Vlad wasn't the least bit surprised when he heard he had a visitor. With all that has happened since Daniel's last visit, it was a wonder the boy hadn't come back sooner. Against the advice of his attorneys, who were there to consult him in the upcoming trial, Vlad chose to see his visitor. He was more than capable of handling himself.

When the guards led him into the room, he was disappointed and perhaps a little intrigued. Instead of Daniel, his visitor was his old pawn. He had kept tabs on Captain Gray along with the Fentons, but he had not seen her in person since his return to Earth until now. It was one thing to see a photograph in a newspaper or a video feed from his surveillance bugs, but seeing her in the flesh was somehow a greater confirmation that she wasn't the teenager he had groomed into a ruthless ghost hunter and unwitting spy so long ago. Seeing others grow older is strange when you yourself couldn't age.

She was leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the table. Her eyes were towards the barred windows for only a moment before darting straight at him. Never had he seen her direct so much hatred towards anyone before now, it was almost intimidating.

Almost.

Vlad returned the glare with a warm smile. They always hated it when he acted like they were friends, if they weren't scared to be in the same room as him. On cue, the glare turned into a sneer. She may not be Daniel, but he'll certainly have some fun with this visit.

Valerie didn't detach herself from the wall until he was secured to the table and the guards had left the room. He could tell by the way they exchanged looks that the guards were nervous about the whole thing, but what did they expect would happen? Were they afraid he was going to somehow break through his restraints and attack Ms. Gray? Or were they worried that she was going to do something to him? That would be interesting, being able to push her so far that she was willing to throw away her career and try to kill him on the spot.

"Ms. Gray," he greeted, the smile still tacked to his face, "what a surprise to see you after all these years. What brings you all this way to see me?"

Without a word, she pulled an evidence bag out of her coat pocket and dropped it onto the table, making a loud thud. The plastic of the bag was crinkled, but he could still make out the shape of the music box inside. Vlad did his best not to smile when he saw it.

"Is that an antique? How charming! I haven't seen one of these since I was a boy. Where did you get it?"

"Cut the crap, Masters." Valerie said. She pulled the chair in front of her and flipped it so the back was facing the table. She straddled the chair and leaned against the back.

"You sent that to Ophelia."

"And how could I have possibly done that? They monitor all communications I make within these walls, aside from correspondents to my attorneys. And it's not like I can fly through these walls and hand it to her, at least not anymore." He tugged at the chains, bringing emphasis to the inhibitor cuffs around his wrists.

"You always find a way."

"Is that the only evidence you have? 'You always find a way'? I would've expected more from the Commanding Officer of GHCU. No wonder Amity Park has such a high crime rate."

Valerie's fingers curled tighter around the back of the chair. Her face stayed the same, but he knew the hatred was bubbling beneath the surface.

"What exactly do you have to gain by intimidating Ophelia? She wasn't planning on testifying anyway, and when I do prove that you sent it not only will it jeopardize your case but you'll get charged with obstruction along with it."

"If I were to have sent that to Ophelia, I suppose I would've sent it to let her know I'm thinking of her. I haven't seen the dear girl since my arrest. I haven't heard a thing about her nor has there been any attempt in her coming to visit me. Don't you send gifts to your children when you can see them?"

Valerie sneered when he mentioned her children. Vlad's smile grew wider.
"I am getting the impression that you're not really hear concerning Ophelia's safety."

"You're impression is wrong," Valerie clipped.

"I believe I heard some somewhere that your ex-husband moved back into town.

How is that? It must be nice to see your children after such a long time of them living in another state. Or perhaps not, honestly I don't see you as much of a mother."

"You do not get to talk about my children at all. This is about you-"

"No I believe this is about you. If this is really about an intimidation charge you wouldn't have come here without at least one piece of solid evidence. You're here because something hit a nerve and you think I'm responsible. Now as we both are very busy, how about we skip this little show and dance of yours and you tell me what you're really here about."
"I'm here because you triggered my goddaughter and got her sent into the hospital for the second time this month."

"Oh please, if you were so concerned about what I did to the Fentons you would've visited me as soon as I was arrested." He smirked knowingly, "Did something happen to your children?"

"I said you don't get to talk about my kids!"

There's the nerve.

"So this is about your children. What exactly have I done? Did I offer Martha candy from the back of a van?"

"Don't act dumb, you know exactly what you did. My baby wasn't even born when you came back to Earth. She has one nothing to you, she barely even knows who you are."

"Perhaps if you spent less time on your jet sled and more time with your children like a real mother, there wouldn't be any chance for anyone to do whatever you think I've done."

Valerie remained tense, but tried to hide it by cracking a smile. Vlad wondered how many people she has interrogated in her career, and if any of them had ever gotten under her skin as well as he has.

"I don't believe you should be one to judge on other people's parenting skills. The only thing you had close to your own child you tried to melt."

Vlad shrugged.

"Danielle's nothing more than a walking glob of ooze. How she has made it this far without completely falling apart remains a mystery to me."

"Not that you have made any effort to figure it out."

Vlad would've propped his head up were his hands not chained to the table, so instead he conveyed his boredom by slouching back into his chair as far as he could go.

"So is this why you came to visit? Accuse me of a crime with no evidence? Trying to make me care for a failed experiment? Do you hate being around your children so much that you have to waste other people's time just to avoid them?"

As quick as a blink of an eye, Valerie got up from her chair and flung it behind her. The woman has watched too many cop shows, he thought.

"Don't you dare talk about my kids, Plasmius, and don't you even think about coming near them. If I ever catch you or your little minions even so much as breathe in their direction I'll-"

"You'll what, Valerie? I'm already in prison and expecting a long, hard sentence ahead of me. Anything else you do will be at a great risk to your career, which you've worked so hard to achieve. We both know that you wouldn't risk it for anything, not even for those delightful children of yours."

He could see it sink in, softening her anger. She knew he was right, though she wasn't going to admit it. She must hate herself for it, more than she hated him that was for certain. It was hard to believe she was the girl he had hand picked to chase Daniel around. It was actually disappointing seeing how easily it was to break her.

Once again, she tried to mask her frustration, keeping that glare as if to burn a hole in his head.

"Don't assume anything about me. I would give anything for my kids. I'd do anything to keep them out of your hands."

"I'm sure you would," he said in a tone that was not convinced. With a yawn, he added, "If that is all you have to say then I think it is about time to end our little visit. My trial is tomorrow, after all, and I believe we both have much to prepare for it."
He called for the guards, who immediately entered. They led him out of the room, leaving Valerie standing there looking flustered. Vlad couldn't help but smile then.
It was nice to see people other than his lawyers, even if it wasn't whom he had hoped for.

After weeks of selecting the jury, finding an unbiased judge and setting a suitable date, the day had come for the trial of the century to begin. Already the day was starting well for him when he got to change out of the drab prison uniform and into the tailored black suits he was accustomed to. He had to keep on an inhibitor cuff, sadly, though he couldn't blame them. He doubted he would trust anyone having his powers, even less with his reputation. If that reputation gave him any benefit, it was that he got his own private car to take him to the courthouse, as he was deemed too dangerous to ride with other prisoners.

"I still say we should get him glasses," said Lewis on the drive over to the courthouse. "It will help him look more vulnerable to the jury."

"Jeffery Dahmer wore glasses," said Lomax, not taking his eyes from his papers, "and besides it won't do him much good. Everyone already sees him as a monster, our case is to prove that the crime was committed by a different monster."

"Sure, sure," Lewis waved off dismissively, "But I think making him look more human will help compensate in case he does something less than sympathetic."

"What makes you think I would do anything to jeopardize my case?" Vlad said, offended at the suggestion.

"Well, there's the incident with the music box. Tell me, are you incapable of controlling yourself or do you like to make sure we earn our paychecks?"

Vlad smiled. He was glad he hired these attorneys. Although he felt he was more than capable defending himself, he knew it would at the very least help his image hiring a professional to handle his case. He made sure to get the best money could buy.

He knew William Lomax from his days back before he blew his cover. Originally, he worked for Vlad as a corporate lawyer, but since then he has branched out and founded his own firm that mainly acted as criminal defense for the one percent. Kevin Lewis was hired into the firm as a favor to his father, an old friend of Lomax. It didn't take long for talents to show and he earned enough interest in Lomax to become his protégé and, maybe one day, partner. The two together were the most crafty and shrewd legal team around, winning more cases than anyone in the Great Lakes Area. Vlad could not have picked a better defense.

"That's enough, Kevin," said Lomax, "I told you not to talk back to the client." Turning to Vlad, he said, "He does have a point, Mr. Masters. You got really lucky, the only evidence that connected you to that box is circumstantial at best, otherwise you would be looking at an intimidation charge. But you can't afford to pull stunts like that again. When you get into the courtroom you have to be on your best behavior. Don't even so much as smile in anyone's direction. I know you can act like a civil human being, I was there when you had to deal with lawsuits."

"I remember," said Vlad. The lawsuits were partly why he hired Lomax. He settled and won so many cases Vlad hardly ever needed to give the other side a non-corporeal push.

"Good. Hopefully you remember to let Kevin and me do all the talking. Whatever you say needs to go through us first."

"Of course."

"And whatever you do," Lewis interjected, "do not go near the Fentons."

"You're not supposed to interact with any of the witnesses, anyway." Said Lomax.
"But especially not them," said Lewis, with a sternness that contradicted his smiling features. "You may think you can control yourself, but even looking at them could be construed as intimidation with your history. I've done my homework on the prosecution, the only other ADA with a conviction rate that meets hers, let alone tops it, is Sam Manson."

"I understand perfectly well, young man," said Vlad, becoming more and more annoyed with Lewis' patronizing.

"And I'll add one more thing," interjected Lomax, taking a peak out of the window. "You cannot speak to anyone from the press, either."

Vlad and Lewis both followed Lomax's eye out the window. They were approaching the front of the courthouse, and every inch of it wrapping around to the end of the block was covered with people. They first passed the waves of the people holding up signs calling him a murderer and a monster and a mutant. The only thing more colorful than the words on the signs were the one coming from the mouths of the people holding those signs when they spotted Masters inside the car. A wall of police officers kept them from getting too close.

"You can see why it took so long to select a jury," said Lewis.
Vlad raised an eyebrow to the scene.

"It's not as big a crowd as I expected," Vlad said with an honest and factual voice.

Lewis looked at him like a madman.
"Are you disappointed that there's not a 'Death to Plasmius' parade running across the city?"

Vlad's face darkened. He wished that he didn't have the inhibitors on him so he could properly correct the young attorney's attitude.

"No, but I did expect something a little bigger I mean after all, I held the world ransom not too long ago."

That day brought him so much shame but it should at least get the attention and memory it deserves.

"Well then, you should see the comments online. Do you know what the term 'flame' means? Not to mention the digital petition to make an exception to the state's ban on the death penalty just for you."

"I actually want to look at that petition, I'm surprised people think I can die. Or rather, that I'm not dead already."

Following the protestors came the press. The flashes went off immediately and questions were flown at him before the car came to a stop in front of the courthouse. His attorneys had to remind him to hold back so they can get out of the car first, to act as shields against the reporters. Lomax offered him a hand to help him out of the car just so he can whisper into Vlad's ear, "No comment, to anyone." Vlad received it with a nod and a knowing smile.

The courtroom was barely quieter than outside, and much more crowded. The gallery was overflowing with onlookers and press. Whoever couldn't find a seat stood by a wall, wrapping all three in bodies. There were ghosts in the gallery as well, a good amount finding seats and the rest floating just above the rest. Vlad wondered how they were allowed to float since every last one of them was wearing an inhibitor as part of court policy. The officers must have foreseen the crowding and allowed the ghosts to use a limited amount of their power. Just like outside, the cameras started flashing the minute Vlad entered the courtroom, nearly blinding him.

When he made it to his seat he looked out to the gallery to see if he could find some familiar faces. He found Jasmine without any difficulty. It scared him how much she looked like her mother, he even thought he was looking at Maddie for a moment. Beside her was Danielle, who looked a bit nervous being there. She couldn't still be scared of her own creator, could she? Not a moment sooner than he thought that, the two caught him looking at them and met his eyes with dark glares. Danielle even flashed her eyes a bright green in her anger, or maybe it was her poor attempt to scare him, he wasn't very sure. More importantly, he didn't really care. He returned the glares with a friendly wave back, which seemed to aggravate them more.

Lewis caught his hand and pulled it down to the table.
"What did I just say?" he whispered harshly.

Sitting in the row behind them were three ghost women. The green-haired one Vlad recognized as the ghost Daniel and Samantha had as a nanny when Ophelia was younger. He recalled a time not too far back where he sent a ghost to…persuade the young woman to find employment elsewhere. He didn't hear back from said ghost for nearly twelve hours and when he did it was to send their resignation. Beside her was a much paler ghost with blue hair that flowed like a flame from her ponytail. He had the displeasure of learning about her through Skulker, in the not-rare-enough moments where the hunter thought Vlad was the kind of employer he could open up to about his pitiful love life. That one seemed to be the least happy to be here, keeping her arms crossed and eyes rolling between the glares she would give to her green-haired friend. And the third, the redhead on the end of the row, seemed the most comfortable in her courtroom-appropriate attire, and by far the most appealing. She appeared to be the eldest of the three, her age closer resembling his, give or take a few years. She was the only one of the trio to catch him looking, and lowered her sunglasses to give him a suggestive wink. That was all it took for him to remember her, placing a bitter frown on his face.

"Who's the redhead?" asked Lewis, his voice much less stern than before. Vlad could see he was already attracted to her.
"I wouldn't go near that one if I were you," suggested Vlad, "She'll eat you alive, and not at all in a pleasant way."

Lewis didn't seem to be at all dissuaded, but there was a little hesitation there. Vlad did his best not to roll his eyes. As long as kid gets him through the trial, he doesn't care whatever destructive path he wishes to go on afterwards.

His look around the gallery brought his eyes to the prosecution table. There sat ADA Natalie Fleming, standing in for "the People". Her hair, a dark red that could almost be mistaken for brown, was pulled back into a French twist. She wore enough make up to keep herself from looking tired or sickly with her pale skin, but not too much to give off an air of vanity (which apparently meant the freckles spattered on her cheeks went without concealer). She had forgone a skirt and wore a light grey pantsuit. Altogether, she looked quite boyish. For a case like his, he had assumed that there would be more than just one prosecutor. Either she thought it was enough of an open and shut case to handle herself or the other ADAs were too scared to put their names on this one. Those people were much smarter than Ms. Fleming, Vlad thought, the poor woman will never live this down.

Fleming took a glance over at his direction. She immediately grimaced and rolled her eyes away. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Lewis had made yet another flirtatious gesture at her.

"And you're worried about my behavior." Vlad grumbled.

Lewis smiled mischievously and shrugged.

"What can I say, I like redheads."

"As do I, but I don't go out of my way to stare at every last one, least of all when I have a job to do."

"He's right, Kevin," said Lomax, "it's best for all of us if you keep your eyes in your head and your thoughts to yourself."

Their conversation was interrupted when the bailiff entered the room.

"All rise," he called, and the whole room came to their feet. "The honorable Judge Laurel presiding."

The judge entered from the door behind the bench and stepped onto her seat. Her skin was the same coffee-dark shade as Lomax, which made her deep blue eyes pop. Beside the laughing lines, the judge's features were not one of a person who smiled often.

"You may be seated." Said Judge Laurel. The majority of the room that had seats returned to them. Ms. Fleming folded her hands neatly on her table, thumbs resting on top as if pushing a buzzer. "Are the parties ready to proceed?"

"The People are ready, Your Honor." said Fleming.

"As are the Defense, Your Honor," said Lomax.

"Very well," turning to the bailiff, she said, "Send in the jury."

The bailiff nodded and went to the door leading to the jury room. After a few moments, the bailiff returned and held the door open as the jury filed into their box. The weeks of arduous and meticulous selection resulted in twelve of the most diverse individuals to ever share a room. Two of these individuals were ghosts, one female "mortem" (a ghost with a known past life), and one male "manifest" (a ghost with no prior existence). Vlad wasn't sure about selecting the ghosts for the jury. They may not care about the affairs of the living, no more than a living person may care about matters of the supernatural, but there was one thing that all ghosts hold as a sacred and unbreakable law: the Christmas Truce. If they find any reason to believe that he had made any aggressions during a time of peace, they will condemn him with a guilty verdict then and there. Of course, he voiced this to his attorneys, but they were certain the two wouldn't cause any more trouble than the other jurors.

"The case of the People vs. Vladimir Masters, a.k.a. Vlad Plasmius, may begin, who will give the first opening statement?"
"We won't mind if the People spoke first, You Honor." Said Lomax.

Ms. Fleming shot a look at them that had just a hint of suspicion before rising from her seat and walking to the area in front of the jury box. The look of suspicion was replaced in abundance with a look of grief. She was silent, as if gathering the strength to speak.

"On December 24th, 2018, Daniel Fenton and Samantha Manson arrived at the residence of Jack and Madeline Fenton, Daniel's parents. They brought presents and their daughter, Ophelia Manson-Fenton." She paused to swallow a lump in her throat. "She was four years old.

"Later that night, Daniel and Samantha were called away in an urgent government matter, leaving their only child in the care of her loving grandparents. On December 25th, just after midnight, GZPD received a call complaining of a disturbance coming from the Fenton Works building. The responding officer found Jack and Madeline Fenton dead in their living room, their bodies broken by ghostly means, and their granddaughter nowhere to be found. When the child was finally located and rescued, she was almost dead, in a coma that she would not wake from for nearly four months, entangled in blood blossoms, the deadliest plant known to ghost-kind."

At the very words "blood blossoms" the two ghost jurors flinched as if stung by the plants at that very moment. The humans were no less affected by Ms. Fleming's tale.

"I apologize in advance, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, for what you will have to hear. To ensure justice for the victims, you will have to hear eye witness testimonies, see forensic evidence, all describing in detail how this man," She pointed to Vlad, a sharp and determined look in her eye, "Vladimir Masters, or as he likes to call himself, Vlad Plasmius, tortured and killed the elder Fentons and attempted to kill their granddaughter. It's a kind of story that will follow you throughout your existence. It'll jump at you from the shadows of your mind and not let go. I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone, or even hear about it. I have no choice but to ask you to endure through the details so you can decide for yourself whether or not Mr. Masters is not only capable of such a heinous act, but guilty of it beyond a reasonable doubt. You are given a heavy burden, and I thank you for choosing to bear it."

A sympathetic smile, a sniffle of restrained tears, and the speech was over. A bit dramatic, thought Vlad, but it seemed to have worked.

Once Fleming returned to her seat, Lomax rose from his.
"Beautiful words, Ms. Fleming, you must have been a poet in a past life," he said in a rather patronizing tone with a smile to match. He then turned to the jury and made his way to them. "We all know about Vlad Masters one way or another. He isn't painted in flattering light and frankly, he doesn't deserve much better. I worked for Mr. Masters for ten years before finding out his secret with the rest of the world. I can tell you, he was no better a person before I knew about his ghost half. You can call him a crook, I know I have, and you may even call him a villain without missing the mark, but call him a murderer and a child abuser? He has done many things in his lifetime, which he has freely confessed to and accepted all the consequences for, but murder is not one of them. The People are not wrong, you will have to endure the details of a most vicious crime, but is my client really to blame? Is there really any proof against him other than his unsavory reputation and the simple fact that he is half ghost? I am here because every man is entitled to a fair trial, even shady bastards like my client. I am here to say just because a man has committed some crimes doesn't mean you can convict him of all crime."

As expected, the jury didn't seem all that convinced in Lomax's statement. But Vlad could see, at least in a few of the jurors' faces, that the seed of doubt was resting comfortably within their minds. Maybe they were jumping to conclusions, the seed will tell them. Maybe it isn't as cut and dry as it seems on the media.

The trial is going at a good start.

"Call your first witness."

Ms. Fleming rose to her feet.

"The People call Captain Valarie Gray to the stand."

The doors to the courtroom open, and Valarie entered not a moment sooner. Ms. Gray has always made the effort to look professional, but today, as Vlad quietly noted, her appearance was much more strategic than all the other times she had to appear in court. She wore a simple ensemble of beige pants, a white blouse, and a brown jacket that didn't look too extravagant nor like something cheap she found in the bottom of her closet. It fit her well, though not enough to look tailored nor to show too much of her curves. Her hair, usually a free-hanging halo of fine curls, was somehow pulled back and tied into a nub. She had just enough make up on to look healthy but not too much to distract or make her seem vain. Vlad wondered if she had spent the whole ten years planning this outfit, making sure that everything was flawless along with the details of this case.

She swore in and took her seat at the stand, all without looking in Vlad's direction. Perhaps their little chat the other day rattled her cage a little bit. Or perhaps she didn't trust herself to look at him. He wasn't very sure, and honestly, he didn't really care.

"Please state your name and occupation for the court." Said Ms. Fleming.

"My name is Captain Valarie Gray," said Valarie, her voice steady with little emotion. "I am the commanding officer of the Ghost-Human Crimes Unit of Amity Park."

"And what is your relation to this case?"

"Aside from knowing the Fenton family since high school, I was the one who discovered the crime scene."

"Would you tell us the events occurring from the night of December 24th, 2018 to the following morning, as you recall them?"

"Yes," Valarie paused, to prepare herself for the testimony she had rehearsed since the very day she would describe. Her head was turned away from him, somewhere between the prosecution's table and the jury box.

"Admittedly, I wasn't even supposed to be on duty that night. I planned to take the night off to spend with my family. But when Tucker Foley, my then husband, told me that Plasmius may have returned to Earth, I felt nervous. I left my son with my father and went on patrol. At 12:15am, there was a complaint about noises coming from the Fenton residence. I was the first to respond to it. They gave me and my ex-husband keys to their house a long time ago, so when no one answered the door I used my copy to enter…."

A twinge of pain in her eyes, her breathing rate was noticeably faster. Interesting how a seasoned police office like herself could still be affected by death, even after ten years.

"What did you find when entering the Fenton residence?" asked Ms. Fleming when Valarie took too long to continue.
"The house had clear signs of a struggle. There were burns on the walls from, what I recognized from my experience in the force and as a ghost hunter before that, an spectral plasma ray – a ghost ray, in layman's terms."

"And what of the residents?"

"…Their bodies where in the living room, by the staircase. They were bent in places that suggested that several of their bones were broken. And then the blood…" Her whole body tensed as she grimaced, trying her best not to let herself cry in the middle of the courtroom. "There was a copious amount of blood, originating from holes burned through their chests from what I assumed to be ghost rays."

"Were you aware that there was someone else in the house with them?"

"Yes, Tucker told me when he, Danny and Sam left the house that their daughter, my goddaughter Ophelia, was left in the charge of Jack and Maddie. The moment I saw their bodies I went looking for her, but she was nowhere to be seen, even with the Fenton Specs – a visual device that allows ghost to be seen despite being invisible."

"What did you do then?"

"I called it into my precinct to begin investigation on the deaths. And then, after I regained some composure, I called my husband."

"Why did you call your husband?"

"Because I knew that Danny and Sam was with him and they needed to know."

"What happened after that?"

"I oversaw the forensics team until Danny, Sam and Tucker could make it to the house. Tucker used a program to trace the energy signatures of the ghosts or half-ghosts that had been inside the house recently. It was how we knew that the killer had taken Ophelia into the Ghost Zone. Danny used it to follow the trail to recover his daughter and rescue her from her abductor."

"And then what happened?"

"Danny left into the Ghost Zone, leaving Sam at the house with us. At around dawn, Christmas morning, there was a loud wail coming from the basement of the house. Sam ran down there, and Tucker and I followed after her. We found Danny in the basement, using his Ghostly Wail in the direction of the Fenton Portal II, which was then closed and destroyed. He was holding something in his arms, wrapped up in his winter coat. I didn't get to see what it was but I heard Sam screaming when she recognized her daughter wrapped up in the coat. We had little time to assess what had happened, as the house was crumbling around us, due to the force of the Ghostly Wail. Sam carried her daughter to the ambulance outside while Tucker and I carried the then unconscious Danny out. We made it just before the house collapsed in on itself. Tucker went with Danny in the ambulance truck while I stayed behind to assess the damages and ensure that everyone was accounted for."

"Do you have any suspects on who could have committed these crimes?"

"Yes, one."

It was then that Valarie turned to Vlad, shooting him a poisonous glare.

"We suspected, and have since suspected, Vladimir 'Plasmius' Masters to be responsible for the deaths of Jack and Madeline Fenton and for the abduction of Ophelia Fenton."

Without saying a word, it was decided that Lewis would cross-examine Ms. Gray. He started off by adjusting his tie, keeping his eyes on his papers as he does so.

"Ms. Gray, or would you rather be addressed as Captain Gray?"

"Captain, please, I've worked hard for that title."

"Captain Gray, what is your relation to my client?"

Valarie's eyes narrowed at Vlad.

"'Relation' isn't exactly the right word to describe it. He took advantage of me as a teenager during a vulnerable time and groomed me into a ghost hunter. All so he could use me to spy on Danny."

"So I'm guessing that there isn't good blood between you and Mr. Masters?"

"I doubt there is 'good blood' between anyone and Masters, not anymore. If you are insinuating that my past with him might conflict with my professionalism then you are mistaken."

"I'm not insinuating anything, Captain Gray, I am only asking questions. Is it true that you are on probation for a case that lead to the escape of Pariah Dark?"

"Objection," Fleming said, shooting up to her feet. "Relevance."

"It goes to credibility of the witness, Your Honor."

"Objection sustained, find your credibility somewhere else, Counselor."

Lewis gave a tight-lipped smile.

"Alright, Captain Gray, you never actually saw my client at all that night, did you?"

"No, I did not."

"So how did you know that he was there at all?"

"As I mentioned, Tucker's program found his ecto-signature in the house which Danny used to lead straight to him and where he was holding Ophelia."

"And you know this because Danny told you that's what happened?"

"Yes, I don't see a reason why he would lie about that."

"Just because you don't see a reason doesn't mean he wouldn't, Captain."

"Objection!"

"Withdrawn," he waved dismissively in Fleming's direction.

"You said that you were supposed to be off duty that night but hearing that Plasmius was back made you go back on, why is that?"

"I was worried that he might do something, and I was right?"

"Don't you think it's a little too coincidental that he happened to commit a crime right when you were on duty? I mean, the Fentons have so many other ghostly enemies, did you even consider them?"

"I did, but this incident better fits Vlad's MO and motive."

"How so?"

"Most of Danny's ghostly enemies attack Danny directly and only go after the family if they get in the way. Vlad is known to have a vendetta against Jack and an obsessive interest towards Maddie. The attack seemed to be directed towards them just as much as it would be payback for Danny."

"So other than Danny's account and your ex-husband's program, the only reason my client is suspected of this crime is because you assume he is?"

"An officer of the Law does not 'assume'-"

"What about a woman with a grudge? Like you said, he took advantage of you when you were a kid. He made you into a ghost hunter why? Because he wanted to spy on some kid that you wouldn't have had anything to do with otherwise. You can't tell me you're not a little angry. You can't tell me that you wouldn't want to get even with him if you were given the chance."

"I already told you, I don't let my own personal issues get in the way of my professionalism. If I thought I couldn't get past my personal feelings towards Masters, I would've dismissed myself from the case."

Lewis smirked and walked back to his table, snatching a folder laid out in front of his empty chair.

"You mean like how the Commanding Officer at the time asked you to do, twice, within a year of the incident?"

Valarie hardly flinched at the question. She must have anticipated this, Vlad thought, but did she prepare enough for this?

"That was due to a family issue. My husband and I were separating and proceeding for a divorce."

"And I assume your ex-husband was concerned about you becoming too involved in the case, just like your C.O. was."

A flustered look broke through her otherwise neutral façade.

"My personal life has nothing to do with this case-"

"I would argue that your personal life is this case. Ophelia is your goddaughter, right? Danny and Sam are your friends and godparents to your children. In fact, you took your son to Fenton Works frequently prior to the incident. Is that correct?"

"Yes"

"I bet if they gave you a story, then you would trust them and run with the story even if your instincts told you otherwise."
"Objection!"
"And since you hate Plasmius so much, more than everyone else, if you hear he's involved in it somehow you wouldn't think twice about it and made sure all the pieces fit."

"Objection!"

"As long as you don't know or see anything to the contrary you're perfectly fine with running with a case that you know deep down is on shaky ground-"

"Your Honor!"

"That is enough, Counselor!" Said the judge, followed by a bang on her gavel. "The jury is to disregard Mr. Lewis' questioning. Counselor Lewis, are there any questions you have for Captain Gray that doesn't undermine her integrity as a police officer?"
"I do, Your Honor, if you may permit me to ask them."

"You may, but tread carefully Counselor."

Lewis smiled and nodded to the judge in thanks before turning back to Valarie.

"Captain Gray, you have worked with Danny Phantom for quite some time now, is that correct?"

"We've been working as agents of the law for nearly fifteen years now, and have fought ghostly offenders before that."

"So it could be safe to assume that you know Mr. Phantom rather well. In your opinion, do you believe that Mr. Phantom is…reckless, when it comes to his crime-fighting?"

Valarie tensed, Vlad smiled. She didn't want to say anything that would in any way harm the case, but she did not want to perjure herself so blatantly either. She was stuck, and she knew it.

"I have to admit that Danny Phantom, at times, can cause more damage than a police officer would. But you must understand, he has had no official training in law enforcement, he never really learned-"

Lewis was quick to cut her off, earning him a cold glare from the witness stand.

"More damage in what way, Captain?"

"Mainly property damage."

"Has there ever been any complaints from suspects about Mr. Phantom using excessive force to apprehend them?"

"Yes, but everyone in the force gets at least one complaint. Suspects sometimes make false claims in hopes that it will benefit their case in trial."

"That's true, but have you ever seen so many against your average police officer as there are against Danny Phantom?"

"No, but-"

"Have you known Danny Phantom to be more emotionally driven in fights than the average police officer?"

"Yes, but he is not your average police officer. He's not even with the police."

"So you willingly allow a super-powered vigilante with no training to fly around the city, creating chaos?" He held up a hand towards Fleming right as she was rising to her seat to call out an objection. "Withdrawn. Captain Gray, with your experience as an officer and working alongside Danny Phantom do you believe, if a situation occurred in which a family member was harmed or endangered, he would be able to take care of it with a level head?"

She grew tenser, sucking in air as if preparing to plunge into deep waters. She released the air and mumbled.

"I'm sorry, Captain, could you speak up for the jury."

"I said 'no'. I believe if there were an incident in which a loved one was endangered, Danny Phantom would take rash actions. He might…" She trailed off, looking as if the words were actually choking her.

"Go on, Captain Gray, finish your answer. What might he do in such and occasion?"
Valarie turned to the judge, "Do I have to, Your Honor, I don't see the relevance to this case."
"I'm trying to understand your logic in sending off Danny Phantom, whom you say is reckless and acts rash, into the Ghost Zone to confront Vlad alone."

Valarie turned to him, her cold glare turning into a fiery one.
"Because this was during the annual Truce, GZPD do not intervene with any matters during those times and neither are human law enforcement. Danny, as a citizen of Earth and the Ghost Zone and not an official officer, would have been the only one allowed to enter and rescue his child as a civilian. I had no other option."

"You could have waited until the day after Christmas to track down your suspect."
"If we had done that, Ophelia Fenton would have been dead."

"You didn't know that for sure at the time. You only assumed so."

"With two dead and a child missing, it would've been reckless to waste any time finding her."

"So that justifies sending Phantom off to do this little rescue mission, knowing full well the risk of him killing your suspect in the process?"
Valarie bared her teeth, looking ready to climb out of the stand and throttle Lewis then and there.

"That's not it at-" She stopped herself.

Her eyes darted around and she shrank back when she remembered where she was. She recomposed herself, trying to get back to that original neutral expression she had before but instead got the amateur knock-off.

"I know what you are trying to do. You are trying to make it look like I let my animosity towards Plasmius get the better of me, or that Danny is some kind of hot-head loose canon. Yes, I admit that there was some risk letting Danny go alone, but the risk was on Danny's life, not anyone else's. It's true that Danny Phantom is more reckless than the average, more legitimate law enforcer, and that he has a tendency to let his emotions to get the better of him, but he would never take the life of another, no matter who or what they are. Because I let him go into the Ghost Zone, a child is still alive today. For that reason, and that reason alone, I do not regret my decision, and I never will."

The court anticipated a response from Lewis, another scathing verbal cut into Valarie's integrity, but instead he gave a solemn nod and mumbled "the Defense rests" before turning on his heel back to their table. He must be saving Roat for Daniel, Vlad assumed, that was smart of him.

The judge dismissed Valarie from the stand, reminding her that she can sit in the gallery for the rest of the trial. Valarie thanked her politely and left the stand with whatever grace and calm she still had in her. Vlad could see that she was rattled, but he doubted anyone else could. All in all it was a good performance from GHCU's Commanding Officer. She kept as well-composed as anyone could in her position.
Perhaps this near emotionless composure is what drove her husband away.

"State your name for the record."

"Doctor James Grahm"

Vlad noted the doctor. He looked to be somewhere in his thirties, so Vlad could only imagine how young he must have looked ten years ago. His light brown hair was moussed and combed in such an awkward way that, along with the ill-fitting suit and sloppy knot of his tie, Vlad could tell that this man hardly ever styled it for a professional setting. He must be trying hard for this case, just like everyone else.

Ms. Fleming walked up to the witness stand close enough to touch it.

"What is your relationship to this case, Dr. Grahm?"

"I was one of the pediatric doctors on call the morning Ophelia and her father were brought into the hospital. I was also the one who published her condition not too long afterwards."

"And what was her condition when she was brought in?"

He turned solemn, as if someone told him his mother had passed away.

"She was tangled in blood blossoms. There were cuts everywhere from where the thorns tore her skin. There…the vines burrowed into the skin over where the major veins of her body were. She was in surgery for six hours in order to remove them all."

Fleming went to the two easels that were set up beside the witness stand. They were holding up poster boards that were covered by black card paper.

"Dr. Grahm, I am going to show you some images and I want you tell me if you recognize them."
"Yes, ma'am, I understand."

Fleming's fingers hovered over the card paper. She turned to the jury with a pained apologetic look.
"Jury be advised, what you are about to see is graphic and unpleasant." She turned to the card paper. "People's exhibits 1a and 1b."
She removed the black paper swiftly in the order she had announced the images being. Immediately the Jury and whatever part of the gallery that could see the boards were in a roar of gasps and muffled cries.

"Do you recognize these images, Dr. Grahm?"

"Yes, they are of my former patient, Ophelia Fenton, age 4, during an examination after the surgery."

Fleming handed Dr. Grahm a laser pointer.

"Can you point to the injuries you have described?"

Grahm nodded as he took the pointer. He shined a red dot over the images.
"As you can see, the blood blossoms caused a burning reaction on her skin, leaving marks where they came in contact. The small lacerations consistent with the thorns on what we called the blood briars, the thorny vines of the blood blossoms."

"What are these greens spots near some of the cuts?" Fleming pointed to one of the photographs, where crusty dried green mixed with the dark red.

"That is ectoplasm, dried and scabbed over. When exposed to an atmosphere like the Ghost Zone, her blood would have higher levels of ectoplasm than humans cells or plasma, causing it to appear green instead of red. The exposure to blood blossoms somehow altered the appearance of her blood, making it red. The green scabs are the older cuts, before the blossoms infected and altered her blood."

The red dot circled around the crook of the elbow, where a large red and green gash sat over the veins.

"These larger cuts are where the briars pierced into skin and entered her circulatory system. You can see where the fibers went under the skin and disappeared into the tissues."
"And what about these bruises here, around the neck and on her right wrist?"

Dr. Grahm sighed.

"Those aren't from the blood blossoms. We suspected they were inflicted before she became exposed. The bruises are consistent of a handprint."

"As in someone grabbed her wrist and throat so tight it left a bruise."
"The wrist was also fractured, as if it was twisted until it broke. I wish I could say I hardly ever see this in my line of work, especially since I specialize in pediatrics. I didn't see them right away because of the vines coiled over them, but I have treated enough victims of physical abuse to recognize the injuries anywhere."

All the jurors had a look of horror on their face. One particular juror, a woman, looked completely heartbroken. She must have a child the same age, Vlad thought. Hadn't they screened for that? He made a note to discuss this with both his attorneys during recess.

"What were the affects of the blood blossoms on Ophelia?"
"I hadn't seen anything like it and I'd be lucky never to see it again. The blood blossoms seemed to have been draining her life force. Every second those vines were latched to her, she was getting weaker. I'm certain that if she had arrived to the hospital any later…she wouldn't have survived…After the surgery, she was in a coma for three and a half months. We were able to see the full affects of the blood blossoms. They invaded every part of the body they could reach. Along with the scars that were burned all along the body, you had the plant's fibers embedded deep into her tissues, the cells mixed into her blood, feeding off her ectoplasm. It is by far the most invasive, intelligent parasite ever seen in a human body."
"Intelligent, what do you mean by that?"

"While she was in the coma, we put her on daily dialysis treatments in hope to filter the cells out of the blood. But no sooner were the treatments complete did the cells would replenish back to their original count. When we finally took the risk of taking her off dialysis, the cells immediately slowed down their growth rate and normalized to a steady, non-lethal count. It's like it understands that it needs to keep its food source alive and knows how to do it."

"Are there any lasting affects of the blood blossoms?"

"Until she underwent a surgery to graph her skin, she was sensitive to touch. Any physical contact was painful. She couldn't access her spectral abilities for a year after she woke up. Any cut she gets could be fatal as the blossoms can grow from the nutrients in her blood and kill her from the inside out. Her development was hindered. She has yet to experience menarche or any other aspect of puberty, so it's hard to say definitively. However, due to how deep the blood blossoms have affected her, it's theorized that she will not be able to have children once she's reached adulthood, half human or full."
There was a cold pang inside Vlad when hearing this. Of course he knew that the condition had the risk of sterilizing her, but actually hearing it from a medical professional, confirmed in consensus by a collection of others, it somehow made it more real…

Good, no litter of mongrels from her. And since there was no chance that Daniel and his wife would be allowed to have a second child, the Fenton bloodline dies with Ophelia. The world should thank him.

…Then again, doctors can be wrong.

"Dr. Grahm, is there any chance of reversing her condition?"

The question snapped Vlad out of his thoughts. He wanted to hear the answer, probably more than any other testimony that could spill out in this trial.

Dr. Grahm hesitated. It was a question he had been dealing with for ten years. Him and all the doctors he sent the Fentons' to be poked and prodded and violated within scientific and legal limits. Perhaps, ten years ago maybe, he received the question with more confidence than he was now.

"That's what me and a good amount of the medical community, both in the country and internationally, are trying to figure out. When she was still in the coma, I got permission from her parents to publish her case in a medical journal. I hoped that if the case got enough attention, there would be enough doctors to work on the case to eventually find a cure. One of us has to, right?"

"Any progress so far?"
"The only progress we've made is a serum that helps regenerate parts of the body. We used it to graph the skin."

"Which part of the skin?"

"All of it. By removing the skin embedded with blood blossom fibers, her sensitivity was gone and so was her general pain. There's also that constant reminder of what happened to her staring back at her in the mirror, that disappeared in the process. So far, that's the best we have done for her. We are still trying to understand her condition. Both it and her biology are very new to the world. So to answer your previous question, there is a small chance of fully reversing her condition, but it might not be discovered in my lifetime. Or even hers."

Vlad took a peek over his shoulder to where Jasmine and Danielle sat. Both looked solemn, distraught, as if they were told their condition was terminal. He could only imagine Daniel's face when he heard this same news.

"What's the name of this condition, Dr. Grahm?"

"The official name is endo-parasitic rosa sanguinemia, but it's most commonly known as the Briar Rose Curse. That was kind of our codename for her in the hospital, Briar Rose, to protect the Fentons' privacy from the media."

"Thank you, Doctor," a look to the defense table, Fleming gave a crisp "You're witness" before returning to her table with a spin on her flat heel.

Once again, Lewis got on his feet and went to the witness stand for cross-examination, taking a couple of files with him. Lomax gave him a stern look that told Lewis to mind himself, they don't want a mistrial. Lewis confirmed with a small nod and an overly confident grin.

"Her condition sounds very horrible, Dr. Grahm, something I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy."

"Nor would I," responded Dr. Grahm, "let alone a child."

"Exactly," Lewis opened a folder and leafed through the papers inside, "we heard testimony from the Medical Examiner that the late Mr. And Mrs. Fenton were killed by, in layman's terms, a ghost ray through the heart after a brutal attack with the same spectral energy. Were you able to find similar readings on Ophelia as were found on her grandparents' bodies?"

"No, we were not. The blood blossoms absorbed most of her spectral energy by the time she arrived at the hospital. It more than likely would have disintegrated any excess energy from her attacker as well."

Lewis tilted his head to the side slightly, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"So there's no way of telling if her attacker was the same person who killed Mr. and Mrs. Fenton? Or whether her attacker was ghost or human?"

"No, I suppose not."

Lewis fought back a smile and closed the folder with a small smack. Beside the poster board on the easel, he used the corner of the Manila folder to point at the photographs.

"These injuries on her arm and throat: are you absolutely certain that they were caused by someone intentionally harming her."

"Yes, I am absolutely certain." Said Dr. Grahm.

"But isn't it possible that these injuries were incidental rather than intentional?"

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"For example, someone could've tried to pull her out of the thicket of blood blossoms. They may have used too much force to pull her out, and she was already so weak and frail from the blood blossoms, so their attempt may have fractured her arm and left all those marks."

"You're suggesting that someone pulled her out by her neck? In a strangle hold?"
"Well, you just said that she was pretty thickly tangled when she arrived in the hospital. It's reasonable to say that she was in an even worse situation when she was rescued. Whomever pulled her out may not have been able to tell her leg from her neck and grabbed at whatever they could see." Lewis held his hands up defensively. "Look, I'm not asking if this scenario is smart or even rational, I'm only asking if this could happen and give the same results."

"It's highly unlikely that it was what happened but yes, it is possible."
"Thank you," said Lewis. He pivoted on his heels towards the defense table, stating a quick "nothing further" on the way.

Dr. Grahm was dismissed from the stand, looking very uncertain of whether or not he had helped the right case. Lomax clapped Lewis' shoulder when the younger attorney took his seat.
"Well done, Kevin, I'm glad you decided not to bring attention to how the Briar Rose case made Grahm's career."

"Yeah, like Natalie or the judge would let me get away with that after Captain Gray." Lewis grumbled.

"Regardless, the cross was simple and you strewed enough doubt about the injuries to pave the way for the rest of our defense."

"I still think throwing some shade at the doc would help."

"You can't throw everyone into a conspiracy, Kevin, it only makes you look paranoid."

"Well, with our particular client, it isn't too far fetched to say that the whole world is out to get him."

Vlad half-smirked at that. The young attorney does have a point, but of course Lomax's was better. They already think Vlad is disturbed, no doubt from the boy smearing his reputation further, they would most likely expect him to go for a conspiracy angle.

Well, they would be half right, but that doesn't mean it won't work.

"Mr. Foley, could you please tell the jury what your connection is to this case?"
Tucker Foley fidgeted with his glasses, clearly nervous. Vlad felt nothing when seeing him. Frankly, he hardly ever noticed Foley even when he was a boy. He was just a friend of Daniel's, nothing particularly special otherwise. He did admit, it came as a bit of a shock when he heard about his success in his business ventures, becoming potentially wealthier than even him. He was still convinced that the boy becoming mayor so soon after himself was some kind of joke, there was no way that could've been legal.
"Um, yes, I am related to this case by a lot." Said Foley, "You see, as some of you probably know, Danny, Sam and I have been best friends since grade school. I am even the godfather to their daughter and they are the godparents to my kids. I was also the one who discovered that Vlad was back on Earth."

"How did you know about his return?"

"My company and Fenton Works had a contract with NASA to develop ecto-based programs and equipment for the space station. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton modified the design for the machine I made to save us from the Disasteroid. It would turn the station and shuttles intangible to protect them from orbiting debris and run on an ectoplasmic fuel source that would only need to be changed out every few months. We got the idea after Danny dragged us to see that Sandra Bullock movie-"

Lomax raised a hand, too old to get up from his seat until it was absolutely necessary.

"Your Honor, would you instruct the witness to keep his testimony relevant to the case?"

"I was getting to that." Foley whined. Vlad rolled his eyes. Perhaps Valarie wasn't all to blame for their failed marriage.

"While it was being installed, I also had one of my own inventions built into the satellite's recording system. It read, identified and traced the unique spectral energy signature of a ghost. A couple of weeks before the incident, we got a reading off said satellite. An energy reading coming from deep orbit. There was no doubt in my mind who that could've been."

"Who would that be, Mr. Foley?"

Foley nodded his head over to Vlad.

"The defendant, right there. He was the only known ecto-based lifeform to be exiled in deep space. And it only proved my assumption when we traced that same reading to his estate in Colorado."

"And what did you do once you were sure the reading you discovered came from the defendant?"

"The moment I spotted the reading, I notified the Bureau of Ghostly Affairs. I wanted to notify Danny as well, but it was only when we traced the reading to the Colorado estate that I was given clearance by the Bureau to notify him…" Foley fidgeted with his glasses again. He rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index finger and let them meet to pinching the bridge of his nose. A not-as-subtle-as-he-might-have-hoped way to wipe away the tears that must have just formed. He hasn't even gotten to the worst part and he's already crying, Vlad noted. How pathetic.

"I came to his house on Christmas Eve. The Bureau wanted his help tracking down Plasmius. He and Sam came with us, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Fenton to look after Ophelia…To this day I wonder if things would've gone differently if we waited until after the holidays to start our search."

"What happened next, Mr. Foley?"

Foley sucked in a deep breath and recomposed himself, refusing to let a single tear fall and get in the way of his testimony.

"We all went to the Colorado estate to further investigate the house and see if there was any clue to where Plasmius may be or what he was planning. I equipped Danny with a tracer and he inspected the areas of the house that was too far decayed and overrun with vegetation for humans to enter safely. Danny found the ghost portal in Plasmius's lab was active and we assumed that he must have been hiding out in the Ghost Zone. Because the Truce would make it illegal to enter the Ghost Zone to arrest him, we chose to wait until after the holidays to continue our search for Plasmius…That was when I got the call."

"What call, Mr. Foley?"

"My then-wife, Detective Gray, she called me on my cell. I guess Danny or Sam's phone wasn't working, or she just wanted to hear my voice first, most likely the first one. She sounded like she had been crying. She told me that Mr. and Mrs. Fenton were dead and asked me to pass the phone over to Danny. It was horrible, seeing him get the news, it was like someone was stabbing him in the heart. And then he asked about Ophelia…we all felt that pain."

As Foley spoke, a hand went to his chest. That along with his expression made it seem like even talking about it caused him physical pain. Vlad hoped for his sake that it was only for show.

"We wasted no time getting back to the house," Foley continued, "Police were already there gathering evidence that would confirm who the killer was and, hopefully, lead us to where Ophelia was."
"You contributed to the forensic investigation, is that correct?"

Foley nodded.

"I used my tracer to read the most recent signatures left in the house. I found three. One, slightly fainter, I recognized as Danny by a demonstration I performed earlier that night, another being the signatures we had been tracking. Ruling out the third, much smaller signature, as Ophelia's. With it, we were able to tell what had happened."

"What had happened, Mr. Foley?"

"Traces showed that the perpetrator went into a fire fight with Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, overpowered them, with Ophelia watching from the stairs. She fired a shot of her own ghost energy at him, freeing her grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton put up a fight to protect their grandchild, but eventually he was once more able to overpower them and take Ophelia…there were traces that showed that Ophelia was in the perp's arms while they were standing across from Mr. and Mrs. Fenton's bodies were found, broken and bloody, with a ghost ray shot through their hearts."

Foley was trembling now. His stare was distant. He must have spent a few nights awake thinking about this, a few bad dreams imagining if this had happened to his son. A couple more of his own daughter going through the same thing once she was born. Perhaps Valerie should have taught him how to mask his emotions before letting him take the stand.

"The last traces showed that the perp brought Ophelia to the basement and they both went through the Fenton Portal II, into the Ghost Zone. Danny didn't waste any time, not while he knew his daughter was still out there, alive. He took the tracer and went into the Ghost Zone by himself. We heard his Ghostly Wail a few hours later. We came down to find Danny, unconscious, turning back to human form, with something bundled in his coat in his arms. I didn't see what it was, I only heard Sam screaming when she saw what was inside and her running up the stairs when the house started to collapse from the affects of the Wail. Valerie and I carried Danny out of the house, barely making it out…barely making it out before the house fell. I let paramedics take Danny to the hospital, let the police take my statement, then I went home to my son."

Fleming placed her hand over Foley's and gave a reassuring smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Foley," she said. Foley smiled a thank you to her.

As Fleming returned to her table, Lomax slowly forced his old bones to rise from his seat and walk to the witness stand.

"So you don't have a doubt in your mind that my client killed Mr. and Mrs. Fenton that night?"

"Yes, and it's supported by forensic evidence as I had just explained."

"Yes, yes, I see…the tracer. Tell me, you were able to compare the signature to my client's or are you purely going by circumstance?"
"We got a sample and compared it to the signature we found the moment he was captured."

"Which was ten years after the fact, correct?"

"Correct, his signature wasn't in an official database until recently when he was arrested."

"Ten years, that is a long time. Things can get lost, misfiled…you only have one reading of the perpetrator's signature from one device that made one original file. Last time I checked, police procedure is to take three readings of the signatures and generate three original files of each reading."

"That procedure was set afterwards, when they became standard gear for crime scenes. We were at a press for time since there was a child's life at stake-"

"So you thought it would be fine to use the bare minimum for forensics? And hand off your only approved model of the device to your friend to go into the Ghost Zone with on his own?"

"It was the only way he could track down culprit and his daughter in time to save her."

"I'm sure that was what you believed." Lomax shuffled toward the table, where Lewis handed him a folder. Lomax opened and adjusted his glasses, making sure he was looking at the right document.

"Mr. Foley, records here show that you ordered a nation-wide recall for your ecto-tracers, with a high priority for police stations. What was the purpose for the recall?"

"My inspection team missed a glitch in the programming of that version of the tracers. The moment I spotted it I immediately ordered the recall so it wouldn't affect any more criminal investigations if it hadn't already. Along with the newer, further inspected version of the tracers came the protocol you explained earlier to prevent any mistakes in forensics."

"Could you explain the type of mistakes this glitch caused?"

"It would sometimes misfile the data it collected. There were instances where the signatures that were supposed to belong to a suspect were actually duplicated files of the signatures collected at the crime scene."

There were uncertain looks in the gallery and the jury box. The two ghost jurors were particularly perturbed. It went without saying that a sizeable amount of the ghost population had spent some time in the custody of GZPD in the time Walker was in charge, regardless whether or not they were truly guilty of a crime. You would have to be undeniable pure or incredibly resourceful (as Vlad was) to avoid the black and white stripes. Thusly, it was second nature to a ghost to have even a small distrust towards any law system. You just need to give them a little doubt, a little sway, and they'll take any side that opposed the police.

Sometimes, Vlad found it almost too easy to manipulate people.

"I see," said Lomax, "And you are sure that glitch was present only in that version of the tracer. Not even the earlier models?"

"I'm certain of it."

"So you ran a diagnostic test on the device before and after you used for the crime scene?"
"Well, no, not exactly…"

"Why not? I thought you would've wanted to be thorough."

Foley looked nervous, like a child reluctant to admit he had played ball in the house.

"When Danny came back from the Ghost Zone, he didn't have the tracer with him. He thought he lost it while trying to get away from Vlad. I was smart enough to upload the readings into the police database before giving the tracer to him, but I could not run a diagnostic after the fact."

"So to sum it up, Phantom went off into the Ghost Zone, alone, with your device, lost said device while escaping a culprit you yourself did not see and while defending himself from this unseen culprit he destroyed the house in the process, making it impossible to get a second inspection of the crime scene. That seems like a rather unfortunate series of inconveniences." Lomax held up a hand to cut Foley off before he, or Fleming, could say anything. "I'm not blaming you for any of this, of course, you were only doing the best you could. You can't control what other people do, or what they keep you from seeing."

"That sounds a lot like an accusation." Foley said, seeming to have finally found his backbone. "Danny is my best friend, I have known him since kindergarten. If you think for one second that he would do anything shady-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Mr. Foley," Lomax said, hands raised defensively, "I did not say anything about Phantom."

"You certainly implied it. I have heard enough crud said about my friends to recognize it even in subtext. Phantom did nothing wrong, so don't you dare accuse him of tampering with evidence."
"I am not accusing him of anything, Mr. Foley, I am only inquiring whether it is possible given the circumstances of the investigation."

"Given the circumstances, he wouldn't even have time to think about anything like that because his daughter's life was at stake. If there's one thing to know about Danny Phantom is that when his loved ones are in danger, nothing else matters to him. He would do anything to protect those he cares about and his focus is aimed towards only that goal from start to finish. That's why you don't have evidence that meet the gold standards, sir, because he couldn't think about getting things done by the book. All he knew was that his only child was in the hands of a monster who had just proven himself capable of murder, thus the only thing on his mind was bringing her home and away from his clutches." Foley pointed to Vlad at the end of his rant, gazed focused with more outrage than Vlad had ever seen the man aim at anyone. However, neither Vlad nor Lomax seemed fazed by Foley's outburst. Instead, Lomax merely batted his hand saying, "Thank you, Mr. Foley, I believe that I have everything I, and the jury, needed to know."

The judge dismissed Foley from the stand. As Foley was coming down from the stand, he seemed pretty proud of himself, if not a little confused. He stood up for his friend in front of the court and had it set on record that Danny Phantom was a good man. He had done his part to bring justice to a family he considered himself a part of.

If only he knew, Vlad thought, suppressing a grin.

The rest of the week was spent bringing in expert witness after expert witness to argue over the legitimacy of the forensic evidence piled against Vlad. It was no different than the squabbling he had heard during the pre-trial motions: prosecution claimed the evidence placed him at the scene of the crime and the findings were irrefutable; the defense (mainly Lomax) claimed that the findings were shaky and the evidence was easy to tamper with. The only change was that it had been agonizingly dumbed down for the jury. Like a fourth of the jurors and a majority of the gallery, he tuned out by the first hour and plastered on a look of an intent listener. To keep himself from falling asleep, he would once in a while look over his shoulder to see how his friends in the gallery were doing.
Of course, Jasmine was listening to the whole thing with genuine interest. She even appeared to be taking notes, possibly to mark errors on the experts' explanations and consult them with Fleming. Danielle appeared to be trying very hard to be interested but to not avail. Jasmine would break from her note-taking to argue against Danielle's complaints in whispers. Foley accompanied them after his testimony. Like Jasmine, he too was listening to the testimony, if only to grumble about the points made against his own inventions. He and Jasmine would quietly converse and he would point at her notes at certain parts, either to clarify or condemn certain errors.

As for the trio of ghostly women, they were responding somewhat differently to the testimony. The former nanny spent the time keeping both her boyfriend and Ember awake by elbowing their sides, despite clearly being just as bored. The red-haired one, Spectra as he finally remembered, showed some interest. Not surprising, she showed the most interest in the parts where forensics had showed the extent of Jack and Maddie's suffering and the estimated length Ophelia must have been forced to watch it. As much as Vlad felt that the fat oaf's end was well deserved, seeing Spectra take pleasure in their demise like it was some sick form of entertainment, particularly Maddie's, churned his stomach. He was tempted to see if Spectra could be removed from the courtroom, but knowing her any attempt would cause too much grief.

By Friday, the entire courtroom was relieved to hear the last of the expert witnesses dismissed from the stand and the trial was to go into recess until Monday morning. Vlad was particularly happy for this recess. It gave him time to plan the rest of the case with his lawyers.

"Who's going to be first on the stand?" Asked Vlad.

Lewis checked the list, and immediately grimaced. Curious, Lomax checked the list as well and grumbled, "Oh, her, " with the similar look of dread. Vlad raised an eyebrow, not all that amused or surprised.

"By the looks on your faces," he said sardonically, "I'm going to venture a guess and say it's Samantha."

Both nodded to confirm.

"She's ruthless as a prosecutor," said Lewis, leaning forward into the table with his fingers threading into his hair, " but as a witness she's impossible. I'm pretty sure she's made a few lawyers quit criminal law after cross-examining her."

Vlad couldn't help but roll his eyes. True, he had heard her reputation as an ADA, and read cases she had testified in which more often than not got convictions, but he didn't think much on them. He couldn't get past that bratty young shrew he first saw when monitoring Daniel so long ago, the girl who angrily protested any slight and would swoon over her the boy the moment his back was turned.

"It is impressive how she has gained such steely nerves since her adolescence," said Vlad, "But she still has the same temper." He turned to Lewis, "Which is why I want you to cross-examine her."

Large eyes looked up from under Lewis' tussled hair. His permanent smile all but disappeared.

"Are you cr-" he exclaimed before catching Lomax's cautionary glare, "I mean, are you sure about that? She'll bite my head off if I so much as hint at something fishy."

"Which is why you're perfect to question her. Her anger is her worst attribute. Once she's aggravated enough, she'll fly into such a rage that the jury will think that her emotions and biases against me are clouding her judgment. They'll take her word with a grain of salt if they take it at all. And who better to get a rise out of her than you? You're practically a pro at aggravating people, especially women."

Lomax snickered. The insult didn't get past Lewis, but he knew better and didn't complain.
"How do you expect me to get her angry? She's not the teenager you remembered, she's completely level-headed in the courtroom. I don't know if there's anything I can do to set her off…Well, nothing that won't get me held on contempt."

"She's level-headed because hardly any of her cases directly involved her. Her family are victims of a horrible crime, here she'll be emotionally compromised. Push the right buttons and all her credibility on the stand will be gone. Luckily, I made it my job to know all her buttons."

"The People call Samantha Manson to the stand."

When Samantha entered the courtroom Vlad hardly recognized her. For starters, she wasn't wearing thick layers of eyeliner that could rival Alice Cooper, instead having only a modest coat of mascara and natural toned, pick-tinged eye shadow. Second, the only trace of black in her apparel was the half-inch heels that were a decade out of style and worn maybe once before today. Her outfit consisted of a white blouse and a flowing knee length skirt and cardigan that matched the color of her eyes. The get up made her look closer to her true age, reminding the crowd that she is in fact a loving mother and a victim worthy of sympathy. Smart, he supposed, it would've been hard for the jury to feel compassion for someone who looked like Carmilla's antagonistic paramour.

Samantha took her seat at the witness stand without ever looking at Vlad's side of the courtroom. She must not trust herself to look at him, afraid that she will lose her ever-scalding temper in front of the jury and ruin the case. It wasn't a completely irrational fear, seeing as she never once encountered Vlad without showing some hostility. It was odd how she had such a seething hatred towards him. It wasn't like he had ever targeted her personally. The moment Fleming and Samantha's eyes met they smiled at each other, a silent reassurance that they can do this.

"State your name and relation to this case for the record."

"My name is Samantha Manson," she stated so matter-o-factly, "I am related to the late Jack and Madeline Fenton by my marriage to their son and I am the mother to their granddaughter and fellow victim Ophelia Manson-Fenton."

"Will you tell us what had happened from the night of December 24thto the morning of December 25th, 2018."

Samantha gave a nod before starting.

"My husband, my daughter and I went over to Fenton Works to celebrate Christmas with my in-laws. Danny's sister, Jasmine Fenton was meant to be there as well, but her flight got delayed until the next morning so it was just us. At around 9pm, I put Ophelia to bed in Danny's old bedroom. I had just gotten her to sleep reading her 'the Spider and the Fly' when Danny started calling me from downstairs. I came down as fast as I could without disturbing Ophelia. Tucker was at the door with this government agent. Danny was frantic, putting on his coat and throwing mine at me the minute he saw me. I stopped him, told him to calm down and tell me what was wrong. He told me that Vlad Plasmius was back."

"How did he know that Plasmius had returned?"

"Tucker told him. He explained to us that the program he Danny had install into a satellite picked up a reading with both spectral energy and a human heat signature. That was enough for me, and we left the house immediately, leaving Ophelia with Jack and Maddie…"

Samantha closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"To this day, I wondered what would have happened if I stayed with them. I wish that I had stayed with them and maybe…maybe it wouldn't have happened."

Fleming rested her hand on the edge of the witness stand, a small gesture of comfort.

"What happened next?" asked Fleming.

"We flew over to Vlad's estate in Colorado. According to Tucker and his tracer, readings indicated that Vlad had been there recently. Danny was sent down to investigate the underground lab, there was too much vegetation for anyone else to get down there in a timely manner and they were worried about radiation from the machines since they hadn't been used or maintained in fourteen years. Danny not only found traces of Plasmius' ecto-signature, but discovered that some of the equipment was missing and there was an active ghost portal. All indicating that he was somewhere in the Ghost Zone and he was planning something. Because of the Truce we couldn't pursue him further until after the holidays. Then Tucker got the call…"

Once again, Samantha took deep breaths, restraining tears. She pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket in case the tears finally fell, and twisted in in her hands.

"It's hard to tell in hindsight, but I think I felt that something bad was going to happen the moment we left Fenton Works. Anything involving Vlad ends up bad for us, for Danny, but this time…this time it felt different. It felt worse.

"As soon as Tucker received the call and passed the phone over to Danny, I knew my fears were right. When he mentioned Ophelia, my heart sank. It was like my whole world was coming down around me."

"What was that phone call about?"

"It was Valerie- I mean then Detective Gray. She was telling Danny that his parents were dead. Brutally murdered in their own home. And that our daughter was missing, though we already knew what happened."

"What was that, Ms. Manson?"

Finally, Samantha turned to look at Vlad. Her eyes pieced into him with lilac fire as she pointed to him.

"That the defendant, Vlad 'Plasmius' Masters, murdered Jack and Maddie and kidnapped Ophelia."

The Gallery went into a frenzy of murmurs. Judge Laurel had to restore the silence with a few harsh bangs of her gavel.

"Order, Order." Cried Judge Laurel.

Lewis sprang to his feet.

"Objection!" Cried Lewis, "Her statement has no ground and highly prejudicial."
Samantha tossed a look of annoyance at Lewis' direction.
"I swore to tell the whole truth while I'm on the stand, and the whole truth was that we were all certain that Vlad was the killer the moment we heard that Jack and Maddie were dead."
"I'll allow it," Said Judge Laurel, "you may continue with your questioning, Counselor Fleming."

"Thank you, Your Honor," Fleming turned back to Samantha. "So what happened next?"
"We went back to Fenton Works, now a crime scene. The living room was a wreck, like there was a fight there. Their bodies were covered, but you could still see their blood soak through…" Samantha wrapped her arms around herself, as if she felt a chill. Her eyes went to the floor as she said, "I'm sorry, even now the memory of the crime scene is unsettling. I had been fascinated with all things dark and disturbed since I was a little girl, but that….that struck a chord for me. What happened later was unbearable."
"What was unbearable?"

Samantha unclenched her hand from her arm. Absentmindedly, she rubbed her thumb over the smooth, Caucasian pink polish over her freshly manicured nails. Her handkerchief balled up in the cup of her palm as she repeated the process over and over.

"We used Tucker's tracer to check the house. It looked like Vlad had taken Ophelia to the Ghost Zone, and she was still alive when he did so. There was a chance that he was keeping her alive, whether to bait Danny or use her for god knows what, I don't know.

"Danny saw a chance to find her using the tracer, and he didn't want to wait to get reinforcements. The Truce would have made it impossible to get any help from any law enforcement until next day, when the trace of her signature would be gone and we'd lose her forever. He didn't want to risk that so he chose to go into the Ghost Zone alone and rescue her." She pressed her nails deep into the heel of her palm.

"I should have gone with him, I don't know why I let him go alone. But instead I stayed with Tucker and Valerie, hoping that my family will come back alive. I waited for hours, watching the police gather all the evidence, watching the medical examiner look over the bodies. When they were taking away Jack and Maddie's bodies, it was dawn on Christmas day. That's when I heard Danny's Ghostly Wail. I was the first to go down there. Danny had turned back into his human form and collapsed on the floor. The Fenton Ghost Portal II was broken down, destroyed. He was beaten up and bleeding. He had something in his arms, wrapped up in his winter coat. I ran to him while Tucker and Valerie made it down. I looked into the coat …" Samantha sniffled, which turned into a whimper.

"…Then I saw her."
"Who did you see?"

Samantha unfurled the handkerchief and wiped under her eye before a tear could fall. Vlad caught the initials stitched into the corner of the fabric, I.M. Most likely an old accessory of a long-dead relative, he assumed.

"I saw my daughter." She choked out, "Wrapped inside the coat."

Fleming put a hand over the one Samantha wasn't using to dry her eyes and smear her mascara.

"I'm very sorry to ask this, but you need to describe how she looked when you saw her."

Samantha pursed her lips, and then gave a hesitant nod.

"Her…her entire body was burned with these rose-shaped scars. There were tiny cuts and tears in her skin. She was bleeding red over dried green. Her clothes were torn up and her hair was cut, with black leaves and red petals stuck to her. And she had these bruises on her, hard to tell under the burns but they were still there. There was one on her wrist, where is was bent like it was broken…and another one over her throat like…like…" A small sob escaped her. She cried out, "He choked her!" before breaking into tears.

The gallery was clearly affected by the display, more so the jury. Jasmine glued her eyes to her hands folded on her lap, letting the tears drip down her face. Danielle tried to choke it back, mask it with anger, but nothing could hide her eyes misting. Foley was equally saddened and also shaken up. He must not have seen Samantha cry often. There was also a sense of protective determination, as an older brother would have avenging his little sister from her bullies. Even the ghost nanny was affected, seeking comfort in the arms of her boyfriend. They were only two ghosts of their little group that seemed to feel any sympathy towards this act of the grief-stricken mother.

Samantha let herself cry for another minute before recomposing herself.

"Not to soon after I found her, the house started to shake. It was an old house. It took a lot of punishment in its day. I guess the Ghostly Wail was the final blow that brought it down. I didn't even stop to think about it, I just grabbed Ophelia and ran out of there, leaving Tucker and Valerie to carry Danny out. I brought her to the first ambulance truck I saw. I stood there watching the house crumble, hoping that they get out of there before it finally collapsed. Luckily, they made it out right before the first floor fell through. As soon as I saw that Danny was being loaded onto the second ambulance truck, I got in and rode with Ophelia to the hospital. She was there for four months in a coma. When she eventually woke up, she screamed when she saw her reflection…She was a beautiful little girl, and so brave and kind. But she couldn't even look at her own reflection without it reminding her of what that monster did to her. That night took so much from us, but the worst was what was taken from Ophelia. It was like a part of her died in the blood blossoms. She lost her sense of safety, her self image….Danny and me, we were the only ones who saw the brave, beautiful girl under the scars. It killed me to see her so scared of the night, of strange sounds in the distance, unable to see herself for who she truly is…or used to be…Even with the scars gone, she still can't see herself. She's still afraid."

"Thank you Ms. Manson, I'm sorry you had to go through that." Fleming gave her a reassuring smile, which Samantha returned. Hesitantly, Fleming returned to her table, eyeing the defense warily. Before any of the defense could rise from their seats, Judge Laurel held up a hand.

"Just a second, Counselor," said the judge. To Samantha, she asked,"Ms. Manson, you need a minute before cross-examination?"

"No," Samantha sniffled, "I think I'll be fine, thank you."

She wiped the last of her tears. Her mascara was so smudged that she looked more like her usual gothic style. With a fortune as vast as the Manson family's inheritance, Vlad would've thought she would spend at least a small part of it on waterproof makeup.

"Very well," said the judge, "The defense may proceed with their cross-examination."

Lewis looked over to Vlad. Are you sure you want me to do this? He seemed to ask, nervously. Vlad returned the look with a stern nod. Lewis shrugged, broadened his smile and rose from his seat.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Mrs. Fenton-"

"Ms. Manson," Samantha was quick to correct, "I kept my last name when I married so legally, it's Ms. Manson."

Lewis raised an eyebrow. If he was nervous, he hid it well behind a haggard expression.

"Right, okay, Ms. Manson, I'm sorry for that too. So, Ms. Manson, you believe that my client killed your in-laws and attacked your daughter the exact same night you and your husband were looking for him? Don't you think that's too much of a coincidence?"

"Yes, it is an odd coincidence, but that in no way means that he didn't do it."

"So what, did he plan to go to Fenton Works and kill Jack and Maddie the same night you and your husband went out? Did he wait for you to leave the house?"
"I make no assumptions to know what Masters plans or how he thinks. I doubt there is anyone qualified to understand his mind."

"Ms. Manson, did you see my client at all during the night in question?"

"No, I did not."

"Then how are you sure that it was him who committed these crimes and not one of the many enemies that your family have made over the years?"

"You mean aside for the evidence placing him in the house? Or his history of attempts on the lives of Jack Fenton, Jazz Fenton, my husband and even myself-"

"Hold on, when did he ever make an attempt on your life?"

Samantha pursed her lips. She must know where this will lead.

"Twice, when I was fourteen, if you don't account the Disasteroid incident. Both times were to get to Danny."

"So would you say that you have a bias against my client?"

"Counselor, I believe the entire world has a bias against your client."

"So then would it be fair to say that you are basing your assumptions that my client was behind these murders on your history with him?"

"We don't have a history, so no. I am basing my conclusion on his history with the Fenton family. That and the fact that my husband found our daughter in Plasmius' home in the Ghost Zone, and Plasmius attempting to kill them both when Danny rescued Ophelia."

"And you were there to see it?"

"No, I wasn't. Like I said, I should have gone with him, but-"

"So you are persecuting my client based on some bad memories and your husband's word? Did you even consider it was someone else?"

"Most of our enemies are ghosts who, unlike Vlad, observe the Truce and take it seriously. And no human would go into the Ghost Zone in fear of violating the Truce, nor would they even have the means to create a weapon that perfectly match a ghost's unique spectral energy signature. All the evidence points to Plasmius."

"I see…" Lewis walked towards the witness stand. He looked like he was going to place a reassuring hand on the edge like Fleming had done, but instead he leaned against it. Samantha couldn't help but look at him with disgust.

"Ms. Manson, I can see that you love your family very much."

"Yes, I do."

"And you would do anything to protect them, wouldn't you?"

"Of course. A mother would do anything to protect her child."

"How true," He leaned a little closer, making Samantha lean away, "Tell me, how do you know Helen Yume?"

Samantha's eyes went wide, which seemed to pop out more with the smudged mascara. Vlad smiled. Oh, like I wouldn't know about that.

"I don't see what that has to do with this case."

"Neither do I," said Judge Laurel.

Lewis held up a hand defensively.
"If Your Honor will permit me a little leeway, it will make itself very clear."

Judge Laurel glared at him suspiciously.

"I'll allow it. Tread carefully, Counselor Lewis."

"Thank you, Your Honor," Lewis turned back to Samantha, "Now, how do you know Helen Yume?"

She went back to running her thumb over her fingernails, this time faster and with the edge of the nails applying more pressure to the thumb.

"She's our neighbor, the Yumes' house is right across the street from ours. Our daughters go to school together, in fact they're friends."

"Is it true that two months ago, her husband, Officer Arthur Yume, arrested your daughter for destruction of public property. The next day, Officer Yume drops the charges after getting a phone call from his wife Helen. Do you know why he would do that?"

"For one, it may be because it is stated in the Bystander Contract that Ophelia cannot be held accountable for damage caused while apprehending a suspect."

"Or maybe you had a talk with Mrs. Yume and she got her husband to drop the charges. If I were to call Mrs. Yume to the stand right now and ask about this incident, what do you think she would say?"

Samantha's hands curled tighter, pressing against her thumbs so tight that it looked like she might draw blood. She would not answer.

Lewis went back to the table and picked up a file.

"In fact, our private investigator talked to Mrs. Yume prior to this trial and she made a statement about this incident. Would you like to guess what she might say or should I read her statement to the jury-"

Samantha held out her hand, showing the curved indents her fingernails left on the palm.

"Wait, okay, I'll tell you."

Lewis smirked and closed the file. Samantha cast her eyes to the floor.

"Mrs. Yume wasn't exactly keen on ghosts. She even forbade her daughter from hanging around mine. My husband tried to reason with her and, well, he ended up making it worse. She had her husband arrest Ophelia. It didn't really matter if she was responsible or not, he was going to fling her behind bars with any excuse. Danny told me the whole thing after he bailed Ophelia out and I decided to end it. I talked to her and I don't know what kind of experience she had with ghosts but it left a horrible impression on her. She told me outright that she had her husband arrest her because she was a 'horrible ghost brat'. I was wearing Fenton Phones while she was talking and I showed it to her. I told her that if she didn't have her husband drop the charges and let our daughters hang out with each other I would hand this to Internal Affairs and charge them with a hate crime. Lo and behold, the charges were dropped and our daughters got to be friends again."

"So you blackmailed your neighbor and an officer of the law?"

"Yes, I'm not proud to say it but yes. Only so Ophelia wouldn't have to worry about that kind of prejudice so close to home and so she could have her friend back."

"So you blackmailed your neighbors to protect your daughter. Makes one wonder what else you would do for your family. Maybe even perjure yourself to cover up their crimes?"

"Objection!" cried Fleming.

"Why would I lie about this?" asked Samantha. Already, Vlad could see her temper starting to boil. "What is there even to lie about? Two people are dead and my daughter is both emotionally and physically traumatized."

"Perhaps how those two people wound up dead-"

"Objection!"

"Maybe it didn't go exactly as you told it-"

"Objection!"

"Or maybe it wasn't exactly how your husband told you it happened-"

"Your Honor!"

"That is enough, Counselor Lewis," said Judge Laurel, slamming her gavel, "Jury is to disregard the Defense's statement. Lewis, if you pull anything like that again, I will hold you in contempt of court."

"I understand, Your Honor." Lewis shot a look over to Vlad before returning to Samantha.

"Ms. Manson, how well do you know your husband?"

Samantha eyed him suspiciously.

"Better than anyone, I'd say, not that anyone ever bothers to know him as a person."

"Is he a good husband?"

"Yes"

"Is he a good father to your child?"

"I don't think anyone has ever tried harder to do right by their child than Danny has. He doesn't even need to, but he feels like nothing he does is enough."

"So he'd do anything for his family?"

"Of course."

"Even kill for them?"

Samantha was taken aback.

"I…I don't quite understand your question."

"My question is: Could your husband take the life of another sentient being in order to protect his family?"
Samantha drew her focus to her hands.
"Anyone could take a life, we humans are such fragile creatures that anything can kill us. It's whether or not someone would kill another living being that defines a person."

"You're dodging the question, Ms. Manson, you know exactly what I'm asking. If you or your daughter were in danger, could he, would he, kill someone in order to protect either of you?"

Samantha shot him a dark glare, with the intensity of hellfire. She was doing surprisingly well to keep her temper, in her youth she would've already have lashed at Lewis.

"My Danny would never kill another living being! Only if he was out of options would he consider it, only if it were life or death-"

"Life or death, would he do it?"

Was she actually shaking with rage? Her pale pink face inched bit by bit into a furious red.

"Yes, but-"

"Thank you, Ms. Manson," Lewis smile turned into one of an exhausted teacher who was seeing results from their most troublesome student. "Let the record show that Samantha Manson states that her husband, our so-called hero Danny Phantom, is capable of murder. Now, was that so hard, sweetheart?"

"I did not say he was capable of murder!"

"You said he would kill another living being in order to protect his family, just now you said it. Has all that time around ectoplasm affected your short-term memory? We are such fragile creatures, after all."

"I know exactly what I said, Mr. Lewis, but what I said is not the same as murder. Danny would never dream of taking the life of another person, but there are moments where there are no options. There are moments where you make one mistake and it winds up with people dead. Danny works so hard to protect us all, and by that I mean humans and ghosts alike. He puts himself under so much pressure that sometimes I fear that it might kill him or worse. Yet you all take that for granted. You praise him and treat him like this invincible super-being, but as soon as he makes a mistake, as soon as he does something or appears to do something remotely bad, you condemn him and call him a monster. He deserves to be seen as a person and accepted for his flaws."

"Don't you think Masters should have the same treatment?"

Samantha's eyes went wide. She looked as if the very concept deeply disturbed her.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, my client is just as human as your husband. They both have criminal records, granted that my client's is vast and much more founded. You could even say, from a legal standpoint, that your husband and my client are the same person-"
"They are not the same person!" Samantha snapped quickly.

"But in the eyes of the law, they are. Look, we're both lawyers, we both know the fundamentals of the American judicial system. Our trials are founded on the basic concept of innocence until proven guilty. No matter who you are or what you've done in the past you will be tried fairly by your peers and solely by the indisputable facts. Don't you believe that my client is entitled to the unalienable rights as an American citizen?"
"He as a citizen has a right to a trial, which he has right here. He has a right to plea his case to a jury of his peers, which is what he is doing right now with you as his representative. However, he does not have the privilege to make his crimes go away and walk out of here with an acquittal just because he can afford the right attorneys. I am here to tell the facts of this case as best as I know them and share my opinion on the matter, and in my opinion," She turned to Vlad, staring white-hot daggers into him. "Your client is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."

"Yes, well, unless you can put him at the scene of the crime, your opinion doesn't matter."

To even Vlad's surprise, Samantha bared her teeth.

"Who are you to judge what matters? Have you ever lost someone close to you in a grisly murder? Have you ever had to ride with your child in the ambulance, praying to a god you never truly believed in that she won't die before you get to the hospital? Have you had to stare down the man that has endangered the lives of yourself and everyone you've loved and use every once of will power not to bash his face in? I may not be able to place him at that house, but I know it was Vlad! There's nothing you could possibly have that could disprove it."

"So in other words, you refuse to believe that anyone other than my client could be responsible for this crime, nor accept any evidence proving such."

"I cannot accept evidence that does not exist."

"And you're more than willing to accept shaky evidence with holes you can drive a cargo ship through as long at it points fingers at my client. Or is it any evidence that you husband tells you to accept?"

"Objection!" Fleming called out. But it was already too late. Samantha, losing the last of her reserve, shot up from her seat and leaned over the stand.

"How dare you, how dare you! My husband has done nothing wrong, it was him! My baby almost died because of him! He's a monster, he deserves to be put away!"

Judge Laurel banged her gavel, demanding "Order! Order!" in her courtroom. The bailiff rushed to the stand in case he needed to restrain Samantha. It took a few more bangs of the gavel until the cacophony of the gallery began to die down. No one noticed Vlad in all the chaos. No one was even looking in his direction. Regardless, he leaned his mouth behind his folded hands to hide his wide, victorious grin.