Chapter Twenty-Six: Endgame
In a game of chess, one must go through three phases of play: the opening, the midgame, and the endgame.
The opening sets the stage for things to come: moving all necessary pieces into position for the upcoming battle.
The midgame is actual combat: taking, saving, sparing, and sacrificing pieces in order to come closer to victory.
The endgame, however, is the true masterpiece: where the few remaining pieces that were either well-played, ignored, or just plain lucky enough to survive make their last moves in order to secure complete and total domination over the other player.
What many people don't realize is that chess imitates life in many ways. Its struggles are prepared for in the opening, executed in the midgame, and finished off in the endgame exactly like a chess match. It may take minutes, it may take years, but everything will culminate in the exact same manner.
A typical example of a chess match in life is the one that Vladimir Masters, alias Plasmius, embarked on for forty-five years against Jack Fenton. After gaining ghost powers and losing the love of his life to the young inventor, Vlad swore revenge. In his opening, he culminated assets around the world through the use of his powers. In the midgame, he started the Ghost Wars, turning his enemy's son, Danny Fenton, into the perfect warrior.
Now is the endgame, where his mightiest pieces have already been lost to his enemies, where he has barely managed to regain his powers, and where his strategy focuses on a certain player in the enemy camp.
For now, Vlad's motive is to promote his pawn, Ellie Fenton, into his queen.
For if this is done, the game is all but won.
"I want an ecto-suppresser collar on Technus three minutes ago!" Commissioner Valerie Gray shouted to the Amity Park police officers. "If that doesn't happen within the next five seconds, I'll fire the first–"
Valerie paused her ranting as she saw Danny Fenton sitting on his hoverchair. He seemed serene, in the way of an aged warrior that had just seen a great battle and lived to tell the tale. And that was probably what had happened.
An hour earlier, the silent alarm systems at Fenton Manor had been triggered by two intruders: Skulker and Technus. Very valuable prizes from a police point of view, Valerie had taken a special ghost-hunter detachment outside of town to where the stately mansion stood. However, she knew in her heart that the two ghosts would most likely be trounced before they even got there. She'd known about Danny's secret for years, keeping it like a dear friend; she knew that his reputation in the Ghost Wars wasn't unfounded.
Danny went up to the commissioner, saying, "Hello, Valerie. Long time, no see."
"Same here, Danny," Valerie replied. "So what went on here? This place looks like it's been torn apart."
"It has," Danny said. "I don't know how Technus and Skulker got out of the Ghost Zone, but I'm sure they'll be secured with you on the job."
Valerie's cheeks turned a scarlet hue to match her suit. "Thanks, Danny."
"Anyway, why they attacked was pretty clear."
"Revenge?"
"I think so. But something's not right. That robot had no marking on it to specify who it's from, didn't it?"
"Yes. But the metal's been traced back to Master's old company VladCo. It used the metals before it became Dalv Corp."
Danny stared out into space, apparently processing this in his brain.
"Ellie..." he whispered.
"Ellie?" Val asked. "What about her?"
"Jake says he doesn't know where she is."
"I'll put out a search for her, Danny. We'll find her."
Danny sighed. "I hope so. Who knows what she's going through..."
SLAM!
Ellie felt the chemical taste of ectoplasm in her mouth as Vlad's fist impacted with her again. As the greenish substance trickled down the sides of her face, mingling with her sweat, she thought that her father must have had this much luck when fighting Plasmius in his youth. It was practically impossible to avoid the man's attacks, or block their utter force.
Unfortunately, she didn't have time to process this, as she was smashed into the linoleum flooring with a giant violet sheet that Vlad created from his energy.
"You're slipping, Ellie," Vlad said casually as he banished the ecto-shape away. "You're getting too predictable."
Ellie staggered to her feet, and said, "It doesn't matter, Vlad. I know who you are. I'll tell everyone about you."
"And so will I," Vlad replied. "Honestly, if you expose me, you expose yourself."
As she wiped the ecto-blood from her lips, Ellie knew Vlad was right. She charged, grasping empty air as her enemy teleported from one locale to another. It was frightening, the causality of Vlad's technique. It was as though he barely considered her a threat.
"Surely you can do better than that," he chuckled, floating within arm's length of Ellie.
"Get away from me, you freak!" Ellie said, outstretching her hands. Her palms began to glow a ghostly green, culminating in a ghost ray that sent Vlad across the room. Ellie looked at her hands with a mixture of wonder and horror.
"Ah, the ectoplasmic energy blast," Vlad said. "So...year one. Can you do this?" Immediately, three other Vlads appeared in bursts of shadow around their original source, their hands glowing amethyst. Each launched a ghost ray at Ellie, who was unable to dodge the concussive effect. Every nerve ending was on fire as she sank to her knees, fighting off unconsciousness.
Vlad chuckled again. "You're no match for me. Why don't you even try?"
"Let's get one thing straight, you lunatic," Ellie said through clenched teeth, getting to her feet once more, "I'm not playing your sad little game. You're deluding yourself if you think otherwise. You can't make do anything I don't want to do."
"Oh really?" Vlad asked coyly. "The joke's on you, my dear. I control the game, and you play according to my rules. Do you understand?"
Ellie growled, sending off another ghost ray at Vlad. The vampire-halfa blocked it with no effort, sending a blast back of his own that sent Ellie back through a window into the blood-red evening. Immediately, she shot back into the lounge, her eyes glowing neon green.
"I see what you're doing, Vlad," she said. "You're trying to make me angry enough so that I try something that hurts someone. Well, news-flash: I'm not biting. You're not worth it."
"You're not finished until I say so!" Vlad yelled. With another charge, he delivered an uppercut that sent Ellie phasing onto the roof of the Dalv Corp building. There, on a special landing pad, was a hover-limousine, outlined in the reddening sky. Vlad soon followed Ellie onto the roof, his cape billowing behind him like a pair of great wings.
I'm telling you it's hopeless, Ellie's shadow said once more. He'll kill you. Let me out so I can help you.
No... Ellie replied to her ghost half.
"You're not going anywhere, Ellie!" Vlad shouted. "There's nowhere in the world you can run to in order to escape me!"
I said let me out!
Ellie's head erupted into a horrible migraine that lasted for ten seconds. She clutched her head in pain, trying to restrain the monster that brewed inside her.
Then, she felt...good.
Her eyes glowed a solid green as she got back up on her feet. For the first time in a long while, she felt free, happy, and able to take on the world. The world included the monster before her.
Phasing back into Vlad's lab, she picked up the taser-like device that she had seen earlier, stashing it in her belt. Then, she went back onto the roof, making a beeline for the halfa that floated above her, and tackling him out of the air. As soon as he hit the ground, she activated the Plasmius Maximus, electrocuting the ghost until he transformed back into a man once more. And as Vlad lay there, his glorious suit tattered and his hair mussed, Ellie floated above him, smiling like a malevolent dark goddess.
"What?" Vlad asked, looking stunned. "You can't be–"
"What?" Ellie asked. Her voice was far more resonant now, like speaking from the bottom of a well. "More determined to kick your ghostly butt than I was a second ago? And I was thinking that you were actually smart."
Vlad crawled backwards, obviously afraid of what he'd unleashed. Ellie took joy in this, for whatever perverse reason.
"That was a pretty twisted idea you had there," she continued. "Make me angry enough so that I'd focus it and unlock my true power? Well, Tinkerbell, maybe wishes do come true!"
Ellie focused her fury on the man down on the landing pad. Her hands erupted in green light, blasting away as Vlad got up and started to run towards the limo.
"G–get away from me!" he cried out. "You're insane!"
Ellie swooped down, catching Vlad by the waist and hoisting him into the air. She laughed with a mixture of glee and hysteria. She then tossed him into the air, catching him by the shoulders, and stared into his blue eyes with her solid green ones.
"Go ahead, Ellie." Vlad sounded resigned, even sad as he said this. "You know you want to..."
Ellie raised her hand to deliver the killing stroke–
–but then stopped.
What am I doing? she thought. Why did I do all this? What am I now...?
Her eyes became just green once again as she touched down on the roof. The haloes of light surrounded her as she released Vlad and sat down, crying. Strangely enough, the old man seemed...sympathetic towards her. He sat down next to her, offering his shoulder to cry upon. Right now, Ellie didn't care whose shoulder she cried on; she was too distraught over what she'd almost done.
"Ellie?" he asked. "What's the matter, dear?"
Ellie looked up at Vlad through teary eyes. "I saw what you did."
"What did I do?"
"You paralyzed my dad. A ghost showed it to me. That's why I attacked you."
"Ellie, how can you believe–"
"Don't lie to me," Ellie said bluntly. "I know what happened. I know that my dad's Danny Phantom, and that I inherited his ghost powers. I think I know what my dream means, too."
"What does it mean, Ellie?"
"It means I have stuff against people that I can't forget. Just like you do. You like my grandma, don't you?"
A pause.
"Yes, I do. I love her very much," Vlad said.
"But why would you kill those close to her?"
"Because it's the only way to make her my wife."
Ellie stared at Vlad. "No, it's not."
"It isn't?"
"No. There is no way."
"What?"
"Vlad, I know why I have these dreams now," Ellie sighed. "It's because I keep things inside instead of telling those I care about. They can help me if I just let them. But you...you don't really care about me. You just care about my grandma. It's just that simple."
Ellie got up, wiping the tears and blood from her face as she transformed once again. Vlad followed suit, but called after Ellie: "I warn you, child! You're making a mistake! If you leave now–"
"No, I'm not," Ellie said firmly. "I don't think you would ever do anything to hurt the people close to Maddie out of fear of driving her away. You can't win. It's your power versus your feelings; you never stood a chance. You won't hurt me. You won't hurt my brother. You won't hurt any one of my family or friends. You're conflicted, Vlad. Just like me. And if I know anything about that, it's that you don't need to be punished for what you've done. Just being us–that's life without parole."
Ellie took off into the sunset, leaving a speechless Vlad Masters behind.
Danny and Sam were out on the balcony at 9:00 P.M. that night, waiting for news about their daughter's whereabouts. The phone had been ringing all day, with calls from news stations, business partners, and close friends checking to see if everyone was in one piece. And while Maddie and Jack waited by the phone for that fateful call, Danny and Sam looked at the stars.
It gave them momentary comfort.
Just half an hour ago, Danny and his parents had gone through a very long story about their son. Danny explained about the accident with the ghost portal, how it gave him superpowers, how it freed ghosts regularly into the human plane, and how he fought those ghosts on a near-daily basis as a teenager. Later, he got into how he became a hero during the Ghost Wars, staving off entire armies while at college, and how he could use his ecto-energy to overcome his paraplegia later in life. He talked about his theories on how Jake and Ellie–as Jake and Jazz explained–inherited these powers. And he apologized for not telling his parents earlier.
"It's alright, son," Maddie had said. "No matter what you are, you'll always be our little baby boy."
That thought brought a tear to Danny's eye.
"Dad!" Jake called from an upper balcony. "I see her!"
Sure enough, Ellie Fenton was speeding along in ghost mode towards Fenton Manor. Police were told to stand down by Valerie Gray, saying that the detection of ghosts was a glitch in the system, like it had been with Danny. Jack, Jazz, and Maddie rushed out to the balcony, and Jake floated down in ghost mode.
Ellie touched down in front of her family, her face streaming with sweat and ectoplasm. As she transformed into a human, she stumbled into her father's arms, embracing him in a hug.
"Daddy, I..." she sobbed.
"Shh..." Danny said.
"It's alright," Sam assured. "We're all here for you."
And for the first time in many months, Ellie Fenton knew true peace.