Hello, my readers! I am back! XD I know it's been a year since I updated this fic, but I hope I didn't lose you all. It seems that I have a setback in all my big stories, because I remember I went one time without updating CM for over six months…. But, you know, as much as I love writing DP and pleasing you all, real life comes first… Anyways, enough said. I'm sure you all just want to read. So, here is the next chapter. I promise it won't take me another year to write the next chapter. But I need to go finish writing that one-shot that comes before Endgame, and post the first chapter of Engame, first. So, give me a few weeks before you see another update for this story. I just want to at least meet my endgame deadline, and we'll take it from there.
So! Since it's been forever, I wrote below a little 'recap' for you all, about where we left of. So, without further delay, here's the next chapter of DoaS. Enjoy!
Recap:
Tom set a trap for Vlad by using Danny and Desiree as bait. Vlad walked right into it, and his family was injected with an ectoplasm-dissolving venom. Desiree did not make it, and Danny and Vlad barely made it out with their lives. Vlad was in a coma for three days, and Danny has yet to wake up.
While Vlad is stuck in a hospital with his son, the ghost world is in shambles, knowing their Queen was killed, and believing their King and Prince have met the same fate. The spell on the Infi-Map was broken with Desiree's death and so the permanent portals have all opened around the worlds.
The only good news has been that Skulker managed to track down Vlad; and thanks to Aragon's amulet, he was able to sneak into the hospital without suspicion and talk with him. Still, Vlad told him to not return because it was too risky. But they part with Vlad wanting Skulker to tell Horris the whole truth about what has happened. So, Skulker is left with the hard decision to do as his friend said and tell Horris everything… and top of that, he had already made the hard decision of not telling Vlad that he is carrying the loss of his sister and brother-in-law and that his niece is still recovering from the ordeal.
It seems things cannot get any worse, but Vlad is about to learn they really can.
All the while, Tom and the Guys-in-White are seeking to take advantage at the suppose death of the royal ghost family. Of course, Tom is still waiting for Spectra's confirmation of this being true. But for now, Thomas is focused on something else, which is the clear energy he took from Danny's core and the core within Desiree's stomach. He decided the best place to get some answers was at the Fentons. So, taking Gregor along, he went to pay them a visit.
And so, it continues….
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, but this AU plot and it's OCs are my own.
Chapter 34: The Length a Man will go to…
Gregor blinked as he was greeted with the pink walls and colorful pictures of Jazz's room. He was certain he had never seen such a… bright room. It was just so happy and warm.
The boy felt out of place.
And yet, it reminded him of something distant, and the memory of it briefly flashed through his mind…
"Gregory?" Ruga gasped, startled out of her own bed. "What are you doing in my dormitory? It is most indecent!"
The little dragon ignored his friend's colorful room and rubbed his head. Perhaps coming in through the window was not the best idea. However, he quickly forgot his painful entrance, and looked up at his female friend with a mischievous grin.
"Greetings, Ruga! And it is not indecent if no one knows about it! Now, come on, I came to get you! Elliot and I are going to the east banks to play in the caves!" His eyes glowed a brighter yellow as he added more quietly, "It is supposed to be… scary at night."
The pink dragon's eyes widened. "We could be punished for sneaking out, Gregory…" But unable to resist the thought of a daring adventure, she added with a growing smile, "We will just have to be cautious…"
Gregory giggled, and the two quickly snuck out the window to meet Elliot at the caves…
"Hello? Are you in there?" Jazz asked, waving a hand in front of the dazed boy's face.
Gregor jolted back to reality, and as if Jazz had frightened him, he gasped and backed away from her, stuttering, "L-Leave me alone. "
Jazz frowned before raising an eyebrow and asking, "Are you crazy or something?"
Gregor's look of fear quickly vanished off his face, and moving closer to Jazz again with threat now in his eyes, he defensively hissed, "Shut up! I'm not crazy!"
"Hey, don't tell me to shut up!" Jazz snapped angrily.
"Then, don't be calling people crazy!" Gregor retorted with narrowed eyes.
"Well, you're acting like it! You got all spaced out and then freaked out! That looks like 'crazy' to me!"
"I said I'm not crazy!" Gregory exclaimed.
"Yeah, well, I've read some doctor books, and they say the first sign of being crazy is saying you're not crazy!" Jazz argued, placing her hands on her hips.
Gregor opened his mouth, but couldn't think of something to say to that. He felt both cornered and stumped, and part of him just wanted to lash out at the human girl; but he knew he couldn't do that. He felt frustrated with that inability to do anything.
Feeling tears swell in his eyes, Gregor looked away; and although he tried to keep his voice steady, it wavered as he said, "But… I don't want to be crazy. I-I want to be… normal."
Jazz blinked in surprise, but she suddenly felt bad for hurting the boy's feeling. A foreign emotion—one she had felt long ago when her brother had been alive—surged inside her…
"I'm sorry," she pleaded. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Please don't cry!"
Gregory quickly looked back at her and angrily snapped, "I'm not crying!" And yet, he quickly wiped at his face.
Jazz just stared at the older boy. It was so confusing how he switched emotions on a flip of a dime. It was… weird.
"Um, okay. Sorry," she said, and then just looked away.
Gregory's displeased look melded off his face, and he looked away, too. There was a brief silence, both kids not really knowing what to do in each other's presence. They had not exactly hit it off when they first met. Quite the opposite. And even now, they were in the same room only because they were forced to be.
Still, Gregor supposed he would also immediately dislike someone who tripped him when they first met on the ice. Tom had purposely pushed him towards Jazz and her mother that one time, and well, the girl wasn't very happy when he had tripped and fallen on top of her… The boy mentally sighed, not really understanding why he even said what he did next.
"I'm sorry that I tripped you that day on the ice…," he mumbled out, though he didn't look at the girl.
Jazz looked up in disbelief. The boy seemed like a bully to her. She didn't know why, but that was part of the reason she didn't like him. And yet… he had just said he was sorry.
The little girl smiled weakly and nodded. "It's okay. It was just an accident. And, um, I don't think you're crazy… maybe a little weird," she added with a small giggle.
Gregor turned his eyes back on her, and was surprised he wasn't offended by the comment. He smiled a bit himself as he admitted, "I guess I am a little weird…" He knew, though, that the comment was an understatement; but he really didn't want to think about that.
"So…," Jazz began awkwardly, but then remembering what her mother had suggested, she quickly said, "Hey, let me show you my book collection!" She moved over to her small book shelf as she continued, "I love reading! There's so much stuff to learn out there! But I also like reading fairytale stories! My mommy reads to me sometimes, but not always anymore. I mean, it's not a big deal anyways..."
Gregory stared at the girl as she continued to rant, while she pointed at all the different books she had. But right then he caught sight of something in his peripheral vision and he turned his full attention at it.
"So, what kind of books do you like?" Jazz suddenly asked, turning her full attention to the boy.
Gregor didn't answer right away; and instead sat down on the girl's bed and reached over to the stuffed bear on it. He curiously inspected the toy before absently replying, "I don't know. I've never really read before…"
"What?" Jazz gasped. "You have never read? Don't you go to school?"
Gregory finally looked up at her. "School?" he questioned.
Jazz nodded. "Yeah, it's where you go and learn stuff, like reading. All kids are supposed to go to school!"
"Oh," Gregory replied, lowering his eyes again. He fiddled with the stuffed-bear's glasses as he quietly asked, "Is it fun?"
"Yup!" Jazz quickly replied. "You learn every day! There's also playtime and you meet other kids! You should tell your daddy to take you. You'll like it."
Gregory frowned. Did the girl think Tom was his 'daddy'? That was laughable. But he knew better than to say anything and instead just nodded. "Yeah, okay. I'll let him." But changing topics, he raised the bear a little, saying, "I like your stuffed bear. But why is he wearing a lab coat and glasses?" The boy paused and he slowly lowered the bear on the bed, as if suddenly repelled by it. "…Is he a ghost hunter?"
"What? No!" Jazz quickly denied, moving over and grabbing her bear. "He's Bear-Bert Einstein, the smartest bear in the world! He isn't a ghost hunter! That's dumb!"
Gregor raised an eyebrow. And she called him weird?
"Uh, don't your parents hunt ghosts?" he questioned, not getting how she thought her parents' work was dumb.
"Yeah, I know!" she huffed. "It doesn't mean I gotta like it!" The girl silenced as she fiddled with the bracelet on her bear's wrists, clearly recalling something that upset her. She soon voiced it bitterly, "My parents wouldn't even be such obsessed ghost hunters if my brother hadn't died…"
Gregor's eyes widened and he quickly asked, "You had a brother? He… died?"
Jazz quietly nodded. But then she sighed and sat next to the boy on the bed, though she kept her gaze on the stuffed bear now on her lap.
"My parents say he was killed by the Ghost King. I don't really remember much about it. I remember a scary glowing creature hurting my daddy and then that our house blew up." Jazz's eyebrows creased as she muttered, "It's not fair. Why did that have to happen to us? I wish it never did so we could be a normal family. My parents would spend more time with me instead of down in their lab!"
Gregor looked at the girl, suddenly realizing they were more alike than they knew. He bit his lip as he thought about something, then absently confessed, "I… had a brother once, too…"
Jazz quickly looked at him and gasped, "You did? Did he die, too?"
Gregory looked away as his mind dwelled deeper into his memories, and his eyes flashed red with anger. And although he hadn't really heard the girl's question, he hissed, "He… He left me… They left me."
Jazz suddenly wrapped an arm around Gregor, surprising him. But she then rested her head on his shoulder. "I know what you mean. I use to be mad at my little brother for leaving us, but I realized it wasn't his fault, either. I don't really know how to feel about him being gone now. I can't remember very much about him. But… sometimes, when my mommy and daddy are working, I wish he hadn't died. I think I wouldn't mind too much that my parents are ghost hunters if he was around 'cause I'd have someone to play with…"
Focusing fully back on her, Gregor asked her, "What do you remember about him?"
Jazz pulled away and looked down at Bear-Bert. She then undid the small bracelet on his wrist before reaching into her shirt and pulling out the hidden necklace under it. It was big enough for her to easily pull the golden necklace over her head and remove it.
Gregor spied a very small key dangling at the end of the necklace. "What is that?" he asked curiously.
"My mommy told me that when Danny—that was my little brother's name—was born, she made me and him matching bracelets. They had our names on it," she explained, giving Gregor the small bracelet that had once been on the bear.
The boy curiously studied it, and quickly discovered a small key hole on the back of the name plate.
"My mom said that the bracelets were supposed to remind us that not only did Danny and I have a bond, but also that we were loved by our parents…that we were all a family," Jazz continued. She took the bracelet back and put the key in the small hole. "My mommy only made this one key. She said it used to unlock both bracelets. She had kept it on her neck for a long time after my brother died. Then one day, just on my last birthday, she gave it to me. She said she wanted me to keep it, so that I could use it to unlock the bracelet whenever I wanted. She said she didn't want me to forget about my brother. And, as long as I have the bracelet and the key, I will never forget him. She's right, too," Jazz said, unlocking the small compartment and pulling out what was inside it.
She handed the item inside to Gregor as she said, "It does help me remember him. Whenever I feel like I am forgetting, I look at that," she confessed, point at the item in Gregor's hand. "I'm not sure why my mom wants me to keep remembering. I mean, he's gone, so why does it matter anymore? But… she made me promise, so I always make sure to keep the necklace on and use the key whenever I can, so I won't forget."
Gregor was quiet as he stared at the small delicate paper in his hand. It stirred such a strong sense of longing inside him that he didn't know how to react to all this. However, feeling his mind blurring with unwanted painful memories, the dragon ghost quickly handed back the paper to the girl.
"It's nice…," he muttered, though he didn't look at her.
Jazz nodded and carefully folded it back up before putting it back into the bracelet's compartment and locking it. She put the necklace back over her head and then secured the golden bracelet back on her stuffed bear.
"What about you? Do remember anything about your brother?" Jazz asked.
Gregor jolted and stared back in apprehension, "Who said I had a brother?"
Jazz frowned. "You did."
"No, I didn't!" Gregor argued back.
"Yes, you did!" Jazz said firmly. "You said he left you, too!"
Gregor fell quiet as he regarded the girl. He had said all that? The boy looked away, feeling a bit frightened. Maybe he was crazy, after all!
"I… I don't want to talk about him," Gregor finally replied.
"You know, my doctor books also say it isn't good to stay quiet about stuff. That you should talk about them," Jazz said with a small frown.
Gregor suddenly glared at her. "Yeah, well, you're books don't know what they're talking about!"
"Yes, they do!" Jazz quickly defended, standing up. "They know more than you, that's for sure!"
"Whatever!" Gregor snapped, standing up and going over to the book shelfonly because he didn't feel like arguing anymore.
He angrily ruffled through the books, not paying any particular attention to even attempt to read the titles. He hadn't exactly been taught much except for what Tom had recently been teaching him. And although he had taught him enough reading and writing to make him literate, it wasn't something he practiced on a regular basis.
"Here," Jazz suddenly said.
Gregor startled when he realized that the girl was right next to him and was extending a book to him.
"What's that?" he questioned.
Jazz rolled her eyes. "It's a book. Everyone should have a least one book to read before bedtime. I think you'll like this one."
Gregor frowned before hesitantly accepting it. "What's it about?" he asked, flipping through the pages and finding no pictures. How boring.
Jazz smiled. "It's about a boy with special powers and how he uses them to fight evil and also struggles to do what's right. You know, a superhero."
Gregor raised an eyebrow. "Humans don't have powers."
"It's make-believe!" Jazz exclaimed, raising her hands in frustration.
But as if the girl hadn't said anything, Gregor continued along with his initial response, "And if they did, they wouldn't use them for good. They would use them for their benefit."
"What? No, they wouldn't! They would use them for good!" Jazz quickly argued. "I mean, I would! Wouldn't you?"
Gregor was a bit taken aback by the question, but then he shook his head and muttered, "Sometimes you have no choice…"
Jazz crossed her arms. "Yeah, you do. You can choose to be good or bad."
"What if someone makes you be bad?" Gregor countered, narrowing his eyes.
"No one can make you be bad!" Jazz protested.
"Yeah, they can!" Gregor argued back.
"No, they can't!" Jazz firmly defended. "In that book, the villain wants to make the hero be bad and he doesn't let him! You don't have to let anyone make you do anything, especially if it's bad!"
"Ugh! You're such a stupid girl!" Gregor finally exploded before he abruptly stormed out of the girl's room, though he still had the book in his hand.
"Yeah? Well, at least I'm smarter than you, you crazy bully!" he heard Jazz yell from her room.
But he didn't care anymore. He wanted to leave already. He was sick of being here! This place was stupid! Everything was stupid!
In fact, screw Tom! He was leaving! He didn't care if the man got pissed at him or punished him! He was not staying in this house for another moment with some silly girl who kept calling him crazy and telling him you don't 'have to be bad'.
Gregor growled as he walked over to the entrance. He quickly grabbed the door and walked out. But when he reached the car, he found the door was locked. Then, without thinking, he removed his ring and phased himself into the locked car.
"You can choose to be good or bad!" he mocked Jazz, and finally realizing he had the book she had given him in his hand, he glared at it, but still opened it. He briefly glanced at it before scowling and tossing the book on the ground.
"What a bunch of bull," Gregor grumbled, crossing his arms. He fumed to himself for the rest of the time he sat waiting…
Now in the lab, Maddie and Jack wasted no time and began to inspect the clear ecto-energy samples Tom had brought with him. But the instant they got the first one under the microscope, the couple all but forgot about their dislike and distrust for the Guy-in-White leader…
"This is amazing!" Maddie gasped as she studied the clear ecto-energy under her microscope. "The cellular make-up is like nothing I've ever seen before! Are you sure this came from inside a ghost's core?"
Tom smirked to himself. They were currently looking at the energy that had come from the core centered within the Ghost Queen's stomach. He had yet to mention how he had gotten this sample and the other one, or from what ghosts he had taken them from.
But deciding to wait, he crossed his arms and calmly replied, "I removed it myself. But look at the second sample. It's even… stranger."
Jack was hovering over Maddie, wanting to have a look himself. And he soon got the chance when Maddie moved away from the microscope and began to prep another slide.
She grabbed the second vial and carefully extracted only a single drop from it, though she needn't had since Tom had brought a full vial of the clear glowing liquid with him. Unknowingly to her, this one had come from her own son's core…
She prepped the slide and then took it to the microscope. Meanwhile, her husband was thoroughly confused. He wasn't very savvy at the biological aspect of their job. He was more of an inventor and builder. Still, even he could see how different this clear ghost energy was from anything else he had seen in his years of ghost hunting.
Maddie did not think things could get any more bizarre, but the moment she looked at the second sample under the microscope, she froze. Yes, the first sample had an energy structure like nothing she had seen, but it was undefined, almost as if undeveloped, like a child having building blocks stacked into something unrecognizable...
But though this second one seemed to still be developing, these 'building blocks' were stacked into something clearly definable. There were actual cell structures in it for goodness sake! The cells, though, from their varying shapes, were young… and yet, they were so… strong, judging by the steady glow. In fact, even when this energy had probably been removed from its host days ago, it seemed as fresh as if it were inside its living host. It seemed to almost have… a life of its own.
Whatever ghost this had come from had certainly been powerful.
And yet, it boggled Maddie's mind. Why was this ghost energy so different from other ghost energies? The cell structures were certainly new. When it came to ghosts, cell structures were only found in their ectoplasm—not in their core energy.
"I had my scientists run it through our genetic analysis equipment," Tom suddenly spoke up. "Both those clear Ectoplasmic Energy samples have actual DNA structures, the second sample showing a more stable structure than the first—and as you can see with the microscope, it's also the case with the cells."
Maddie and Jack turned their eyes on Tom, and the woman asked cautiously, "Is it DNA? Or, something similar?"
"I do not know," Tom answered with a frown. "There are several components coating the DNA-looking structures. There is no way of telling; at least, not with the instruments we have now. You know ghost biological research is still very young, and it's been pretty much frozen for over a decade. So, if it is DNA, we still do not have the means of comparing it to human or even animal DNA. I'm sure it cannot be anything similar to us, but it is something we can perhaps study later in the future. But regardless of the molecular structure, I came for your opinion on something more valuable. Do you think this new ghost energy could be used to develop better weapons against the Ghost race?"
Maddie looked at Jack before focusing back on Tom and seriously replying, "It is possible. Then again, the structural differences could just be that—simple structural differences—and end up being as useful as any other ghost energy."
"But it is more powerful; at least the second sample is," Tom reminded her.
"You do have a point," Jack answered this time. "At least I know from working with ecto-energy to build ghost weapons that the more powerful the energy inserted into the weapon, the stronger and more effective the weapon is…"
"I wonder…," Maddie suddenly said, but then looked at Jack and said, "Jack, could you hand me the vial of ectoplasm in the storage fridge?"
"But, Maddie, it's our last vial," Jack whined.
"This is important, Jack," Maddie replied seriously.
Jack sighed and went to retrieve it.
Meanwhile, Maddie used another pipette to grab another drop of the Prince's core energy. This time, she put it on a petri-dish.
Intrigued, Tom moved closer.
When Jack came back with the ectoplasm, Maddie used another pipette to grab a drop of it.
"Where did you get that ectoplasm?" Tom asked curiously.
"We have been saving it for a while now. For an emergency, I suppose," Maddie replied. "However, you know the energy in ectoplasm does slowly fade over a long period of time, so this one is more ghost blood than energy, as you can tell from how dull-looking it is.
Tom was about to ask why she was even using it if it wasn't much good, but he silenced when Maddie added a drop of ectoplasm into the peri-dish with the Prince's core energy…
The three scientists watched as the glowing white drop and the dull green drop touched each other and mixed. But nothing seemed to happen.
"What were you trying to do, Mads?" Jack asked, confused.
Maddie frowned. "I don't know. I just had this thought that perhaps this clear energy was…"
But she was instantly silenced when the energy in the dish flared and the dull ectoplasm began to glow brighter and brighter. And yet, that wasn't the most astonishing thing…
In the next instant, the core energy in the dish was absorbed by the ectoplasm. Then, just as quickly, the ectoplasm began to multiply and it continued to proliferate to the point that bright glowing ectoplasm began to spill over the petri-dish.
"What in good heavens…?" Thomas whispered in disbelief.
Maddie gasped breathlessly before saying, "This core energy has regenerative properties…"
"But that makes no sense!" Jack exclaimed. "Ghosts can't restore their own energy! That's why they can't survive in this world for long!"
"Apparently, whatever ghost this came from could. But as amazing as that is, it's horrifying." Maddie looked at the two men and added, "Do you know what it would mean for a ghost to be able to create its own energy? It would be unstoppable! Its powers would have no limit!"
"I have studied this sample myself...," Tom muttered. "But I had not imagined that…" The man paused, clearly still stunned. But he then looked seriously at the Fentons and said, "The energy level I registered on the ghost I got this from was immensely high, at least it was for such a young ghost."
Maddie and Jack startled.
"A young ghost?" Jack quickly asked. "How young?"
Thomas shrugged. "A few years old. I say around six or seven."
Maddie gasped. "What? But… How did you even get a hold of a ghost that young? In all our time, we have never seen a ghost child outside of their world! No one has any recording of such a thing!"
"Yeah, those ghost scums keep their offspring hidden inside their world," Jack agreed. "How did you manage to get your hands on one?"
Tom smirked this time, unable to hide his satisfaction any longer with the thought of what he had done. "Didn't you hear the news? If not, then surely you felt the chaos from a few days ago when all those portals opened."
"Of course we're aware!" Maddie replied with an annoyed look. "There was a small ghost invasion, one which, according to the news, the Guys-in-Whitetook care of."
"Yeah, by the time we got there, all there was left at the pier and park was news reporters and eyewitnesses," Jack added with a small pout. He was still upset about that. There had not even been a peep from the ghosts in years; and then, when there suddenly was, he missed out on it!
"How did you even deal with the invasion so quickly?" Maddie asked suspiciously.
Tom smiled, but instead of answering right away, he walked over to the two glowing clear vials and picked them up. He mildly inspected them as he finally replied, "Would you believe me if I told you I knew these ghosts were going to attack that day?"
"And how would you know that?" Maddie asked carefully.
"Because I set a trap for the Ghost King," Tom answered darkly.
Maddie and Jack's eyes widened, but it was Jack who quickly demanded, "What trap?"
"Very simple, really. Even demon kings have a weak spot, Fentons. I simply found his two and used them against him." Tom suddenly raised the vials in his hand as he smugly said, "These samples came from said weaknesses… Did you know the Ghost King had a mate and a spawn?"
"He does?" Jack asked, surprised, missing the 'had' from the sentence.
But Maddie asked quietly, "You used his… family against him? You took those samples from his wife and…child's cores?"
"That's right, his mate and male spawn," Tom answered without a hint of remorse.
Jack frowned. "How did you even manage to trap them?"
"That's my little secret," Tom answered with a chuckle. "But I did… They made wonderful baits. It was perfect."
Maddie had fallen quiet as she stared at the glowing vials in Tom's hand; but although part of her was afraid to ask, the other part needed to know…
"Did you… kill his family?"
Tom raised an eyebrow. "Well, of course, I did. It was the most reasonable thing to do. If I had not, all my work would have been in vain. That would have been like fumigating a colony of ants and leaving the Queen alive. I killed her and her spawn. I think you can understand why I did. After all, having allowed that spawn to live and take his father's place would have been worse. It's very simple. I eliminated the future threat and any chance of Plasmius spawning another future threat by killing his mate."
"According to our studies, ghosts can only form children once, and it's not through sexual reproduction, either, but a fusion of something they call their 'Life Energy' found within their cores," Maddie replied with an unreadable frown.
Tom shrugged. "Whatever. They needed to die. And…" he smirked. "I think its rightful justice… He killed your child… we killed his. There's no better revenge than that. Come on; tell me you don't think I'm right."
Maddie glared. "I would have preferred to kill Plasmius, especially if this now gives him reason to attack our world."
"Oh, wasn't I clear? The Ghost King took my baits. He's as dead as his family."
Jack gasped. "You killed the Ghost King? How?"
"Well…," Tom said with a displeased frown. "I'll admit I haven't gotten confirmation on his death, but I'm pretty sure he's gone."
Maddie and Jack fell quiet.
But then Tom laughed. "Oh, don't tell me you feel bad for your son's murderer? I had expected a more… jubilant reaction from you two! I just crippled the Ghost World in the best way possible! No present ruler and no future ruler!"
Maddie just looked away with a frown. She knew the man was right. And really, she might have even done the same thing. The King's family would have been too great a threat to keep alive, especially the… Prince. If that child would have been allowed to grow up, he could have been the end of the human race. Unless…his regenerating energy had just been because he was only a child and still growing…. Perhaps all ghost offspring had that ability at first and as they grew, it went away. But there was no way to tell. Tom had been the first to capture a ghost kid and study it. But regardless, any logical ghost hunter would have still destroyed the Ghost World's future King….
And yet, even when she could see the logic behind that, she felt… horrible. Something strange was stirring inside her. Maybe… it was because her son would be about the Prince's age if he were alive. Maybe it was because when all this happened; she had had the most horrible... feeling…
Whatever it was, knowing that Tom had killed Plasmius' family did not bring her any happiness like she thought it should.
After all, she was the first to believe all ghost were evil, regardless of age, sex, or anything else. They only caused destruction and woe sooner or later. But even if she didn't think that way, the fact alone that she hated the Ghost King with a passion for causing her son's death was enough reason for her to be happy about Tom killing his family… But she just couldn't be.
"You know…," Tom suddenly spoke up causally. "This would be the best chance to attack the Ghost World. We would be fools not to take advantage of the death of their leader and eliminate the ghost threat once and for all…"
Jack nodded. "Yeah, especially with the portals reopening… Hey, did you have something to do with that, too?" he added, finally realizing the coincidence between that and the royal ghost family's death.
Tom frowned thoughtfully. "Honestly? I don't know about that. It was a bizarre coincidence that the portals to the Ghost World reopened the same day the royal ghost family died… If it is directly correlated, I could not say…. I will admit, the violent and sudden opening of so many portals at once more than concerned me; but it has slowly been returning to normal."
"Yes, but Jack and I have been scouting Amity since then, and not all the portals are closing, " Maddie finally spoke up. "It has returned to how it was during Dark's reign."
"But isn't that a good thing?" Tom countered. "It means we no longer need to build our own portals. We now have natural access to the Ghost World."
"That's true. But even with Plasmius gone, how do we go about destroying an entire world? They are not going to just let us stroll in and invade their world," Jack asked with a frown.
Thomas smiled. "I have some resources I didn't have back in those days… But… if anyone can pull it off, it is you two and… I…."
Maddie instantly frowned and carefully asked, "What are you saying?"
"I am saying, Fentons, that I would like you two to work for me again," Tom replied with a smirk. "In spite our differences, we made a great team together. We invented and discovered more things in our years together than in the time we've spent separated."
"No way!" Jack suddenly spoke up with a displeased look, all prior interest gone. "Maddie and I are never workin' with you again. We've made that mistake once and we're not doing it again!"
"And I don't think we need to mention the other reasons why we refuse your offer," Maddie added, also upset.
"Oh, really, Fentons. You both can be so close-minded sometimes." Tom said with a sigh. "I killed your child's killer. I think that shows how sorry I am for your loss. I didn't want his death to go in vain. I don't know what else I could do for you to show it was never my intention for your child to perish that night. In fact, I could even say you two owe me…."
"We appreciate you wasting that scum that caused our son's death," Jack said seriously, "but it would be an insult to that very son to work with you again, Tom. We have Jazzy to think about. I won't put my remaining kid in danger like that again."
Maddie kept quiet, even as she felt her husband's hand on her for support. She didn't like talking about Danny's death. It always seemed so fresh to her, and her husband knew it.
Tom rolled his eyes, but then shrugged. "Well, it's your loss. But then you will understand if I ask you two not to interfere in my missions and investigations."
"We won't get in your way; don't worry, Tom," Maddie replied, but then narrowed her eyes and added, "As long as you back off and stop spying on us."
Thomas raised an eyebrow, but then chuckled, "Sounds fair. But, if you both change your mind, you know where to find me. For now, I must leave you."
Tom put the two clear energy vials inside his jacket and then pulled out from another pocket two glowing green vials—which contained ectoplasm—and placed them on a bench.
"Thanks for your help." And with that, the Guy-in-White turned and exited the lab.
Tom knew it had been a long shot to have the Fentons work for him again, but he figured it had been worth the effort. After all, once they saw what he was going to do, they would be the ones begging to join him in the destruction of the Ghost World.
For now, Tom was more interested in what he had discovered about the Ghost Prince's core energy. It had regenerative properties! If he would have known that before, he would have kept the child alive and used him as a dairy cow. Or, at the least, carve out his core to have the entire sample!
But now this had his mind whirling with so many questions—ones he wished to answer as soon as possible.
In fact, Tom was so focused on his thoughts that he completely forgot about Gregor and headed to his car. It was when he got in that he startled when he saw the child waiting for him inside.
"Gregor!" Tom exclaimed, but then frowned in confusion. "Didn't I leave you in there?"
"I got tired of the Fentons' bratty daughter," he answered with a scowl.
Surprisingly, Tom didn't say anything else to that, nor did he question the book in the boy's lap. Instead, the man turned on the car and began to drive off, clearly with a set destination in mind.
"Where are we going?" Gregor asked carefully.
"To headquarters. I need to conduct some experiments…" Tom answered quickly and said nothing else.
Gregor frowned, but then rolled his eyes, and looked out the window. Just what he wanted: another day in a lab with this crazy ghost hunter…
Although Vlad had insisted that he could use his crutches to walk to where he was going right now, the doctor and nurse insisted all the more that he needed to be taken there by a wheelchair. Hospital policy or some such nonsense.
So, he just relented; though he made sure to take his crutches with him just in case. It was probably unnecessary, but feeling vulnerable around humans instinctively made him tense. But that was not all that had him tense. He knew where he was going, or more importantly, with whom he was about to meet.
He had been so focused on his comatose son that coming up with a cover story had escaped his thoughts. Luckily, he was use to quick thinking and deception. And as he was wheeled to one of the hospital's private meeting rooms, he put his skills to work…
The nurse got him there in just a few minutes. She said something in her usual cheerful and caring voice, but Vlad didn't catch it. When he was brought into the room, his eyes instantly noticed the four men in the room. One of them was Dr. Malik, his and Daniel's general doctor—or had been for the past few days. The other was his son's pediatric physician, Dr. Lopez. And the last two— a European-looking man and a Hispanic man—Vlad had never seen before. But he knew who—or what—they were.
They were the police.
One of the two officers was still scribbling on a notepad in what seemed to have been some kind of interviewing process being conducted. But whatever they had been doing, when they saw Vlad come in, the four men focused on him.
"Hello, Mr. Masters," Dr. Malik greeted him as he stood up from the seat. But when Vlad didn't respond, the doctor looked back at the officers and asked, "We are finished, correct?"
"Yes," the older policeman replied, standing up.
The younger officer and Dr. Lopez stood as well. They all shook hands as the officers thanked them for their time. But then Vlad and Danny's general doctor added, "Make this quick. I do not want my patient under any more stress than necessary."
The officers nodded before the two doctors turned away. Dr. Malik stopped and placed a hand on the millionaire's shoulder, saying, "If you feel this is too much at any time, let the nurse know and she will return you right away to your room, alright?"
Vlad just regarded him briefly before looking away and staring at the officers.
All too use to his patient's cold shoulder and lack of response, the doctor just removed his hand and followed after the pediatrician. However, he briefly said something to the nurse, too softly to be heard by anyone but Vlad before he left completely.
The nurse then cleared her throat against the dead silence now in the room before saying, "Well, I will be right outside the door if you need me, Mr. Masters."
Again, Vlad didn't even regard her and just stayed calm and quiet.
Once alone, the police officers, who were still standing, walked over to Vlad and introduced themselves.
"Hello, Mr. Masters. I am Officer Smith, in charge of criminal investigations here in Amity Park. And this is my partner, Officer Michaels."
Vlad briefly regarded their extended hands before he extended his own and shook with them. Still, he kept quiet.
"So, how are you feeling?" Officer Smith asked, as he and his partner took a seat across from Vlad.
Vladimir resisted the urge to scoff and just coolly replied, "I am in a hospital. What do you think?"
Smith smiled a bit and nodded, "I see… Well, let me just say then how very sorry we are that you and your son had to be victims of such a terrible assault, and so close to Christmas, no less. But we are here to get to the bottom of this, and bring to justice whoever is responsible for the crimes against you both. You can understand, then, how important it is for you to fully cooperate with us and tell us with as much detail as possible what happened…."
"What do you wish to know first, then?" Vladimir asked calmly.
"Well, before we start, we have to make you are aware that this will be a legal statement and so we will be recording your every word. Is that alright with you, Mr. Masters?" Officer Smith asked.
Vladimir nodded. "Yes."
The elder officer looked at the youngest one and nodded. Officer Michaels then grabbed the recorder at the side of the table and turned it on before placing it in front of Vladimir. He then picked up his notebook and got ready to take notes.
Meanwhile, Officer Smith moved a small filing box which had been to his left to the front of him and opened it.
Good, then, I will be reading this legal statement to you….." he said.
Vladimir sighed quietly as the older officer began to read the usual legal proceedings, including the whole having the right to an attorney and the rest of that pointless babble—or the young millionaire thought so, anyway. He was sure the two officers were surprised that a rich man like himself consented to a statement without a legal representative; but the last thing Vlad wanted was to get any more humans involved in this mess; besides, this was only a statement and according to these officers, he and his son were the victims.
After the millionaire agreed to the written legal proceedings, Officer Smith began with the formal interview…
"Your name is Vladimir Masters, correct?" he asked.
"Yes," Vlad answered.
"And you currently reside…?"
"About fifty miles outside Madison, Wisconsin," the millionaire replied.
"So, then, what brought you to Amity Park…. four nights ago? It was the twenty-first that you came with your son into the emergency room, correct?"
Vladimir nodded. "Yes, that is the correct date… I originally came on business, but being that it was so close to… Christmas, I decided to bring my son with me and spend it here… Or, that was the plan before… everything happened."
"Could you tell us about that, Mr. Masters? And, please, try to include any detail you can remember," Officer Smith said calmly, his voice taking a slightly gentle tone.
And yet, to Vlad, it sounded fake. For some reason, he felt as if the officer looked at him as the criminal, rather than the victim… The millionaire had a feeling he knew why that was. Still, he told the story he had already come up with. And as he had learned from his years of experience with deceiving when he needed to, a lie closest to the truth was the most believable…
"As you all know, the best time to see the Christmas lights is at night. My son loves seeing them, so… I wanted to take him to the central park here to see the lights and the big tree…," Vladimir began, playing the part of distraught father, though it was hardly 'an act' when it was just how he felt, especially when he knew Danny really did love seeing the Christmas lights—in their world, of course…
"We decided to take a more secluded path to the large Christmas tree at the park… I suppose that was my mistake. We had stopped to have a snowball fight when I heard my son cry out… I ran to where he was and it was when I saw some men grabbing him… But before I could do anything, I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head and then my back… The last thing I remember was hearing my son's screams and a sight of a bat being swung above me…"
The young father trailed off and looked away.
Officer Smith nodded as he calmly said, "Take your time, Mr. Masters." He looked down at the file on his table and flipped to the next page as he waited for the man to continue. He didn't wait long.
"I do not know how long I was out, but by the time I woke up, the men were gone and my son was lying unconscious… in a puddle of blood. I thought he had been… killed at first. Those monsters tortured my boy…," Vladimir whispered hatefully, his hands coiling on his lap.
Still, he continued, "I picked him up and tried to find someone to help us, but there was no one there. So, I ran to my car, knowing I had to get my son to the hospital. But as I drove us there, the earth began to shake and everything turned into utter chaos…" The millionaire paused to make sure the officers knew what he was talking about.
The two nodded and Officer Smith answered, "Yes, we are aware of the earthquakes that same day and everything else that happened. Continue, please."
Vladimir looked down at his hands as he then said with an emotionless face, "I lost control of the car and we ended in a ditch somewhere. I do not remember. I suppose it's how I ended up with broken bones aside from the beating those criminals gave me… It's a blur from there. I just remember making it to the hospital somehow with my son, and then I felt weak and I suppose I fell unconscious after that…"
"I see…," Officer Smith simply answered and wrote something down in his notes. "Do you remember how many men there were, Mr. Masters? Any physical detail you could give us about them?"
"It's all a blur," Vladimir answered with a shake of his head. "Perhaps five of them? I cannot remember. I still cannot remember everything. Dr. Malik says it could be that I have suffered temporary or permanent amnesia due to my concussion… I suppose being beaten with a bat will do that," he muttered with a deep frown.
"Yes, I suppose…," Officer Smith agreed lightly. "And these men… they didn't steal anything from you? You said you took your car, so you still had your keys, and the staff here found your wallet on you…"
"No, nothing was stolen from me," Vladimir answered calmly.
"Do you know where you left your car?"
Vladimir felt his annoyance beginning to grow. He had just said he didn't remember, but clearly, this officer wasn't fully buying it and was trying to find holes in his story. Shame he wouldn't find them.
"I don't remember… But if it is important, you could always check around the junkyards and try to find it among the many other destroyed vehicles from that night," Vladimir drawled out.
"It was only a question, Mr. Masters. We are trying to help you, remember?" Officer Smith said with a small frown. "I only wish to attempt to find clues to what happened to you and your son that night. So, tell me, are you completely sure you do not remember any detail about yours and your son's assailants?"
"No," Vladmir replied with a sigh.
"Clearly, this was not a simple assault and robbery against you and your son…. Can you think of any reason why anyone would want to hurt you both to such a gruesome extent?"
"No," Vlad replied quietly. "I do not understand why anyone would want to harm an innocent and defenseless child, as my son, aside from their being completely demented and evil…"
"What is your profession, Mr. Masters?"
Vladimir looked guardedly at the cop, confirming his thought on this being more than 'a simple statement'. All the same, he calmly replied, "I am a businessman. I currently own two businesses known as 'Vladco' and 'DALV Corporation'. I am also partnered with 'Manson and Manson Enterprise'."
"How old are you, Mr. Masters?"
"I am thirty-four," Vladmir answered, but added slightly annoyed, "Why is that important?"
"And yet, you are a millionaire. Quite a feat for someone as young as you… Don't you think?" the officer continued, ignoring the young man's questions.
"I suppose…. Again, what is your point?" Vladimir replied with a growing frown.
"We will get to that in a moment. Just answer the questions," Officer Smith replied. He flipped through the file in front of him before pausing and asking, "According to our records of you, Mr. Masters, you were orphaned at a young age. Yet, you remained in school and did well enough to get a full scholarship to Wisconsin University… In a matter of a year after graduating, your first business, 'Vladco', took off. You have been doing more than well since. Now, you own several houses around the world, do a lot of traveling; so much that your companies all but run themselves… Is there a particular reason why you travel so much?"
Vladimir interlaced his hands on top of his lap and coolly answered, "If you must know, I travel to see my wife and son. That is, before I brought Daniel to the U.S. recently…"
Officer Smith raised an eyebrow. "You are married? According to all our sources you are single, Mr. Masters…"
Vlad's face tense as he curtly replied, "I was not married in this country, Officer Smith. And if your sources say I am single, it is because I have made it so my private life is my own business. In other words, I have made sure the public knows about me only what I want them to. Last time I checked, I am allowed to keep my privacy. Furthermore, you have failed to explain to me why I am suddenly being questioned about my past and personal life, instead of focusing on the fact that my son and I were brutally attacked."
"But it is for those reasons I am asking you all this, Mr. Masters," Officer Smith replied. "You see, whoever attacked you clearly planned it out. They knew where you were going to be. And they hate you enough, Mr. Masters, that they tortured your son—a mere child. There are whip marks and burns all over his body. According to Dr. Malik, he was also naked when he came in. You can understand how serious that is?"
"Of course I do!" Vlad snapped. "He's my son! You don't think I saw all they did to him?"
"Fortunately," Officer Smith continued, ignoring the man's outburst. "The pediatrician said that aside from the physical wounds on his body, he did not suffer any other kind of assault and there are also no internal injuries, which is why they cannot explain why your son is unconscious. I did find something curious, though… There were words burned onto your son's face…"
Vladimir looked away as he said seriously, "I don't want to talk about that."
"Did you see what they wrote, Mr. Masters?" the officer pressed calmly. But when the young millionaire didn't reply, he began to answer for him, "They wrote, 'D—"
"Don't say it!" Vlad suddenly snarled. "Do not dare say it! I said I do not want to talk about this, so drop it!"
"Let me tell you something, Mr. Masters," Officer Smith said, leaning forward and staring seriously at the other man, not at all intimidated by the glare on his face. "I have done all sorts of criminal investigations for many years. And I have had my share of the ones dealing with rich men being attacked and their families taking the brunt of said attacks. You know what else, Mr. Masters? In these investigations I have done, eighty-percent of them were because these tycoons were involved in some illegal dealings and one turned sour. The other twenty percent were innocent men, but because of their money, they had developed enemies within their own companies, whether it was some guy they fired unjustly or another business man angry at their own company's going bankrupt because of the victim's own business growing."
"Are you saying this is my fault, sir?" Vladimir asked angrily.
"I hope not, Mr. Masters, but what I am saying is that you need to be honest with us. There is no possible way you cannot have even an idea of who could have done something so atrocious to your son."
"If I had any idea, why would I not tell you, Officer Smith?" Vladimir countered, calming down a bit and just frowning with displeasure.
"I certainly hope it isn't because you are involved in illegal dealings, Mr. Masters. But perhaps because you might want to take justice into your own hands; and well, with your power, you could if you wanted… I wish this is also not the case, because you would only make matters worse, for your son, especially."
Vladimir lowered his gaze and answered soberly, "…I have more important matters to think about right now than… revenge."
"I agree, Mr. Masters," Officer Smith replied. "It is best you leave that part to us. Now, I want to ask you one last question… Are you completely sure the men that attacked you were men?"
Vladimir looked up, and although he knew what the investigator meant, he answered, "I do not follow you…"
"You might not be aware, but that same day of your assault, we had a ghost attack. It was pretty significant, and the experts in that field believe the earthquakes were due to the several portals that appeared that same night… It is certainly a coincidence you and your son were assaulted so brutally on this same day…"
Vladimir remained calm as he chose his next words carefully. The last thing he needed was to have ghost hunters get involved in what happened to him and his son. Surely, they would be discovered, then.
"As I said, my memory of four nights ago is a blur, but I do remember seeing the odd green circles in the sky… But in spite of my memory and of the coincidence of all this, I am sure of one thing: those that attacked my son and I were human. They were no ghosts."
The officer nodded, and Vlad was relieved to see it looked like he had bought it, since he did not question him further on the subject. Furthermore, the cop turned off the recorder.
"Well, Mr. Masters, we have no further questions for you. Now if you—" But the officer was cut off by a sudden knock on the door.
"Come in," Officer Smith said.
Vladimir turned his head the best he could to the door behind him as a woman dressed in a suit came in. She was African American and appeared in her fifties. And in spite her calm smile, she had this fake-kindness about her.
Vladimir quickly became even more guarded.
"Sorry to interrupt, officers, but I was told you were here with Mr. Masters," she said, walking up to them.
"Yes, correct," Officer Smith said, standing up and shaking hands with the woman. Clearly, he wasn't surprised by her sudden appearance. "Did you need us present for your own questioning, Mrs. Ross?"
"If it wouldn't be too much trouble, please," she answered with a small smile.
"Not at all," he replied.
"I'm sorry. Who are you?" Vladimir suddenly spoke up, clearly annoyed.
"Forgive me," she said, turning her attention to Vlad who was still sitting in the wheelchair. "My name is Ann Ross, and I am from child services. And you must be Vladimir Masters, correct? …Daniel's Father?"
Seeing the woman extend her hand, Vladimir slowly shook it, as he searched his mind on what 'child services' was. He didn't deal commonly with legal parties in the Human World, so he didn't always remember everything. But… he had heard of 'child services', he was sure; but he just couldn't place it. And what made it worse was that for some reason the name was setting off alarm bells in his head…
"Yes, correct. I am he…," Vladimir answered hesitantly.
"I know you must be exhausted, but I promise I will make this quick," she said as she took a seat next to the officers.
She pulled out her own recorder and documents before saying, "First of all, let me start by saying you have my deepest condolence for what has happened to you and your son. And I am here to help you both, especially Daniel, in any way necessary."
Vladimir just nodded, now growing annoyed again on top of being anxious with this woman's appearance. Did these people even realize how rehearsed their 'sympathy' sounded?
"As I said, I am from child services, and I am here to investigate what happened to Daniel, as well as assuring his safety. So, if you do not mind, I would like to ask you about him…"
Vladimir just nodded.
"Let me say there is something that concerns me… You see, I could not find any records of your son, Mr. Masters. And according to the information I found on you, you have no children… You can understand the problem, correct?"
Vladimir hesitated, and perhaps if he wasn't caught so off guard by this woman, he would have handled things differently. But… after all she had said, he finally remembered what 'child services' was, and how they could… take people's children away if they found reason to…
The young father began to feel panic coil within him, but he forced himself to stay calm. He just needed to stick to his story.
"Mr. Masters?" she asked with a small frown.
Vladimir shook his head. "I… I apologize. It's just that this is a sensitive topic for me. As I told the officers, I was not married in this country. My son was born in Germany. I just recently brought him here, and my lawyer is still working on transferring his legal papers and such things over here."
"Oh, so you are married…," Mrs. Ross replied. "And where is your wife, Mr. Masters?"
Vladimir remained quiet for a moment before confessing, "She's… gone."
"She died? Is that why you brought Daniel here now?" Mrs. Ross pressed, raising an intrigued eyebrow.
Vladimir nodded absently, as an image of his wife shrouded his mind. "Yes."
"And if I may ask, how did she pass away?" she continued.
Vlad's eyes narrowed a bit as he answered without thinking, "She was poisoned…"
The officers and the child services woman instantly looked at one another, and this time, Officer Smith quickly spoke up, "Are you saying your wife was murdered, Mr. Masters? How long ago was this?"
The millionaire tensed and looked at the three humans as he realized his slip. What had he just done? He was supposed to be containing this situation, not making matters worse! Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized he was mentally unwell… There was no other reason to explain his grave mistake…
"Couple months... It was why I brought Daniel here with me... They already did the investigations in Berlin and the case was closed once they found who was responsible," Vladimir replied with a small frown.
"How old is Daniel, Mr. Masters?" Mrs. Ross asked, though she and the officers now looked even more suspicious.
"He's six. He will be seven in February…" Vlad paused and regarded the two cops and the woman as he added, "If you give me a day or so, I can have my lawyer send me Daniel's birth certificate and also proof of my recently bringing him here."
Mrs. Ross nodded. "Yes, we will need to see those documents, Mr. Masters. However, as I told you previously, my main priority is your son's safety. And with what happened to your wife and what has now happened to your son… Well, there is a big chance Daniel's life could be in further danger, especially when the ones responsible for what happened have yet to be found and apprehended…"
Vladimir's eyebrows creased. "Daniel is here. Why would he be in any danger now?"
"Because, Mr. Masters," Ms. Ross replied, placing her hands on the table and interlacing her fingers. "Clearly, you are someone's target, and for now, at least until we fully investigate this, perhaps it is best for Daniel to be… kept away from you."
The father's eyes widened. "Are you telling me I'm a danger to my own son? How… How dare you!" he suddenly exploded, getting to his feet. "I love my son! I would never purposely put him in any danger!"
The officers quickly stood and the older one quickly said, "Calm down, Mr. Masters. And sit back down, please."
"No, I will not sit down!" he snapped back. "Not until you tell me with what right you think you can call me a bad father!"
"Mr. Masters," Mrs. Ross said, standing up as well. "I have not said that. I'm sure you would never purposely put your son in danger, but men of your wealth very often develop dangerous enemies. Try to understand I am just looking out for your son. That is why, I think it is best if we take custody of him just until—"
"No!" Vladimir hissed, his hands fisting on his side. "You are not taking my son from me!"
"It would only be temporary, Mr. Masters, just until we can investigate all this; and well, we also have no legal proof of Daniel's being your son…"
Vlad just stared at the woman but then his eyes narrowed darkly. "Daniel is my son. He is mine. And not you or anyone is taking him from me. Do you hear me? Over my dead body, you wretched woman!"
Officer Smith frowned and said, "Mr. Masters, it's best for you if you just cooperate. You are not helping yourself with this sort of reaction,"
"I think I've cooperated with you fools long enough! And if you think otherwise, then you can all go to hell!" Vlad growled before grabbing his crutches and heading for the door.
"Mr. Masters!" Mrs. Ross called after him, but the man ignored her and walked—or more like limped—out of the room.
Vlad stormed passed the nurse waiting outside, startling her. "Mr. Masters!" she exclaimed before chasing after him. And since her patient was wobbling away with crutches it wasn't that hard to catch up. "Wait, please! You cannot walk so much on your own, you are still healing!"
But even when the woman stopped in front of him, Vlad just moved past her, a furious look on his face. He barely realized he was struggling with the crutches. But he also barely felt his spinning head…
He couldn't believe it! What in blazes was wrong with these humans? He wasn't a bad father! How dare they insinuate that he would purposely harm his child one way or another? He never meant for this to happen to his son. He never meant for his wife to be...
He never meant for any of this to happen! He would have given his life to prevent it all!
He wasn't a bad father!
By now, the nurse's pleading as she chased after her patient had attracted a lot of attention, including Vlad and Danny's general doctor. But by the time Dr. Malik got there, Vlad had almost made it back to his and Danny's room.
"Mr. Masters!" he exclaimed when he saw the shaking and sweating younger man wobbling towards his room.
But just as he reached him, the millionaire's weakening body gave out and he collapsed. But the doctor immediately caught him, looking highly alarmed.
And yet, Vlad glared at the doctor who just kept him from falling and weakly demanded through labored breath, "Unhand me!"
The doctor struggled to hold up his patient, and instead of listening to his demand, he looked at the nurse in charge and ordered, "Go get a wheelchair. Hurry!"
Focusing back on the millionaire still trying to pull away from him, the doctor said firmly, "Mr. Masters, you need to stop! We are trying to help you! Why would you walk back such a long distance when you are only days out of surgery for repairing your broken bones?"
But as if Vlad didn't hear him, he struggled to push away as he growled, "You are not taking my son away from me! No one is! You would have to pry him from my life-less fingers, first! I am a good father, and no one is taking Daniel from me! He's my son! Mine! He's—"
But the man's ranting was quickly cut off as his spinning head suddenly overcame his anger. And he gasped softly as he realized he was weaker than he thought. And it was with that thought that Vladimir's world faded into darkness…
"Mr. Masters!" the doctor gasped as his patience suddenly fainted in his hold.
"Tricia! Stretcher! Call the code!" the doctor ordered.
The alarms went off and in an instant, there were people swarming around the doctor and his unconscious patient. They quickly got the young millionaire on a stretcher and pulled him into his room where Danny was as they began to run around, checking blood pressure, heart rate, and administering medication.
The doctor noticed the man's blood pressure had dropped, but with the hurried intravenous medication, it began to rise and stabilize again. The doctor then proceeded to check the man's operation wounds, but found they had not broken open. In fact, they looked a lot better than he had expected from being just four days after surgery.
Once his patient was stable, he ushered everyone but the main nurse away. "Call me the moment he wakes up," he ordered before walking out.
But when he all but ran into the two officials and child services worker, whom had been waiting outside for things to settle, the doctor's troubled frown turned into one of anger.
"What is wrong with you people?" the doctor barked out. "I told you not to upset him! He could have ripped out his stitches and bled out!"
"We only asked him standard questions, Dr. Malik," the older officer replied with a frown. "It is obvious he is mentally unstable."
"Of course he's mentally unstable!" the doctor hissed to keep himself from screaming. "His son and he were almost killed! He's traumatized and you are not helping the situation!"
"Nevertheless," Mrs. Ross spoke up. "Until we can be sure that he didn't deliberately or unintentionally endanger his child and that he is legally his father, we need to keep the boy away from him. It is federal law that a hospital must keep a minor under protective custody until this whole investigation is resolved."
"Don't worry. Daniel is not going anywhere," the doctor replied, still displeased but now more calm. "His wounds are still healing and he's in critical condition. So, even if the hospital didn't need to keep him under protective custody, he would still need to remain here because of his injuries. As for separating them, I will not do that. Doing so could push the father over an edge that could do irreversible damage. He is still recovering, too, and unnecessary stress could very well endanger his life."
"But the child—" the child services woman began.
"We have them in a protective custody room. They are being monitored around the clock. Believe me, nothing is going to happen to that child. And until you all get a legal order to make me separate them, I will not do it. Now, leave. My patients need to rest," the doctor said firmly before he walked past them.
Tom had worked into the late evening at his lab within the 'GiW' facility. He had gotten sick of Gregor's constant complaining, so he had sent him away to Freakshow for the rest of the day. He really didn't understand the child's 'need' to be with 'his master'. But then again, that was what the spell the controlling staff casted over its victims did. So, it didn't have to make sense. Still, the spell kept the dragon ghost dependent and even obsessed with Freakshow in spite of Gregor's having free thought. In fact, it was even more surprising that the creature had any freewill as it was…
Thomas frowned at suddenly realizing he was thinking of Gregor instead of focusing on what he was doing. He was certainly not attached to the little demon, but perhaps he was so use to him now that it felt… odd when he wasn't around. That was the only logical explanation he could think of. It's not like he was thinking of Gregor because he missed the ghost.
The 'GiW' scoffed at that before focusing back on what he was doing. He couldn't say he had had much progress with his experiments on the Prince's core energy. It was just too different to really understand it. But he did confirm that this clear energy had regenerative properties. Not only the Prince's core energy, but the clear energy that had come from the Queen's stomach also had regenerative properties—just not as developed. The question was, was this just because the Prince was a child? But then how did that explain the Queen's energy taken from her abdomen? Unless, was it possible that ghosts were… evolving?
That was a troubling possibility.
But as he compared the Prince's core energy to the core energy taken from the Queen's stomach and also further compared it to the Queen's normal core energy, he only developed more questions. It seemed that the clear energies were more alike than was the Queen's regular core energy and the clear one taken from her stomach. It also led him to wonder if it were now possible for ghosts to… bear children? As in have them as humans do? If they were evolving and if the clear energy was only found in very young ghost children, was it possible that the core in the Queen's stomach had been a…?
Thomas frowned, not daring to finish the thought. It was just too… unbelievable. It just couldn't be physically possible. He wasn't as knowledgeable about 'ghost anatomy' as Maddie Fenton, but he was at least certain female ghosts didn't have the organs necessary to carry a fetus. That was why these creatures had evolved to form children through their cores instead—as Maddie Fenton had said… Then again, ghost reproduction was slow—some would even say too slow. It was possible that over time the Ghost race could even become extinct. Of course, Tom had no problem with that, since he was looking to find a way to get that to happen much sooner than later.
Still, if ghosts could find other means of reproduction—namely, evolve to bear their young—it certainly would increase their population drastically, which would mean bad news for the human race.
All the same, Thomas could not even fathom ghosts bearing children as humans do. Their make-up wouldn't allow it. So, as quick as the thought had come, the man pushed it out of his mind.
But perhaps just as unbelievable was this regenerative energy. And yet, here is was. And aside from these experiments, he also had been testing the clear energy's effects on ghost weapons. But all he found was that the energy wasn't very effective for powering them. He supposed he should have expected that much, since the energy was still young. Nevertheless, it was pretty impressive considering the age of the ghost from which it had come.
It seemed, though, that the regenerative property of the Prince's core energy only was effective when combined with ectoplasm or another ghost energy—almost like it was an enhancer or catalyst.
The thought suddenly brought another thought—a more twisted thought—into Tom's mind. And why he acted on it, he would never know, but it would forever impact him…
Taking a small sterilized needle, he pricked his finger and put some of his blood on a petri-dish. He then added a drop of the Prince's core energy and placed them under a microscope. He watched as the two foreign substances mixed.
At first, it looked as if the blood cells began to die as they absorbed the ghost energy…. It was what he had expected. But then, suddenly, they began to glow and like with the ectoplasm at the Fentons' house, the blood cells began to divide and proliferate.
Tom gasped as he watched the petri-dish fill up with his own blood. And yet, now, the newly divided cells had this slight glow to them…
"Impossible," Thomas breathed out.
He quickly pulled away from the microscope, though he continued to stare in shock at the blood oozing over the edge of the dish. In all this time, he had never even contemplated the possibility of how ghost energy affected human beings. And yet, he was sure it was deadly to humans. So, how was it that this energy did not kill his blood cells, and instead, generated them?
"This must be an isolated case…," Tom muttered. "I have taken samples of Gregor's core energy and it is not clear. Furthermore, I just tested it again and it does not have regenerative properties! So, why is the King's spawn's energy so different?"
Unfortunately, with the little demon dead, Tom would never know the answer of what all this meant. But now more than ever, he was going to make the most of his sample of the Prince's special energy…
Tom touched the side of his face, but then he cringed at the irritation to his still healing claw marks on his face. And yet, another daring consideration entered his mind at the thought of his injured face.
"I wonder…," he muttered before moving to another table and grabbing a scalpel. He thoughtfully touched the blade with his fingers before lowering it to his palm. He hesitated only slightly before he cut the muscle just under his thumb.
He hissed a bit with the sting, but then ignored the blood dripping down his hand as he moved over to his sample of Danny's core energy.
He took another small drop and hesitated again as the dropper hovered right over his wound…
"'We only live once' as the saying goes," he muttered before he let the energy drip into his wound.
At first, it was just really cold, but then, Tom cried out as the sensation went from numbing to feeling like he had just poured flesh-eating acid onto his hand. The man dropped to his knees and gripped his hand, vaguely aware of how it was glowing green. The sensation seemed to last forever; in fact, Tom had thought he was dying for a moment.
Then, suddenly, it stopped.
Panting, Tom stared at his hand, unsure of what shocked him more: the fact that he was alive or the fact that the cut on his hand was completely gone!
As the lingering glow around his hand began to fade away, Tom slowly stood back up and continued to inspect his hand. "Well, I'll be damned…," he said with a nervous chuckle. "It works on humans, too…"
He glanced at the two almost full vials of glowing clear energy on the tube stand and grinned evilly, "I'll be damned indeed…"
Vlad woke up around evening time. He sat up, feeling dizzy from all the medication coursing through his veins. From the moment he had heard the child services woman's intention, he had made up his mind on what he had to do. And even in his half-conscious state, his decision was very clear.
He needed to get Daniel out of here.
But it was easier said than done. To get him out, he would need to convince the doctors to sign Daniel and him out of the hospital as well as get the police and child services off his back. But trying to retract what he said or cover up completely what had happened would be unrealistic with so many people knowing about it now; but… perhaps, he could get the police and child services to…. close the case, and further… persuade the doctors into releasing Daniel and him.
He could only think of one way to accomplish such impossible feats:
Overshadowing.
Most ghosts were capable of overshadowing, yet it was a mere physical possession more than anything else. Vlad, however, had mastered the trick to not only physically possess someone, but to also take possession of their mind, going as far as altering and erasing their memories of his choosing. Furthermore, he could access their knowledge to use for his advantage.
His mastery of this intricate ghost power had served him over the years to meld into the human race. By overshadowing business men and accessing their knowledge, he had learned the arts of making money as well as owning and running successful companies. By overshadowing teachers in college, he had been able to learn the necessary things to play his role. Through all of this, he had been able to create his human persona, Vladimir Masters. This included fooling even the humans' government. And according to the government, he had been born and raised in Florida. After his family tragically died, he had moved to Wisconsin and gone to their renowned university in Madison.
All of it possible through overshadowing.
Now, he would use it again to fix this mess. He could not have the police after him, let alone have his son taken from him by these foolish humans. He would have to also make sure to fix his oversight and make 'Daniel Masters' as real to human society as was 'Vladimir Masters.'
But first things first…
The millionaire looked up at the medication hanging on the rack before looking at the IV in his arm. He was already having trouble focusing with this relaxant and who knows what else going into him. He needed to get rid of it. He now realized he was weaker than he thought, so he would have to wait out the night at least before trying to use his ghost powers. But he knew he couldn't wait too long to leave this place.
Slowly standing up and ignoring the dizziness, Vladimir grabbed the rack holding the bags of medication and began to roll it towards the bathroom. However, just as he got there, the nurse came in.
"Mr. Masters, you're awake. How are you feeling?" she asked with a fake nervous smile.
"Fine. I just need to use the restroom," Vlad said with a sigh and went into the bathroom before she could say anything.
The man frowned. They really were watching him closely. No matter, he was still much more resourceful than they knew. If he could get in and out of ghost hunting homes and facilities without incidence—not counting that fateful day when he got his son, of course—then he could get out of some hospital.
He was already aware of the video surveillance in his and his son's room. But there was none of that in the bathroom, which was why he had come in here. Looking up at the half-filled bags of medication and saline solution, he carefully grabbed the first one. He had planned on phasing out the liquid and draining it into the sink. But then he realized… if he did that, the nurse would just get new bags and he would be back to square one.
No, he needed something to block the medication from entering his bloodstream…
Thinking for a moment, he got a better idea. Lifting his arm with the IV closer to his blurry eyes, he carefully grabbed the IV tube. He knew this was risky to do when he couldn't focus fully, but he needed to do this to regain clear thought again.
Using intangibility, he disconnected the tube from the actual needle in his arm. He then conjured up just a tiny bit of ecto-goo and inserted it into the end of the tube to create a makeshift stopper. But it was more than just a 'stopper'. The half-ghost knew that the energy in the goo would further disintegrate the medicine on contact. Still, he also knew it was temporary because the goo would eventually dissolve itself. But it would take several hours. So, it would hold until tomorrow morning and that's all he needed.
Finally, the millionaire reconnected the IV tube to the needle in his vein in the same manner as he removed it. He smirked in satisfaction when nothing began to beep and it all looked normal. He then went to the bathroom for real, washed his hands, and then stepped out.
It didn't surprise him to find the nurse and now doctor there.
Vlad moved over to his bed and sat down as Dr. Malik asked, "How are you feeling?"
Vladimir nodded. "I'm better." He glanced over at his comatose son and asked in genuine worry, "What about my son?"
The doctor smiled sympathetically and replied, "He is stable, but… still no improvement, Mr. Masters."
When his patient remained quiet, the doctor quickly spoke up, trying to sound optimistic. "But we cannot lose hope, Vladimir. He is young and, well, God can do extraordinary things."
The millionaire still didn't reply. Instead, he watched as the nurse replaced one of his son's medicine bags with a new one. And that's when it hit him: he couldn't just disconnect his son from the medications he was being given. What if he ended up making things worse? No, he needed to keep him on whatever it was they had him on. At least until he could find another way to… help him.
Vladimir was certain that the trouble was with his son's ghost half. He needed to get him help with it. And he wasn't good enough in ghost medicine to know how to heal something of this magnitude. Yes, he knew about some healing herbs; but he was still learning. And… And this was his son. He couldn't bring himself to just 'experiment' with him, especially when he didn't know what was truly wrong with him, aside from it having to do with his core….
No, he needed someone who knew ghost medicine very well… And he could only think of one ghost he trusted enough to… to help his son. But it would still be risky.
"I have no other choice," he thought despairingly.
"Mr. Masters?"
The millionaire almost jolted when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at the doctor, who was frowning in concern.
"Did you hear what I said?" Dr. Malik asked as the nurse stepped out.
Vlad sighed tiredly and shook his head. "I am a bit dizzy from the medication."
"It's the mild sedative. You need to relax for what remains of today. I will have it removed tomorrow. I was also told you are barely eating... Mr. Masters, it is important that you properly nourish yourself so you can get better and go home."
"I'm not leaving without my son," Vladimir quickly replied, tensing with anger.
The doctor frowned. "Calm down. No one is separating you from your son. I'm sorry you had to go through that, but when a child is physically abused, child services gets involved. Plus, there was a crime committed against you both. They were only trying to do their jobs. You'll see, once they clear everything up, they will back off. Just… try to be calm about all this. Aggression isn't going to help your cause, Mr. Masters."
Vladimir relaxed again and glanced over at his son. There was a brief silence before the millionaire, without looking at the doctor, said "They think he's not my son… They think I caused what happened to him… "
"Well, I do not believe that," Dr. Malik said without hesitation.
The millionaire looked at him with both surprise and uncertainty before asking, "How can you be so certain?"
The doctor smiled before he undid his white robe and reached into his pants pocket. He pulled out his wallet and flipped it to a picture and showed it to his patient.
"Those are my two sons. One is your son's age and the other is three."
Vladimir stared at the picture, for once feeling that distrust and dislike he felt for all human beings wash out of his heart…
The doctor suddenly sat beside him on the bed and looked over at Danny, and Vlad did the same.
"Vladimir, I'm a father, too," he said calmly. "So, as such, I recognize that look—that look that only a real father gives his son. That is how I am so sure Daniel is your son, regardless of what the police may believe. Whatever happened, I'm also sure it was not your fault. And just how I would die for my sons, I know you would do the same for Daniel. If you could have prevented this, you would have. So, why do you react like you are guilty?" The doctor looked seriously at his patient as he further said, "That's what these officers are seeing, Vladimir. You need to first believe you're not at fault for what happened to your son, before others can believe it, too."
Vladimir felt his hands shaking and he swallowed hard before replying quietly, "I should have been able to prevent this… I was supposed to protect him… I failed as a father and as a…" But he didn't finish and just lowered his gaze.
The doctor sighed before saying, "I can imagine your feeling helpless, Vladimir; but there are some things that we cannot foresee and so we cannot prevent. Stop tormenting yourself with what has passed and focus on what you can do now to help your son. You need to be strong for him. Talk to him, so even in his unconscious state, he's aware you're by his side. And who knows? Maybe it will even bring him back to you…"
Dr. Malik stood up when he saw the nurse return with a food tray. "Please eat, Mr. Masters. I will see you in the morning…"
Vladimir didn't reply, but he did watch the doctor leave.
"He… really cares," he said to himself, not realizing he had said it out loud.
"Oh, yes, Dr. Malik is a very compassionate person and a great doctor," the nurse agreed, startling Vlad.
Vladimir regarded her for a moment before he looked down at the food in front of him. Even when it wasn't uncovered, the aroma made him nauseous. But he was aware of his weakened state. And if he wanted to leave with Daniel as soon as possible, he needed to get his strength back up.
As Vlad lifted the cover from the tray, the nurse proceeded to check the IV monitor; and seeing it looked good and that there was a constant drip, she turned and smiled when she saw the man eating and said, "If you need anything, just give me a call."
Vladimir watched as she left before looking back over to his son. It was going to be tricky, but he was determined to leave this place tomorrow.
Maddie smiled as she watched a little boy, about six, splash around in a puddle left behind by the recent rains. He giggled and yelled happily, having the time of his life as his shoes got all muddy and his pants got all wet.
"Look, Mommy!" the little boy said, startling her."Look how big I can make the splashes!"
The woman frowned in confusion and looked around, trying to find the boy's mother. Surely he couldn't be talking to her….
"Mommy! You're not looking!"
Maddie quickly looked back at the boy and her eyes widened as she stared at his pouting face. But what shocked her more was that she recognized those bright blue eyes…
"D-Danny?" she whispered, moving a step closer to the boy.
The little boy giggled and resumed splashing around.
Something began to wrap around the woman's heart, and she slowly began to approach the frolicking child with her hand slowly stretching towards him.
But just when she had been about to touch him, someone suddenly grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
"MOMMY!" the boy screamed, just before she heard the sound of a gun and then felt a hot burning sensation in her stomach.
She gasped as she looked down at herself and found a gaping hole in her abdomen; and when she looked back up at the one responsible, she found none other than Thomas Chrome right in front of her.
But all he did was grin wickedly at her before letting her go. She dropped to her knees as blood pooled around her. But her eyes widened at the sight: her blood… it was green!
"Come on, little demon. Call daddy," Tom hissed darkly at the now crying little boy. "Call him."
"No!" Maddie gasped out as she watched the ghost hunter aim the gun at her terrified little boy.
"Mommy, help!" he sobbed out, as little green lines began to appear over his untarnished skin, and the little cuts began to seep out green blood just like her own wound.
"Tom, no! Stop!" she cried out as she heard the gun's humming and realized it was a ghost weapon the man was using.
"Why? He has to die. We both know that," Tom replied with a cruel smirk. "In fact, you would do the same thing."
Maddie felt her lungs constrict when she suddenly found the gun in her hand, and against her will, she fired it at her own son.
"No! DANNY!" she screamed at the same time she heard her own child's cry of pain.
"MADDIE!" Jack's voice suddenly cut through her mind.
The horrible scene vanished in an instant and her eyes snapped open and were greeted by darkness. But even when she woke up from her gruesome nightmare, she felt like she was still in it, and began to cry out her deceased son's name.
"Maddie!" Jack yelled again, shaking her again. "You're dreaming! It was a dream!"
The reading lamp was suddenly on which woke her fully and she sat up with a gasp. "Oh, God! I killed him! Jack, I killed our son!"
"Maddie, what are you talking about? Danny died in the explosion. It was just a dream!" Jack replied worriedly.
Maddie breathed heavily for a moment before her husband's words sank in. And when they did, she suddenly buried her face in her hands, and began to cry.
"Jack, I'm going crazy," she whimpered in between her tears.
Jack stayed quiet this time, unsure of what to reply because he was beginning to wonder if his wife really did need mental help. But it made no sense! Yes, it had taken him about three years after their son's death to get his wife out of her depression and return to normality—or, as normal as one can be after losing a child.
But now, a little over three years later, she was having nightmares about their son again!
Just four days ago, she had woken up screaming their son's name. It had been so abrupt that Jack had screamed himself. And then coincidentally, she had no sooner yelled how Danny was in danger after waking when the house had begun to shake!
His wife's bizarre wakening had been the same night the portals had ripped open around the world. It had certainly been an odd coincidence, especially when his wife had stopped having such serious nightmares a good three years ago—only for them to return on that particular night!
Jack sighed as he pushed aside his brief thoughts and focused on his crying wife. "Maddie, you can't be doing this to yourself again. I know you'll always miss Danny—and I will, too. But, Mads, he's gone. He has been for over six years now. No one's hurtin' our son, because he's in a better place now, sweet cheeks."
"I don't know why this is happening to me again," Maddie whimpered as she struggled to stop crying and get rid of the pain in her heart. "But this was different than what happened four nights ago. I know you don't believe me, but four nights ago wasn't a nightmare, Jack! I just… I felt something in my heart… something so strong that it woke me up. It scared me, but it wasn't fear for myself… It was for our son. I felt like something horrible was happening to Danny!"
"Maddie…," Jack said with another tired sigh. "Danny's gone."
"I know, Jack!" she replied, a bit angrily. "I'm just telling you what I felt. I know it makes no sense, but it's what I felt… But now… it was a nightmare…. Oh, Jack, it was horrible! I was dreaming about our son, but he was older somehow and then… Tom killed him—No, I killed him. But he was bleeding ectoplasm!"
"You were probably thinking about what Tom said to us about the King's son," Jack answered, hoping to get his wife to realize that all she was having were unimportant nightmares.
Maddie sighed as she calmed a bit, and she indeed realized that that's probably where her dream had come from… But why would her subconscious associate Tom's action with her son?
"Jack…," Maddie suddenly said, sounding more collected, but still quiet. "…Would we have done the same thing?"
"What do you mean, Maddie?" Jack asked, feeling his tired mind begging him to go back to sleep, but still wanting to be a supportive husband.
"I mean what Tom did. If we would have had Plasmius' family in our hands, would we have used them against him? Would we have… killed them, too?" Maddie questioned uncertainly.
Jack quickly felt more awake and he frowned in thought. He had also been asking himself those questions since he learned what Tom did. He had always believed a ghost was just a ghost. And they all needed to be killed. In his time as a ghost hunter, neither he nor Maddie had ever hesitated to shoot or experiment on a ghost. And they had done a lot of both—and not just to male ghosts, but also female ghosts.
But they had never once encountered a ghost child. He was sure ghost children were pretty defenseless if their research on ghost anatomy and development was correct. A ghost offspring's core would still be too underdeveloped for their ghost energy to cause harm to anything.
But… it would eventually. The creature would grow up and become another threat to human kind.
And as defenseless as the little ghost prince could have been… he would have become a powerful and evil ghost king, just like his father.
Jack finally looked at his wife and seriously replied, "You know, Mads… Sometimes in war, we're forced to do lots of things we don't want or are uncomfortable with. Ghosts are the enemy. It's either them or us. So, to have let the Prince live—no matter how young he was—would have meant the future death of many humans. And besides, ghosts have never hesitated to endanger and even… kill human kids. Why should we then hesitate to kill their offspring?"
Maddie nodded. "I know you're right… But somehow it feels wrong."
"Well, wasting anything that seems defenseless is always gonna feel wrong; but like I said, sometimes it's necessary," Jack replied. And when his wife didn't reply this time, he wrapped an arm around her and kissed her cheek. "Look, let's just forget about all this, okay? What's done is done. We have other things to work on, like mapping out the remaining ghost portals. We might not wanna work with Tom, but he's right about one thing: the time to strike those ecto-skum is now!"
Maddie's eyes narrowed and she nodded. "Yeah. We have to put an end to them once and for all. We can't let those creatures continue to harm human beings." Her face relaxed again as she smiled at her husband and added, "Sorry I woke you, honey."
"No worries, sweet cheeks!" Jack beamed. "But, you know. I am still kinda tired."
Maddie nodded and she and her husband settled back into their bed. But as soon as she heard her husband's snoring start back up, her mind drifted to the Ghost King. She wondered: did he see his dead family before he perished, too? Or, if he was still alive… was he in as much pain as she was when her own son had been killed?
Strangely, the thought didn't make her happy. It made her sad. For the first time in her life, she felt sorry for a ghost. And not just any ghost.
Her son's murderer.
The next day, Vladimir was alone with Danny in the hospital room. He carefully sat down next to his unconscious son. He watched his small chest rise and fall as he always did as of late. But instead of the staid expression he had shown in these past days, the man's face now reflected sadness.
"… Merry Christmas, Daniel….," he said quietly. But saying just those simple words brought tears to the father's eyes. He took in a shaky breath before reaching over to a gift bag he had gotten from the hospital's gift shop a moment ago. "I couldn't find anything very special at that small gift store," he continued, trying to keep his voice light and steady. "But I just had to get you something, since your gifts are back… home. And, well, I found this for you, my boy…." He glanced at his unmoving son for a moment before he looked back at the gift bag and began to pull out the tissue papers. He then reached in and pulled out a stuffed badger with blue eyes and a yarn-drawn smile….
"I know how much you like Leo, so I hope this is close enough…." He lifted the fluffy black-and-white toy in front of his son, as if he could see it, and smiled sadly as he added, "He sort of looks like you… Blue eyes… black hair… or white," he added more quietly. He paused before saying more lightly, "Did you know badgers are known for their mischievous and stubborn qualities…? Sounds like anyone you know, Daniel?" He silenced. "… I'm sure you'll name him when you wake up…"
Vlad suddenly leaned forward and rested his forehead against his son's before closing his eyes and taking even breaths.
"…Daniel…," he whispered tenderly. "I… don't know if you can hear me, but… I swear I'm going to find a way to get you better. Even… Even if I have to give you my life, I'm going to make you better."
He pulled away and stared at his son's unresponsive face before looking at the monitors. "These humans cannot do more for you, but… maybe someone else we know can…" He glanced at the viewing window, seeing a nurse walk by. "Regardless…we must leave this place. Staying any longer is too dangerous for both of us…"
He looked back at his son and smiled weakly as he placed the stuffed badger next to him. Then, he further whispered, "I'll be right back, little Phantom." But the moment he said that endeared pet name, Vlad's heart clenched when that reminded him of his deceased wife. But he pushed the thought and emotion aside, and stood from the bed and walked over to the bathroom.
Once inside, he locked the door. He had already seen the two detectives and the child services woman from yesterday walk by his room. But the doctor had not allowed them entrance and instead escorted them somewhere to talk in private.
Vlad also knew the pediatrician was in the hospital at the moment, since he had come to check on Daniel earlier.
Everyone he needed present for his next moves was here. It was time to act.
Eyes shimmering red, black rings formed around Vladimir's waist before they repelled each other and transformed him into the Ghost King. In an instant, he split into four. And while two of his clones turned invisible and flew off somewhere, the remaining one morphed into his human appearance and nodded at the original.
As the human copy walked out of the bathroom and sat down next to his son again, the real Plasmius also turned invisible and flew out of the hospital room…
"For the last time, I am not separating them," Dr. Malik said seriously, though frustration was evident in his voice as he talked to the child services worker.
"Then, I will be obligated to put an officer to watch over Mr. Masters. You cannot refuse that, Dr. Malik," she replied coolly.
"No, I can't. But as I said, there's no proof that Mr. Masters is at fault for what happened to his son. And by law, you cannot act against him until you have something on him."
"Yes, I'm aware, but no one is accusing him of anything. It is a simple precaution. For the boy's protection. Not to mention, we have yet to find Daniel's birth records or even if Mr. Masters has legal custody of him. That in itself is a big problem, Dr. Malik. But, of course, that is for the police and the child service department to worry about. Meanwhile, I would like to personally see Daniel. I do not think that is a problem, correct?"
Dr. Malik sighed but nodded. "Very well. Let me at least talk to the father first, or else he might get upset with your presence again."
"Alright. I'll wait here then," she replied expectantly.
Dr. Malik resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead nodded and stepped out of the private conference room.
But as soon as he returned to the critical care floor, he spotted his colleague, the pediatrician in charge of Danny's case, talking to the two detectives.
"Dr. Lopez," he called.
The pediatric abruptly stopped talking to the two detectives and looked at him. "Ah, good doctor! Just who I was looking for…."
Dr. Malik blinked at the odd way his colleague had just addressed him, but before he could say anything, Dr. Lopez continued, "It turns out that the detectives have received some recent news in regards to Mr. Masters and his son's case…"
"Oh?" Dr. Malik replied curiously.
"Come, let us go talk in private," the pediatrician replied pleasantly. "Meanwhile, the two officers are going to go have a word with the child services worker…"
"She is where again?" Officer Smith abruptly spoke up.
"Conference room D. Third floor," Dr. Malik replied slowly, looking over at the two officers. It was odd. One of them seemed confused and the other, the one who had asked the question, seemed a bit… zoned out.
But before he could say anything to the two officers, the older one suddenly blinked in acknowledgement and said calmly, "Thank you for the help, doctors. Have a pleasant day."
The elder officer suddenly walked off, while the younger one jolted and quickly followed after him, asking, "What's going on? What did you mean the case is closed?"
Dr. Malik frowned as the voices faded away, but he was now even more confused. However, he turned toward the hand that he now felt touching his shoulder.
"Shall we?" Dr. Lopez asked with a calm smile.
"…Yes…," Dr. Malik answered, and followed after the pediatrician.
The general doctor never noticed his colleague's eyes flash red for a brief second…
After heading up to the fourth floor, the two doctors stepped into Dr. Lopez's office.
Dr. Malik briefly noticed the other doctor lock the door after them before he asked, "So, what is this latest news on Vladimir and his son?"
"In short? They will be departing from this hospital today," Dr. Lopez replied calmly.
"Come again?" Dr. Malik quickly asked, startled by the sudden and bizarre information.
"I said, your patients are leaving today, and you will be signing them out," Dr. Lopez rephrased just as calmly as before.
"What?" Dr. Malik questioned all the same, but then he shook his head and said, "Dr. Lopez, you're not making any sense. Vladimir and Daniel cannot leave. The father went through surgery for serious factures! On top of that, the man had a really bad concussion! He even has partial amnesia! And don't get me started on his son! You, more than I, know that Daniel is nowhere close to being recovered enough to even contemplate letting him go home. Besides, the police would not allow it. No, absolutely not! What you are considering is madness!"
Dr. Lopez didn't reply this time and just stared back at him. But before Dr. Malik could say anything more, there was a flash of black light behind him and the startled general doctor whirled around.
There, standing in front of his desk, was his patient, Vladimir Masters.
"Mr. Masters?" Dr. Malik gasped.
Vlad sighed before saying seriously, "I do not expect you to understand…"
Dr. Malik jolted when two strong hands ceased him from behind; and he would have screamed if it wasn't for the fact that one of said hands had quickly moved up and covered his mouth.
"Mmmmh!" Dr. Malik cried, struggling to no avail against, who he now realized, was Dr. Lopez's hold—or, so he thought.
Vladimir slowly approached the alarmed doctor until he was standing face-to-face with him. "It's a shame, doctor…," he commented thoughtfully. "It's a shame that for every decent human being, there are a hundred wicked ones… Part of me used to believe there was hope for your kind…. Not anymore."
Dr. Malik froze in fear when he saw his patient's eyes turn blood red.
"But you have nothing to fear, good doctor," Vlad continued. "I will not harm you… and you will remember none of this. Even so, allow me to thank you for your services to my son and I, especially when I owe you my son's life. But I do require your help… just one last time."
"Mmhh!" Dr. Malik attempted to scream as the man in front of him suddenly turned into bright red energy and dove into his chest.
The doctor's eyes turned red and his body jolted as he briefly fought for control. But it was useless and he suddenly knew no more.
Vladimir studied his host's hand for a moment, moving it this way and that to make sure he met no resistance. Then, like he had done to Dr. Lopez and the older of the two police officers, he closed Dr. Malik's eyes and searched through his mind.
With his honed ability to overshadow other beings, he shifted through the human's memories, pulling out information and even inserting 'fake' memories as he thought fit. It took a lot of energy and mental power, but it was worth it. If all went well—and since he had done this many times before, he was sure it would go well—Dr. Malik, Dr. Lopez, and Officer Smith would only feel a little woozy for an hour or so after he released them. They would have no recollection of any of this—and everything he was about to do, they would be completely convinced they had done on their own…
The plan was simple. He needed Dr. Lopez's memories and body to get a hold of all the information the hospital had on Daniel, including the medications he was being given. He needed to know the right doses of the medicines, too, and also what 'medical things' his son would need before he took him from this place.
Meanwhile, he would use Dr. Malik to fill out all the necessary paperwork and transactions for a medical release. Everything would be done by the book.
It was clean and simple—and would not raise any suspicions.
Finally, the older detective… that was a bit tricky, since Vladimir would have to later make sure to get the necessary paperwork to the police to make sure no one suspected anything.
But… the police would also be taking care of child services… Something that his third copy was making sure of right now…
The woman from child services stood up when he saw the two detectives come in.
"Hello, Mrs. Ross," the older man said, shaking her hand. "We have some news for you."
"Yes, it turns out that our department received the missing information in regards to Vladimir Masters' son," Officer Michaels said, though he sounded still slightly confused. Regardless, he trusted his more experienced partner and the older cop had explained enough to him on their way here to appease him for the moment.
The child services lady raised an eyebrow. "You mean the boy's birth records and the documents proving Mr. Masters recently brought him from Germany?"
"Correct," the older one answered. "Turns out the man was telling the truth. Daniel was born outside of the U.S. His mother died in Germany; and although she was indeed murdered, the one responsible was caught and imprisioned in Berlin. It is also true that the boy's father had recently been able to file the papers to get him to the U.S. under his legal name. But that's not all... We also received further news on Mr. Masters and his son's attack. Apparently, there was a witness. My department back at headquarters interviewed him and he said that the attack was a simple armed robbery assault."
"What? But I thought you said nothing was stolen from Mr. Masters," she replied with a frown.
Officer Smith nodded. "That's correct, but it's because the thieves did not get the chance. The eye-witness showed up and sounded the alarm. So, they were forced to flee without anything. I further was informed that this wasn't the first time there has been a brutal attack at the park. It seems these bandits have done this a few times in the past months, leaving their victims either brutally beaten or killed… It is certainly a problem, one a higher police division is currently investigating. But in regards to Mr. Masters…. I think you can understand what this means, yes?"
Mts. Ross nodded. "Yes, Mr. Masters is in the clear, then. I will need a full report on this sent to my office, so I can close this file at my own department, too."
The older officer nodded calmly. "Yes, you will get that file once I complete my report. But with this case closed, your services are no longer necessary. Thank you all the same for your time, Mrs. Ross."
Mrs. Ross frowned slightly, but then nodded. "Just doing my job, officers. Have a good day."
The two officers watched the woman leave before the youngest remarked, "This has got to be one of our more quick cases… I really thought Vladimir Masters was to blame for what happened to his kid…"
The older officer's eyes flashed red, but it went unnoticed by the younger cop. "Of course you did, Mathew. You're ignorant."
Officer Michaels quickly looked at his partner and blinked. "What?"
"I said, you're in need of some lunch," 'Officer Smith' replied. "Come. We have nothing more to do here."
"Uh, okay…" the younger detective replied.
And all the while, he remained unaware of the fact that his partner remained overshadowed by one of the Ghost King's copies…
Vladimir rubbed at his aching head. It took almost the whole day to get his clones to do everything necessary to get him and his son out of this place.
He had planned to release the cop with his departure from the hospital, but he thought better of it. It was best to see this through to make sure no one suspected anything. Of course, it was simple to conjure up the paperwork for his cover up within the police station. In fact, he had gone as far as already creating a false birth certificate, naming him as Daniel's father and everything else he had told child services. All he needed now was to alter his son's real birth record in the database and all would be complete.
It had been a tedious and difficult plan, but it was the most effective way to get the police away from him and his son.
Once his clone had finished at the police department, he had released the detective from his overshadowing; and the human was so dizzy, he had opted to go home early. But the cop was none the wiser, and Vladimir knew the officer would be sure he had indeed closed his case and think nothing of it the next day…
Meanwhile, at the hospital, his other clones had been just as occupied with the doctors. In fact, that was probably what was giving Vlad such a massive headache now.
Having to dig through the doctors' memories and absorb enough of their knowledge to take care of his son once they parted from the hospital was no easy task—especially when he wasn't at full strength yet.
Nevertheless, everything was coming along well. In fact, it only took another hour to finish Vladimir's business with Dr. Lopez, which included, among other things, 'convincing' the pediatric doctor to write discharge orders and prescriptions for his son. Now that the Ghost King was satisfied, it was time to release his control over Dr. Lopez. And once Vlad did, the doctor, much like the detective, looked somewhat confused with trying to both shake his dizziness and put his blurry thoughts together. But since that only made him dizzier, he suddenly wanted to go home and just left Vlad and his son alone.
Vladimir knew he couldn't completely erase his record of being at the hospital with his son because that would raise suspicions. So, he had the doctors 'determine' that his son was in a coma due to a head injury and that there was nothing more they could do for him, and so, were sending him home.
As for Vlad himself, it was even simpler. A real report from the lab department had come in, revealing his concussion was completely healed. And though he was sure the doctors would be amazed by how quickly he recovered if they ever looked at the report again, it would not be questioned. The doctors would agree that his bones could 'heal at home', so there was no other reason to keep him here. Of course, they didn't know Vlad's injuries had all but fully healed by now, thanks to his regenerative core energy. And, of course, his ghost half's immune system was far superior to humans, so physical injuries were usually not a big deal for him…
With one last clone still overshadowing Dr. Malik, Vladimir knew it was almost time to leave. He was just waiting for the nurse to come in and do the usual procedures…
He didn't wait long.
"Hello, Mr. Masters. I am the evening nurse for today. And I hear you and your son are going home…"
Vladimir calmly nodded. "Yes, that's correct."
She smiled, but it was more sympathetic this time as she further said, "I'm sorry about your son…"
The nurse knew that the only way a coma patient was allowed to be taken home was if the doctor believed the person had no hope left, and so allowed the family to take said person home. Of course, it would require a lot of money to care for that person. But she had heard that this man was a millionaire, so it didn't surprise her all that much that he was willing to pay for home-care and all of the other necessities at his home.
Vladimir nodded at the woman's sympathy before he glanced over at his son.
"Do not lose hope, though. Perhaps being at home will allow him to recover and maybe come out of his coma… ," she added with more encouragement. But not giving the man any time to reply, she changed the subject and said, "Well, let me remove that IV before the doctor comes in with the release papers..."
By the time everything was set, it was late evening. The sun was setting as the helicopter Vlad had called for landed at the top of the hospital.
With the help of the staff, Danny was placed into the copter: bed, IV, and all.
Vlad walked over to the still overshadowed doctor and shook his hand. But as he did, he discreetly absorbed his clone back into him, releasing the human from his power.
The doctor let out a small gasp and wobbled back a bit, but Vladimir held his hand tighter, keeping him balanced.
"Easy, good doctor," Vladimir said with a small smile. "Thank you for your help once again."
The doctor looked very dazed, but he blinked as he tried to focus his mind. But his memory was still very fuzzy. Then, realizing he was being addressed, he nodded and muttered, "Yes, it's my pleasure."
The slightest smirk curled Vladimir's lips before he released the doctor's hand and turned away, getting into the helicopter himself.
The nurse then walked over to Dr. Malik and said, "Doctor, we should get off the pad now so the helicopter can leave."
"What?" he asked, but when she stared strangely at him, he gripped his spinning head and nodded. "Yes, right…"
He followed her off the pad and through the door. But he paused as he turned back around and looked out the small window in the door as he watched the helicopter's rotator turn on. He couldn't figure out why he was disoriented, but he wasn't as bothered as he should probably be. He wasn't sure of much right now, but he was sure of one thing: the man he had just shook hands with was truly grateful to him. And it wasn't just because he said it, but… there was this feeling inside him, as if he had somehow felt that man's gratitude.
"Godspeed… Vladimir," he muttered, finally recalling his patient's name…
Meanwhile, Vlad took a deep breath as everything finally came to its end. He was so weak from all he had done, but he had succeeded in his purpose. Still, even when he had managed to come out of that current dilemma, he had several more problems ahead, ones he did not even want to think about right now. All he cared about was finding a way to help his son…
"Sir? Where do you wish to go?" the pilot asked.
Vladimir glanced at his pilot. Being who he was, he had human servants, too. But he always kept them 'on-call', only contacting them when he was in need of their services. His pilot, who was also his driver, was one of those 'temporary human hires.'
Vladimir looked back at his son, and as he pushed back his child's black hair from his face, he finally answered, "Colorado, Jim. Take us to my chalet at the Rockies…"
So, I'm sure you are all wondering what will happen with poor Danny. But just bear with me. We are surprisingly still on the first arch of this story, and it deals mainly on Vlad's charcater—if you haven't noticed already. ) But no worries. This story only has three archs, so it's not like CM. heheh. Still, they are long and complicated archs. And for this first one, I need a few more things to happen to Vladdie before I close this arc. But I think you all will 'like' it.
Anyways, I want to thank you all for your patience and support. Also, for your kind reviews. I don't have much time to reply individually anymore, though I wish I could. But, know I greatly appriciate your reviews and thoughts. And, of course, if I get a bit of time on my hand, I'll reply.
Well, that's enough for now. Expect that one-shot next. Vlad muse is very happy to be back to writing, so he's on a writing rampage! haha!
Ta for now!