A low pained groan fell from Dan's lips as he came to, head pounding and body aching. He felt like he had gone toe-to-toe with Pariah Dark again and come out looking like one of his mother's attempts at cooking. His senses came back in pieces; the aching body strapped down by tough ghost-proof restraints, the stench of disinfectant that lingered in the air. There was the metallic tang of blood he could taste on the back of his tongue and the familiar sound of people bustling about in hazmat suits that chaffed when they moved. His sight was the last thing to return, blinking rapidly in the dimly-lit room until he found himself weakly turning his gaze downward to find himself dressed in a starchy hospital gown that rustled with each twitch of his muscles. The window cut-out over his torso, revealed both his flesh which had been cut open & pulled back with stitches to reveal his innards. Thankfully, his rapid regeneration still seemed to be in work as he watched his body slowly stitch itself back together.

There was something shoved into his mouth, stopping him from talking or swallowing right. All he knew was that something was strapped to his face and grated against his fangs like nails down a chalkboard. He tried to raise his hands up to his mouth to see what it was, but they only made it so far before they became taut and refused to move any further. The clanging of metal against metal rattled his already aching head, but he had to know what was making him feel so weak and battered. Oh. Dan felt his mouth turn to cotton when he was eventually able to contort himself enough to see what was locked around his wrists; a familiar pair of high steel alloy handcuffs that were illuminated by a ring of blood blossom essence which stared back at him. Ecto-cuffs.

It was only by the reflection of the cuffs that he was able to make out the device strapped to his head. It was a muzzle; likely to prevent him from wailing like he had done during their last interactions. Gritting his teeth—out of pure stubbornness and a desire know what was going on— Dan was able to push himself up onto to his elbows, mindful of his open wound and tried not to (quite literally) spill his guts. It wasn't much, but it was enough for the halfa to see what was going on around him. Large translucent sheets sealed the room tight, but beyond that he could make out vague shapes of hazmats (the orange blobs), soldiers (the green sticks) and slips of silver (metallic tables like the one he was strapped to). There was only one entry/exit point to his room, a door-sized zip that sat beside a table of surgical (torture) devices.

And finally the far wall at his feet held a selection of more torture devices upon the rack stationed there. Dan couldn't admit to personally seeing any of those specific devices in his lifetime, but he knew his parents' work well enough. That firearm could be a Fenton Bazooka, that baseball bat a Fenton Anti-Creep Stick. The cyber cannon tucked into the corner of the room & pointed towards him could be an Ecto-Stoppo-Power-Erfier and that handheld vacuum cleaner could be Fenton Ghost Weasel. Dan dropped back down onto the table with a wince. He knew his parents' ghost-hunting business had boomed after the whole phantom planet episode and even more so when that ecto-bill had passed all those years ago, but it still felt like a betrayal whenever he encountered one of their inventions out in the wild, so to speak.

"Ah! Finally awake, I see" Colonel Kubritz purred as she prowled from the darkness, making Dan tense. Even if he could get out now, there was no way he could fight back. Ancients, he hadn't felt this weak since he had last been human! "Not so powerful now, are we, little halfa?"

"Nngh!" Dan groaned out around the muzzle gagging him as his head lolled to the side.

"I will admit, that we weren't so prepared for your immense power" She strolled over to the rack and plucked something from its place. Dan couldn't see what it was, but it sounded like some sort of firearm when she cocked it. "But we've upgraded since then. New toys, new friends"

Don't tell me…Dan's eyes blew wide as fear trickled into his heart. His heterochromatic eyes tracked the movements of the colonel, well-aware that at this point and time she was the predator.

"Oh, don't look so surprised! Our benefactor has been quite generous in his donations to my division. Especially with his interest in the sciences and also in you."

No…

"Of course, nothing comes free these days" She lovingly stroked the weapon as she watched him squirm, taking great pleasure in doing so. "And he demanded results from my division, results and samples"

Please no…! Pure unadulterated terror shone in Dan's eyes as utter glee was mirrored in Kubritz's. There was only one person who could outbid the Guys in White (Kubritz's last companions), there was only one person who was powerful enough and brave enough to do so. He was the highest of highest bidders, craziest of fruitloops and maddest of scientists: Vladimir 'Plasmius' Masters, his pseudo uncle and fellow halfa.

The only reason that Dan could think of that would induce Vlad's involvement in something like this would be because of whatever cloning experiment he was currently working on. It was about the only time that Vlad ever actually wanted something from him; he (arguably) had more money than God and all he ever did was hunt halfa children and breed experimental clones of his nemesis. Clones, that he one day, hoped to control & in turn, the town of Amity as well and perhaps even further still.

After all these years, Dan didn't think that even Vlad had the gall to leave his lair in Amity. Like most ghosts and variations thereof, Vlad had a lair which he often haunted and was quite territorial about doing so. Barely any would move on (like Dan did) if that place was compromised somehow, and even less would go out of their way to leave in order to hunt down another ghost (unless you were Skulker). Which meant that 'Uncle Vlad' had likely dipped into his endless pockets to hire/buy out a team of goons to do his bidding—scientists, if Dan had to guess. It was the field, Vlad was most familiar with.

"…I must admit, invader or not, it is fascinating to see what happens to us after we die. But you—you're a special case, aren't you, ghost boy? I wonder, how many times would we be able to tear you apart, how many times you would put yourself back together again before time ran out for you? Perhaps we could finally answer those big questions, with you as our prized guinea pig" Kubritz cackled in glee as the Vlad-appointed scientists returned like reapers on the death march, with their instruments of torture at the ready. It was all Dan could do to succumb to the darkness and pain once more before their scalpels breached his chest.


A lullaby of murmuring voices greeted Aja's ears when she next awoke, blinking into existence with a groan and a gasp. Restraints pinned her to the infirmary bed she lay on, likely taken from the school's infirmary for the supposed 'quarantine'. There lay a matching bed next to hers, only it was empty, separated by a single side table which held both her and her brother's serators. She was alone, but the translucent walls on either side of her allowed for her to see the goings-on of the world around her. People in hazmat suits and military uniforms strode passed her room with ease, some bore neurometers whilst others held clipboards or frog-marched students towards other matching rooms further into the gymnasium.

"Where am I? Where am I?" Aja panicked as she struggled against her tight restraints. "Krel? Krel? Where are you?"

"He's with Colonel Kubritz" Tronos rasped as he appeared from the dark in a flash of light and prowled along the outside of her room, dragging an electrified claw after him. The electricity danced along the plastic and made him glow an eery blue.

"You're co-operating with her?!" Aja exclaimed as she tried to track his movements, unwillingly to give him more of an advantage than he already had. "Is there no low you won't stoop to for your precious bounty?"

"Hehe…you think I care about crestons?" Tronos chuckled darkly as he looped back around to the front. "I'm doing this to avenge Voltar"

"Voltar was destroyed long ago…"

"Thanks to your parents. They helped to destroy my home world!"

"Liar! My parents are honourable!"

"Not as honourable as you think!" Tronos zapped into the room with his ire clear on display, frightening Aja. He shoved his face so close to hers that she could feel the thrum of his core pounding against her own. Behind him, two hazmats walked in and dumped her brother on the other bed before they left, leaving Tronos and Kubritz (who had stalked in and waited for the electro-thermal alien to stand aside) alone with the two Akiridions.

"Krel!" Aja gasped upon seeing her little brother unconscious with slight bruising decorating his blue skin. "What did you do to him?!"

"The same thing I'm going to do to you!" Kubritz smirked as she strode into view with her hands tucked neatly behind her back. Aja continued to struggle as the colonel plucked her serator from the table and grinned wickedly at the blade that flickered to life, illuminating her spectacles. "With your weaponry in my hands, I'll be able to wipe out every last alien threat from existence—" She raised the weapon above her head and sliced clean through the table like a hot knife through butter. "For good!"

"Akiridion technology is meant to ensure peace, not bloodshed!" Aja tried as she flinched away from her own weapon which was used to threaten her. The ionic blade pressed close to her cheek and she could feel the small trickle of blood trail down her cheek. The pain was sharp and cut through her struggles if only for a moment. Slight coughing from her left told her that at least Krel was conscious again and it was more than enough to distract her from the cackling woman & crackling bounty hunter who stood over her.

"…Aja?" Krel rasped, his voice hoarse as his head rolled over to find his sister in a similar position.

"It's okay, little brother—" Aja rushed to console her sibling despite her predicament. Even though he still appeared a little hazy from whatever he had just gone through, she could see worry and concern gleaming in his eyes.

"—Once I finish dissecting you, Mr Madu will get your remains and his bounty and I'll get the technology you leave behind" Kubritz interjected, intent on continuing with her interrogation. She was surprisingly calm, especially considering the muffled roar that ripped through the gymnasium that did not fall from Tronos' lips. Ice exploded from down the hall, encompassing everything in its path.

I knew I saw Daniel! Aja perked up at the shock of cold that swept through the room. The last time she had felt something so cold was when they had been facing that cindorite down in the sewers.

"Get that under control!" Kubritz snapped over her shoulder before turning back to the task at hand. Tronos disappeared to help the hazmats and Aja prayed that Dan would not have the same reaction as he had done the first time.

When Kubritz saw that she was not receiving the response she wanted from Aja, she turned to Krel and proceeded to taunt him just as she had done before. The tip of the serator blade was dragged through both mattress & frame as it crept towards Krel's head with a startlingly steady hand. "If this serator can slice so easily through metal, imagine what it can do to your bodies…"

"No. No, no, no. No need to imagine" Krel struggled against his restraints as he tried his best to escape from the threat of decapitation. "I am sure it would be really bad"

"Only one way to find out…"

BANG!

"Looks like class is—oompf! Class is—oompf!" Toby declared as he and Steve kicked in the doors to the gymnasium, their cool catchphrase cut off by the doors that slammed back in their faces. And again, and again until their dramatics were no more than cringeworthy notes. "Class is dismissed—it's dismissed!"

"Hey! You can't be in here!" A team of armed hazmats greeted the pair and the pair of teenagers responded in kind with a magic rock hammer & a handful of ninja stars.

"Is that Toby?" Krel perked up.

"Steve!" Aja exclaimed as she watched her boyfriend duck and dodge away from neurometer fire; only a single sheet of plastic, restraints and a couple of armed scientists stood between them and escape.

"My warrior princess!" Steve turned to the room where the Tarrons were being held.

"That's what he calls you?" Krel teased his sister, a disbelieving laugh falling from his lips.

"In a moment, he won't call you anything ever again" Kubritz growled as she cocked the serator and aimed the same ionic boomerang that Aja had been trying to manifest all day. The colonel didn't even flinch as she aimed the weapon at the human and prepared to fire.

"Kleb! How did you do that?!" Aja demanded as she was finally able to yank one hand free from her restraints. It was more than enough for her to push back against the wall behind her and shove the bed towards the colonel. Thankfully it was more than enough to knock Kubritz off of her feet and across the room. "No one messes with our friends!"