(I'm back from the dead. My writing skills may have withered a bit. Oh well.)
Danny found himself being pushed into a chair, his arms and limbs strapped down to the sides and legs of the furniture. Despite the fact that the chair was padded with a rich velvet exterior, it didn't make his situation any more comfortable. Then again, after the rapid flight back down to Earth, nothing felt comfortable anymore. His hopes and dreams dangled high in the night sky, and the moon was so close, yet so far.
But this wasn't the end of his rebellion.
"AAAH! he yelped, feeling the restraints activate a sudden anti-ghost energy current. Unable to maintain his ghost form, he was forced to convert to his human body to end the pain. "That hurts!"
"Hm, who could have guessed?" came a sarcastic reply.
Vlad stood above the boy, humming something to himself as he pulled something out of a cabinet. The child watched in alarm as he pulled out a jar of pitch black muck, grimacing as it was placed on the table before him. The strange object was entirely out of place with the otherwise normal design of the mayor's office, which begged the question-
What else was Vlad hiding in plain sight?
"Is that tar?" Danny asked, crinkling his nose. "Or swamp sludge? It looks nasty."
"No nastier than a child who nearly gets himself killed just to spite me," Plasmius retorted. "Relax, Daniel. It's only dye."
The boy tilted his head. "You're switching from white to black hair now? You know, my mom isn't going to-
"It's not to impress your mother, boy, or I would have done it a long time ago. It's for you."
"My hair's already black! Is your old man vision finally settling in?"
A sharp tug of the child's hair made him yelp.
Vlad smirked. "Charming, aren't you? To clue you in, I'm concocting a story to tell your parents as an explanation for your absence. You have no choice but to, as you young folks say, "roll with it"."
"I cringe every time you try to talk like you're my age, you know that?" Danny spat, still feeling a twinge of pain from the hair yanking. "Cut it out and tell me what lies you're going to feed them this time."
"You were captured by a rowdy ghost gang that wanted new recruits for some afterlife tomfoolery," the man explained, scooping up some of the tar into small paper cones. "In order to make you theirs, they tried to brand you with a devilish tattoo made from the ecto-paste of the Cyathorn plant. Luckily, one of the new ghost hunters managed to run them off before they could steal you away forever."
His captive rolled his eyes. "You're so dramatic."
"So are your parents."
The younger halfa shook his head in frustration, then glanced at the paste. It reminded him of nasty gunk you'd find at the bottom of sewers, but without the smell. He tapped his feet against the floor in thought, wondering if there was any malicious aspect to the plan.
"So you're just going to... tattoo me?" Danny asked, eyeing his captor. "Hey, wait- I'm not 18 yet! You can't-"
"Oh calm down, you neurotic flesh-spirit. I'm not going to jab needles in you. All I have to do is apply this topically in whatever pattern I wish, and it sinks in to mark you. It lasts for about a month and vanishes on its own- painlessly, I might add. Your parents already know about the Cyathorn plant, so they won't be too concerned."
"How do you know they know about it?"
"I... may have trespassed into their discoveries. It's not hard to figure out some of your father's database passcodes, considering how much he worships me."
Phantom narrowed his eyes, losing even more respect for the person before him- whatever was left of it, at least. "What's the catch?"
"So glad you asked," the man continued, a small grin forming on his face. "Normally, you won't feel the mark at all- painless as a freckle. However, if you attempt to change into ghost form or use your powers, every cell that's been dyed will feel terrible agony- as will you, of course."
"PLASMIUS!"
"Oh, don't try to escape," Vlad went on, slipping on latex gloves and watching Danny attempt to wrestle his way out of the metal clasps. "It's useless. Besides, the application won't hurt at all, so there's no need to torture yourself further."
Daniel tried to regain his ghost form for at least a few seconds just to turn intangible, but a white-hot bolt of pain shot through him again, causing him to scream. The older halfa leaned down and grabbed the boy by the neck, slamming it against the wall. Squeezing just hard enough to force the teenager to go lightheaded, Vlad used his other hand to trace various constellations onto the boy's pale skin. Then, as an afterthought, he traced Jack's name on it as well, hoping it would cause the orange clad man to go paranoid. For a few more minutes, careful not to let the child faint as he fought to stay conscious, the older halfa allowed the dye to sink in and finish the job.
Finally, he released his grip.
"Oh my- agh- fu-" Danny hacked, gripping his throat. He doubled over despite the restraints, gasping for breath as cool air flooded his lungs. "I'm going to- ow- KILL-"
"Ah-ah-ah, we'll have none of that," Vlad cut him off, pressing a button above the chair to retract the metal bonds. He then watched the boy fall to the floor, knowing he still felt incredibly woozy from the lack of air. "Take it easy. You'll be just fine soon enough."
"You- I can't- agh-" Danny sputtered, launching himself into a coughing fit as he watched Vlad lock away all traces of the dye and cones back in the cabinet. "My parents-"
"Will see their poor boy still reeling from a terrible ghost gang attack, just barely having survived... won't they, Daniel?"
The child simply glared at him once he was able to regain a more stable pattern of breathing, unable to form words that could convey his disgust at the audacity of it all. Vlad smirked and casually leaned against the wall, feeling a sense of pride and domination from having his enemy sprawled across the floor below him. Watching Danny rub his sore neck muscles was a lovely sight to behold- it wasn't meant to hurt him, only to force him to act out the planned story, yet the anguish in his eyes was deliciously real.
The millionaire glanced at his watch. "I called them to come over before you ever sat down in that chair. They should be here... any minute now."
About five minutes later, Jack and Maddie busted through the door in an overdramatized fashion, knocking the wood right off its hinges. The second they saw their son kneeling on the floor, they immediately rushed to his side, hoisting him up with their arms. By the time Vlad had relayed the rehearsed events to them, pointing at the boy's neck for proof, they became even more frantic, demanding to know where the ghost gang was.
"I'm sorry, but I have no idea where they flew off to," Plasmius sighed. "The only ghost the alarms alerted the town to tonight was Phantom."
Jack punched his hand against the wall, startling the thinner man. "Should have known that no good creep would come after the kids one day! He's probably part of the gang too! Maddie, where do we keep the group nets?"
Danny, upon hearing his alter ego being blamed for his own suffering, bit his tongue. Vlad had managed to hurt a soft spot yet again, and it was all he could do not to wrangle him- that is, once his throat ceased to throb. Human or not, the older halfa packed quite a punch.
"I'll make you regret this," he grumbled.