Several hours later, Danny and Jazz sit, bored, in a pair of overstuffed armchairs in one of the myriad rooms of Vlad's castle, still quietly discussing what could possibly be going on here even though they ran out of original ideas a while ago. In her boredom, Jazz idly made note of the fact that apparently Vlad finally had gotten a decorator, for while the outside of the castle was still decorated in Packer's green and gold, the interior now had a distinct "woman's touch". They bolt to sudden attention as Jack and Vlad burst into the room laughing, looking bruised, battered, and filthy, but thoroughly happy...and totally oblivious to the pair of skeptical suspicious glares pointed their direction.
Spectra enters with a smile, "Come on, boys. Maddie's been helping me in the kitchen, we have hot cocoa and fudge bars waiting for you!"
They both suddenly can't wipe the goofy grins off their faces, "Mmmmmmm! Fudge!" And with that, they both dash off toward the kitchen.
Danny and Jazz give Spectra identical defiant glares, arms crossed. "What did you do to Vlad?"
At their question, Spectra's bright smile fades, and she suddenly looks quite dejected. She looks from Danny to Jazz and back again, then sighs. "After what I've done...to both of you...you have no reason to believe me, but..."
flashback
Vlad Plasmius floats cross-armed in the endless chaos of the ghost zone, looking as if we were waiting for someone. After several long moments, Spectra, in her black ghostly form, floats up to meet him. He stares impassively at her for a moment, then finally breaks the silence. "You wanted to discuss a deal with me?"
Spectra nods back to him, "Yes. I've heard you have a little...issue...with Jack Fenton?"
Plasmius raises an eyebrow at her, skeptical and curious at the same time. In that short pause, Spectra morphs to a human-looking form, then back again to her ghostly form. With frustration showing in her face, she continues, "If you help me regain a stable form, I'll help you...take care... of Jack."
Plasmius scowls in irritation, "What makes you think I want him dead?" Having Jack Fenton dead would be nice, but utter humiliation would be SO much more satisfying!
Spectra chuckles dryly and shoots back "Who said I was going to kill him? I can lure him away from Maddie, leaving her open to the attentions of..." she pauses and grins evilly at him "...someone else."
Plasmius eyes Spectra skeptically again as she continues, "After all, thanks to a dirty trick played on me by young Danny, no one knows Jack Fenton better than I do." On the tails of her last few words, she shifts into a fat, square-jawed human form.
Plasmius raises an eyebrow again, more curious now than skeptical, "Hmmmmm..."
"...But something went wrong during the procedure," Spectra continues, "and as near as I can figure, I was turned back into a human. I can't do anything even remotely ghostly anymore, and now I realize how horrible I was to you kids, and I'm sorry."
Danny and Jazz glance at each other in slight confusion for a moment, but Spectra continues talking, "The accident changed Vlad somehow, too...he didn't act like the same man. He's less reserved than he was... and he started getting horrible nightmares! The same thing, every night...but he would never tell me about them... just that it was the same thing over and over..."
flashback
Vlad Masters and Spectra stand in Vlad's library. Spectra paces, apparently lost in thought, while Vlad watches, his expression unreadable.
Spectra turns to Vlad, "So, how will we lure them here?"
"We won't" he replies simply, drawing a shocked "What!" from her.
"I've spent the greater part of my life pining away after Maddie and hating Jack for what he did to me," Vlad says, staring at nothing in particular, "I should have been thankful for the gift of my powers, despite the pain I had to suffer to get them!" he says with a bit more passion, then he pauses for a moment, and continues confidently, "Besides...I'm rich, powerful, I could have any woman I want."
"Except Maddie..." Spectra replies in a mocking tone.
Vlad suddenly sobers for a moment and ponders. "True..."
Vlad turns to face Spectra with fire in his eyes and a chillingly evil smile on his face, "But I can have you!"
"So what does that have to do with us?" Danny is the first to respond, followed close by his sister, "Yeah, why are we here?"
Spectra laughs and pulls a spare invitation from her pocket and hands it to Danny. "Hello? It's a wedding! Your father is the best man, and your mother is the matron of honor."
Danny blinks in confusion, "What? You mean that was all real?"
Spectra smiles and pokes Danny in the chest with one finger "Of course. And you're the ring bearer!" she winks, then turns to walk away. Spectra pauses for a moment, then looks back over her shoulder, "Besides, Vlad was right... he is quite the catch." she concludes, then walks off, leaving Danny and Jazz alone. They look at each other and cringe in unison. "Umm, ewww!"
------------------------------------------------
It's a beautiful day for a wedding. Bells ring and soft organ music plays over Vlad's football field. Vlad spared no expense to turn this into a wonderful outdoor chapel. Chairs draped in white bows and flowers dot the field, and a rose-covered trellis-arch stands centered on the 50 yard line. A tuxedoed Vlad, looking even more elegant than he normally does, stands waiting under the arch, smiling at Spectra in a while dress slowly making her way toward him. Jack and Maddie, Danny and Jazz all stand in their appropriate places, smiling.
"Well, this isn't so bad after all." Jazz comments quietly, mostly to herself.
Danny's smile fades and he glances around nervously. He just can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. He leans over to Jazz and quietly mutters "I've got a really bad feeling something bad is about to happen..." On his last word, a small puff of blue-white drifts from Danny's mouth, and the ground begins to rumble and split. "Oh no..."
With an evil cackle, Dan bursts up from the ground right in the middle of the wedding, scattering chairs and guests every which way. Before anyone has any chance to react he blasts Maddie, Jack and Jazz into unconsciousness. Guests begin to panic and run, screaming in terror, while Vlad stands wide-eyed, temporarily paralyzed in shock, quietly saying to himself "He's real... It wasn't just a dream...He's real!"
Having taken care of the three people he thought who could have actually helped out in fighting him, Dan turned his attentions to Danny: he flies over to Danny and grabs him by the front of his suit, hoisting him into the air, right into his face.
"Payback time!" Dan snarls.