Chapter Six - Admit
Vlad flew up high in the clouds looking to avoid the ice shards that made up most of the storm but it seemd with the skies under Daniel's command no jet stream proved safe. He managed to make the trip still in one piece despite a few tatters and nicks plus a scrape or two. He let loose a sigh and breathed in and out deeply till his nerves were under restraint then... He knocked. Jack Fenton answered the door only instead of grappling Vlad into a hyperactive bear hug, he just gave the man a head nod that ushered him inside. The billionaire took a good look at the hunter only to cringe in guilt, the man's skin was a ghastly grey and the bags under his eyes qualified for sleeping bags. Same scenario with the lady hunter only now Jasmine was awake, a cloth bandage wrapped around her head.
"What happen to you?" Jasmine asked, her voice etched with two percent concern and ninety-eight percent 'You did this' sarcasm. Vlad took a deep breath then explained himself while shaking away loose ice shards and snow from his person.
"Your BROTHER is what happened."
"What are you talking about? " Maddie quizzed gently.
"Madeline, I have to tell you something."
Torture... The mirror did not mention torture. As in Maddie and Jack strapping Vlad to a wall in the Fenton Works Lab and taking turns beating him senseless. His ghostly bode allowed fast healing but in the end he just sighed and took the abuse. After thirty minutes, they had tired out and took a seat.
"Are you done? " Vlad asked with petty sarcasm to this an ecto blast clipped his cheek. "I'll take that as a no. "
"You bastard!" Maddie sobbed. "My son is out there literally falling apart and the only thing on your mind is yourself?! Shame on you."
"Why, Vlad?" Jack sighed out. "Just, why? " Vlad couldn't help the vicious snarl that came out his throat at the oblivious question. He rattled his confines till he broke free. The lab sensed his ghostly energies and restrained him.
"YOU OBLIVIOUS IMBECILE! HOW CAN YOU STILL NOT SEE IT?! YOU MADE ME THIS WAY! " He screamed out as the lab placed him in a straight jacket before shoving him into a cage. His hair whipped hotly as he shook and thrashed about. "WHILE YOU TWO WERE SKIPPING AROUND IN THE DAMN DAISIES, I WAS ROTTING AWAY IN THE HOSPITAL FOR A WHOLE YEAR FROM AN INCURABLE DISEASE! DID YOU EVEN CARE?! YOUR IDIOCY SCREWED UP THE EXPERIMENT THAT MADE ME INTO THE MONSTER I AM NOW! YOU ABANDONED ME IN TRADE FOR YOUR POINTLESS LOVE AND IDIOTIC AMBITIONS! SAME GOES FOR DANIEL! YOUR CARELESSNESS RESULTED IN HIS HALF-DEATH! YOU TWO ARE SO STUPID, YOU DIDN'T EVEN SEE THE SIGNS! THE BLANT IMPLICATIONS OF HIS SECRET ALL ALONG! FENTON, PHANTOM?! HOW DID YOU MISS THAT?! IT WAS PRACTICALLY A BILLBOARD AND YOU DIDN'T SEE IT! YOU SHOT AT AND HUNTED YOUR OWN SON FOR PARIAH'S SAKES! WHICH BRINGS ME TO THIS IF YOU DON'T HELP ME, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" Maddie and Jack could only blanch at Vlad's words as the truth and realization hit them full force. The drowning grades, the tardies and infinite detentions, the countless scars, bandages and bruises, the messed up and torn clothes... It all made sense now. Their son was risking his own life to fight the evils of the Ghost Zone and all they had done was made his job harder and for the worse.
"Y-you're lying." Maddie choked out. "Danny would've told us!"
"Not if he feared he would be, I quote 'ripped apart molecule by molecule'. " The two ghost hunters cringed at that— Vlad couldn't help but smirk evilly at this. "Weren't those your exact words? Jackson."
"Stop it, Vlad. D-Danny would've ~ You know nothing. Bout our boy." The villain within Vlad was not about to pass up the opportunity to psychologically torment his nemesis, his eyes smoldered with hatred and viciousness at the claim.
"I know more than you two can possibly imagine." He taunted. "That boy has done nothing but weave an intricate web of lies around you two, because he feared you'd do nothing more than dissect him on an operating table if he so much as uttered the truth."
"H-he — he feared us. " Maddie murmured in shock as her breath was exhaled in wispy puffs.
"He's done nothing but struggle with the truth. What would you have done if he confessed? " Vlad pried darkly. "Cut him open? Run a bunch of tests? Treat him no more than another experiment or new toy?"
"SHUT UP, PLASMIUS! " All the adults in the room turned to see Jasmine at the bottom of the lab stairs glaring daggers at Vlad. She stormed over to the holding cell and declared:
"You've got just as much of the blame as they do! They're not the ones who attacked Danny in broad daylight out of jealous over his powers. You've done way worse stuff to Danny than simply HUNTING him. Need I remind you that you're certifiably insane and obsessed with things you can't have. Which includes my brother's powers and his life. You've been his arch-nemesis from the start, sending literally hundreds of ghosts to try and kill him but each time, he fought back. But now, you've gone too far! BTW, 'FRUITLOOP', I just saw the news this whole damn storm is originating from Wisconsin." Everybody cringed at this, Maddie released Vlad from his cell and they all ran upstairs, the results.
"We have just received word, that the so-claimed 'Mega Blizzard' truly originated from Amity Park in Illinois but moved farther out west only to settle in the state of Wisconsin."
"Daniel." Vlad gasped quietly as he watched the storm grow in size in real-time imagery, Daniel was not playing... The Icy Prince meant business.
"That thing is gonna cover the whole US of A!" Jack acclaimed. "Vlad any—!" The billionaire was blank as he stared upon the full truth of the mirror's words... Daniel had done the one thing, Vlad wanted but never achieved... Transcendence. In truth, no ghost had achieved it (except for a select few but that's a different story). A state of pure omniscience and resonance with one's core to the point of pure power. All spiritual and human ambitions gone only to turn truly into the element of your embodiment, once achieved a ghost could never revert back to their original form. To put it simply... Daniel James Fenton... Was now a god.
The billionaire could only stare upon the screen as the idea of such a thing stuck inside his mind, twisting and squirming like a snake on fire. Daniel was so young, how had he achieved such a form under his conditions? The perfect state of mind and heart without the side effects of emotional baggage, permanent neutrality in the midst one's element. Jasmine looked to the TV and then unto Vlad wondering what had gotten the supervillain so rattled. He was so tense, I mean granted it was bad that Danny was causing the Storm of the Century but the look on Vlad's face accompanied something worse than just the blizzard.
"What's with you?"
"Jack... Do you know what 'Transcendence' is? " Jack took a seat by his 'friend'.
"No. Is this some kind of ~~ GHOST thing?" Vlad nodded and ran a hand through his hair.
"It is~~ A state of pure omniscience." He started. "A ghost by passes all spiritual and emotional restraint to achieve a form of pure energy and power based upon their core's element. "
"You mean, their ultimate form, super saiyan?"
"Lame man's terms, yes. The Ghost in question now would be Daniel~!"
"DON'T CALL HIM THAT TILL WE SEE THE TRUTH." Snarled Maddie.
"Phantom! Phantom. Has achieved transcendence." Vlad blasted out. "He's literally a GOD NOW. With each waking second, he grows stronger and even more deadly." At this comment, they heard... A crash.
