempt to secure the ghost, but it was no use. Vlad had used the storm to create a diversion. Inside he turned into a human, rolled out of the ghost shield and transformed back into a ghost under a second.
As the dust cloud died down, all the agents were holding on to each other, thinking they had captured Plasmius.
He called down to them. "Nice try Morons!"
Agent J looked up at him in anger. "How the hell did he escape?!"
"Check and mate." Plasmius yelled as the Griffin flew over their heads with a giant container blanketed with a white cloth in his mouth. "Better luck next time." He laughed as he hopped unto Useless and took off.
Agent J let out a string of curse words while Laura just watched him take off. He truly lived up to his reputation. Always a trick up his sleeve.
Useless landed with ease in the middle of a small clearing. Plasmius hopped off and petted the animal. "That was great! You finally did something right!"
He wagged his tail happily as Plasmius took the handle of the container from his mouth. "Oh, it's kind of heavy and bigger than expected." He set the giant container on the ground. "They probably expected the jewel to be difficult to contain."
Unexpectedly, the cage started to move. Vlad furrowed his eyebrows and removed the blanket. To their absolute surprise, the jewel wasn't there, but instead three vultures.
"Ve are in your e-ternal servitude. Thank you for saving us." One of them said while the other two bowed.
But their gesture didn't seem appreciated by Plasmius, whose eyes were glowing a darker red than usual. He turned to the griffin in fury. "You got the wrong container, you useless pigeon!"
The griffin whimpered and walked away as Widget and Roden ran into the clearing. "Plasmius, what happened?"
Plasmius thrust a finger to the Griffin. "He had one job and he wasn't even capable of that!"
Widget embraced Useless. The Griffin hid behind him to escape Plasmius' wrath. "It's not his fault. He probably misunderstood you!"
"Ughh!" Plasmius stomped away from them before he destroyed something. "I was this close to getting another gem and look what happened! I get stuck with three birds instead." He kicked the cage over unintentionally allowing the birds to escape.
"Hey! We could be of some use, master." One of them said.
The halfa glared at them. "Don't call me that! I'm not taking you in! Go away!"
Roden tried to calm his friend down. "Plasmius, now that we know the Guys in White have the gem, it's just a simple attack to retrieve it. We've done it before."
He calmed down a little. "I don't think it'll be that simple. They're inventing new weapons. They have an anti ghost shield. I need to find their supplier…"
"Ve could help! Ve've been alive for thousands of years!" A vulture flew next to him.
"I said to go away- wait. Thousands of years?" Plasmius inquired. They nodded. "So you were there when Pariah Dark was king?"
"Ve vere apart of his royal guard!" A vulture boasted.
Plasmius grinned. "Perhaps there is something you could assist with."
"Oh look another one." Luz pointed to the shooting star that sprinted across the sky.
The duo were laying on a patch of grass near the house looking up at the stars. Sammy's father hadn't come back yet and her mother was busy with some formula Vlad had left her to study. Maybe free time with her family hasn't turned out the way she hoped but at least her best friend was still there.
"This is cool." Sammy commented. Suddenly, she started laughing.
He arched an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"
"If mom finds outs you got a tattoo, she's going to kill you." Luz took off his coat, exposing his naked soldier blades. On one side of his back was a sun and on the other was Plasmius' symbol. "Actually, I have two."
"Well, she'll kill you twice." They laughed knowing he'll be fine as long as Vlad intervened.
"Luz!" Pamela's loud call echoed throughout the forest. At the sound, the light ghost cringed. "Oh no."
He got up to peer at the house, but couldn't see her facial expression. "I'll be back..." He assured Sammy before running off into the direction of the house. She just watched in amusement then returned her attention to the sky.
Here she was...alone. She didn't like the feeling. All Sammy wanted was her family together instead of this war. Her father, her mother, Luz, even Widget and Skulker. It was a scary thought that one day, she would have to run the faction. Sammy always became both excited and nervous at the thought.
A rustle in the bushes awoke her from her thoughts. Her purple eyes scanned the scene with growing fear. "Hello?"
Curious, she slowly walked to the bush while mentally scanning the area.
The minute she used her powers, her body froze before turning to run back towards the house. "MO-!" A ghostly hand clamped over her mouth before she could scream. Sammy kicked furiously, trying to escape the attackers grasp only. If only she had regular ghost powers! But what really terrified her was when she searched her mind for options, only to find there were none.
That horrific realization lingered in her mind as the ghost placed a glowing green cloth over her mouth, drifting her into oblivion.
I just...nope..I have no idea what I'm doing wth my life. Who has time to write a freaking forty chapter conspiracy story about a 2004-2007 cartoon show?! But, hey, you're the one reading it.
So yeah, Sam *coughs* Sammy gets kidnapped, Crypt's a drama queen, the guys in white are idiots, Clockwork's plotting and Vlad's trying to cure himself and whatnot.
Anyway, hope you liked the chapter. If you did, please review! They brighten my spirits. If you didn't, please review. They brighten my spirits.