Chapter 3: Jack Fenton Must Die?
Danny was relieved when he finally got released from the hospital. Home! he thought happily. He was home. He'd never been so happy to see his room and to collapse on his own bed.
His pleasant thoughts couldn't last, though. He was admittedly pretty worried about his new condition. It was cool but freaky. His friends seemed to have accepted him despite it, but would his parents? They were ghost hunters. Would they hate him? Would they hunt their own son? Danny shuddered at the thought.
Reluctantly, Danny got out of bed and took a deep breath. He'd been dreading what he needed to do next. He needed to go back into the basement and face this. Trembling a little, he walked down the stairs and to the kitchen, then he entered the basement. He froze in place, staring in awe at the glowing green portal.
Cautiously, he approached it. He was drawn to it, but at the same time, he feared it. He feared what would happen and the possibility of feeling more of the evil force from before.
He finally reached the portal and extended his hand out to touch it. It was cold and intense, but he also felt incredibly good touching it. That bothered him. The fact that he was drawn to this energy probably wasn't good. Was it because he was something like a ghost now?
"Hey Danny! You came to check it out!" his dad shouted exuberantly. "Pretty cool isn't it?"
Danny laughed nervously as he turned to face his dad. "Yeah... it kind of is."
He winced a little after he said that. Wasn't this portal and everything in it evil? Shouldn't he be appalled by it? So why was he so excited every time he touched it?
His dad, being the clueless person he was, didn't catch on to Danny's emotions. He just grinned and looked at his portal with pride.
"Now we can finally get those ghosts," he said happily. "We can destroy them all."
Danny winced and looked down. His dad really would destroy him, wouldn't he? He felt sure now more than ever that he couldn't tell his parents what he had become. It crushed him.
"I'll tell ya son, this is going to change everything. Now your mother and I can do what we've wanted since college. Speaking of college…"
Danny tuned out his father's rant, feeling gloomy. He nodded and smiled, not really hearing what was said. Then he paled and gasped from a feeling of sudden cold and dread. Panicking from the sense, Danny spun around and recoiled at the sight of what looked like glowing green octopuses shooting out of the portal. They hissed excitedly, then they paused, looking confused. Which one of these two humans was Jack Fenton?
The larger and older of the two grinned wickedly. "Alright you ghosts! Let's see which one of you goes first! No one messes with Jack Fenton!" He pointed to himself proudly. "Which happens to be me."
This cleared things up wonderfully for the ghosts and they shot towards him giddily. Before the man had a chance to even retaliate, the ectopuses were attacking him viscously. Their prey punched and shoved to little effect. Eventually, a blow to the head had him knocked unconscious.
"Dad!" screamed Danny.
He was utterly horrified by the sight. He watched helplessly, frozen and not knowing what to do. When the creatures chuckled and started going for the final blows however, something inside Danny snapped.
"I won't let you kill him," he said with a deadly edge to his voice.
He raced towards then with a battle cry, feeling an icy power surge through him. Then he froze from the sensation and looked at himself. He was literally wearing the lab suit again, and his skin was glowing! He was pretty sure he had white hair too. Great.
The three octopus like ghosts eyed the boy warily. They hadn't been expecting this. Another ghost? Wasn't he a human? Or was he both? Was he like their master? Fear froze them too.
Danny breathed hard, panicking. He felt a new sort of power building up inside of him. It was much stronger than when he'd been turning intangible in the hospital. He hugged himself, trying to hold it all in. A look of pure terror and confusion was on his face.
The ectopuses exchanged wicked looks. The boy obviously didn't know what he was doing. They turned their attention back to Jack Fenton. Their prey was still unconscious on the floor.
Danny was scared out of his mind. What was this? Why did he look and feel like this? As he took notice of the green ghosts' actions however his mood changed. Anger and hate surged through him. He wouldn't let those things kill his father. Freak or not, he was going to use what ever this was inside of him to save him.
Growling with a ferocity Danny didn't know he had, he stretched out his hands towards the three ghosts with the will to attack. To his utter shock and amazement, all that energy he'd felt building up inside released itself with glowing green blasts. They hit two of the ghosts, hurling them against the wall of the basement with a potent force. As the third creature started at him hatefully, Danny knew he had to do it again.
"You messed with the wrong family, dudes," he said wickedly.
"I might not really get what all this is," he continued gesturing to himself, "but I'll use it if that's what it takes to end you."
Anger touched his face. "No one, and I mean no one touches my family and gets away with it."
With those words, Danny summoned more of his pent up energy and willed it into his hands, then he shot it at the third ghost. This time it disintegrated into goo. Danny raised a cocky eyebrow at the other two ghosts who watched him in terror. Then they fled back into the portal at full speed.
Danny surprised himself a little when he felt disappointed. He'd kind of wanted to blast those ghosts again. Sighing, he looked himself over.
"Great. Now how do I change back?"
He strained himself, concentrating, then gradually two rings expanded out from his body and separated themselves. Feeling a lot weaker and a lot more human all of the sudden, Danny examined himself. He was no longer glowing.
He grinned. "That was actually really cool."
His smile faded then. "But what the heck am I?"
He sighed and went over to his dad, shaking him gently until he came to. Jack instantly became alert and got to his feet.
"Where are those ghosts? I'll get 'em for this!"
Danny chuckled a little. "You already did dad. See?" he asked pointing to the glowing green goo on the floor. It was all that remained of the third ghost.
Jack grinned, buying it as the loveably clueless person he was. "I did, didn't I, Danny! Now I just collect that ectoplasm."
Danny watched with a slightly grossed out expression as his Dad gathered up the goo and put it into a container. "Um, what are you going to do with that?" he asked.
His dad grinned at him. "I'm going to study it and see what makes ghosts tick. Then we Fentons can destroy them even better!"
He hummed merrily, leaving the basement, completely missing Danny's slumped shoulders and sad expression. Danny sighed feeling some amount of dread. "I knew it. I'm doomed." Then he followed his dad up the stairs.
Under orders, Skulker had watched and filmed the whole thing. He felt something like intimidation for the young boy who was now undoubtedly a halfa. Not really knowing what to make of the whole situation, the armored ghost stroked his flaming green hair and flew back through the portal. His boss would want to see everything that had happened.
Traveling took awhile, but Skulker finally made it back to his boss's portal. He was a little surprised to find his boss in his ghost form looking both irritated and amused. Seeing the two globs of ectoplasm on the floor, Skulker thought he knew what had happened.
"Those two idiot ectopuses had the audacity to run away and come back here." He laughed wickedly.
"Remind me," said Skulkler grimly, "Never to let that happen to me."
His boss rolled his eyes and reached out for the camera. Skulker handed it to him and watched as the half ghost plugged it into a device in his lab. Then the video began playing.
Vlad Plasmius watched as both the boy and his old rival, Jack Fenton, reacted to the entrance of the three ectopuses. The boy, grew pale, gasping and recoiling. It could have been a normal reaction if Vlad hadn't recognized the signs. This boy might very well be a halfa, but was he even aware of it?
The older halfa watched with equal amounts of annoyance and amusement as Jack boldly and stupidly announced who he was. The oaf put up a very poor fight, and much to Vlad's enjoyment, he got knocked unconscious. He wanted to keep looking at the sight of his temporally fallen enemy and became irritated when Skulker put the focus back on the boy. He cried out for his father, looking horrified and afraid. Then he looked angry and even a little frightening.
"I won't let you kill him," he said with a deadly edge to his voice.
Screaming in rage, the boy raced towards the ghosts, unaware that he was transforming into a ghost form until he seemed to feel it. Vlad grinned wickedly at having the boy's fate confirmed. He watched as overwhelming panic and confusion overtook the young halfa. The ectopuses seemed to be amused by his fear, then the boy steeled himself, suddenly fierce. He seemed to have come to a conclusion.
He growled ferociously before ectoplasmic blasts shot from his hands. The boy looked stunned and amazed, then he regained his composure.
"You messed with the wrong family, dudes," he said wickedly.
"I might not really get what all this is," he continued, gesturing to himself, "but I'll use it if that's what it takes to end you."
Anger touched his face. "No one, and I mean no one touches my family and gets away with it."
Vlad watched with a little surprise as the boy managed to summon another set of ectoplasmic blasts so quickly and even destroyed the third ectopus. He raised a cocky eyebrow at the other ectopuses. Then as the terrified ghosts fled back into the portal, the boy looked disappointed. Sighing, he looked himself over.
"Great. Now how do I change back?"
So he knew he could change back. Vlad wondered how. He watched as the boy concentrated and managed to shift himself into his human form.
He grinned. "That was actually really cool."
His smile faded then, "But what the heck am I?"
Vlad actually felt some amount of sympathy for the boy. He'd been in the exact same position once, after all. However, he became incredibly irritated when he watched the boy wake Jack up.
"Where are those ghosts? I'll get 'em for this!"
The boy chuckled a little. "You already did dad. See?" he asked pointing to the glowing green goo on the floor.
Vlad was baffled that the boy let his idiot father take the credit. He rolled his eyes as the oaf actually bought it.
Jack grinned. "I did, didn't I, Danny! Now I just collect that ectoplasm."
So the boy's name was Danny. Probably short for Daniel. Vlad liked Daniel better. He watched as Jack picked up the ectoplasm. Daniel looked a little grossed out.
"Um, what are you going to do with that?" he asked.
His dad grinned at him. "I'm going to study it and see what makes ghosts tick. Then we Fentons can destroy them even better!"
Jack hummed happily up the stairs, but Vlad was watching the boy's expression. He looked sad and dismayed. Then he said, "I knew it. I'm doomed." After he walked up the stairs, Skulker ended the tape.
Daniel seemed smart enough to understand that he would be hunted. He seemed to know something of what had happened to him. Vlad rubbed his chin, thinking hard. He was honestly intrigued and kind of impressed with the boy.
He found himself even wanting to meet him somehow. It was so tempting of a thought to finally meet another halfa. The problem was, Vlad knew he would never get the boy's time of day if Daniel knew Vlad was out to kill his father.
Vlad's face fell and he sighed. This was dreadful. How could watching a video for a few short minutes make him doubt something he'd been planning for twenty years? Somehow, though more than even killing Jack, he wanted the boy for himself. Perhaps he was thinking too rashly and going about this too quickly. If he didn't rush things so much and waited, he might just be able to get everything he wanted, including this new halfa. He grinned wickedly. Jack Fenton would die, and by the time he did, he would be filled with despair. Somehow, Vlad would turn Jack's own son against him. The question was how. He thought on it and grinned wickedly.
"Skulker," he said, turning to his employee. "We're going to keep spying on that halfa."
Skulker shuddered. The older halfa was definitely interested in that boy. Eventually there were going to be two of them. This job might pay well, but he wondered what would happen to the ghost zone now. If the whelp actually became Vlad Plusmius's apprentice, nothing would ever be the same in either world. Halfas were just too powerful. They truly were a force to be reckoned with.
At least I'm on the winning side, thought Skulker with a grin. His smile fell as he thought of all the spying he'd have to do. Most of his jobs were enjoyable. Keeping an eye on the whelp wouldn't be. Still, he nodded at his employer to show his consent. Vlad grinned evilly and proceeded to watch the video again.