AN: Sorry it took a while for the update. Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for Ben.
"What do you mean there's more to this?"
To be honest, I hadn't really known where to start in the story, and now that I was actually telling it-it sounded completely insane. How I managed to luck out and find people who wouldn't commit me to a psych ward is beyond my comprehension.
Sara Fenton, Ben's mother, seemed to be taking this in pretty well. Ben was struggling to understand, but I didn't really blame him. I mean, you wouldn't want to believe that a crazy ghost was planning on taking over the world.
I inhaled deeply at the question, knowing this was going to be the hard part to get through. "Well...I guess what I'm saying is this goes back to the eighteen hundreds..." I took another pause, not sure exactly how to continue.
"A long time ago a man named Vladmir Masters was best friends to Jack Fenton and Madeline McClellan." There was a small gasp, and I knew this was a bit of a shock that I was bringing up their ancestors.
"I'm not too sure how much you know about your family, so I guess I'll include everything I know. They went to college together in Wisconsin, a short period before the Civil War happened. All three of them were enthusiastic about paranormal studies, which led to the first ghost portal being developed."
Mrs. Fenton seemed to know about that part. "Yes, I remember my father telling me that my ancestors invented the first ghost portal. I guess the legacy of ghost hunting lives on," she replied lightly, a small smile gracing her face. I couldn't help but smile a bit too.
"Well unfortunately there were a few complications. When they first turned it on, something went wrong and it caused the portal to begin spitting raw energy out in every direction. Jack managed to get Madeline to safety, but Vlad was hit. He ended up in a hospital, and Jack and Madeline ended up together, obviously marrying.
"Unfortunately Vlad was also in love with Madeline. He blamed the accident on Jack and swore to get revenge for ruining his life and his chance with Madeline. But the portal itself did something to Vlad. The energy he was hit with changed him.
"Somehow the energy bonded with his own molecular structure, killing half of him. He was able to change his own structure, allowing him to be a human or a ghost. He also had powers that are not only stronger than a regular ghost, but usable in our own plane of existence."
The two had sat rather quietly, listening. I wasn't sure if Mrs. Fenton was going to doubt this, seeing as she was pretty opinionated on what she knew. "Is that possible? I've never even seen such a thing..." At least she didn't sound as doubtful as I had imagined her to be.
"According to his documents, he's the only person to have lived a half life like that." I gave a small shrug, catching a perturbed gaze from Mrs. Fenton. I knew she wasn't about to condone what we had done, and while she hadn't said anything earlier when I mentioned it, I could tell she still wasn't particularly happy about it.
"So anyway. Jack and Madeline got married, had two kids, and ended up caught in the war. Meanwhile Vlad, also known as Plasmius now, was building weapons for the Confederate army. And one night...he managed to get his revenge. He...killed Jack and Madeline's only son."
Sara Fenton gasped slightly, looking rather shocked. "But he was their friend. How could he do such a thing?"
"He was angry. He had his life taken away from him in one accident, and wanted to put the blame on someone. I'm not saying it was right, by any means. I'm just saying it's understandable.
"So Vlad killed Daniel Fenton, and the very next day, presumably died. I'm pretty sure he faked it though. A few years later, Madeline died. I think he killed her, hoping he could be with her forever if she joined him as a ghost. He never found her after that though.
"Jasmine and Jack tried to get out of the family business. Guess that didn't work too well though," I added with a small smile, before continuing. "But here's where it gets tricky. Vlad didn't just kill Daniel to get revenge, although I'm sure that was a reason. He also...started testing on ghosts.
"I found a lot of death certificates among his files, deaths I think he caused. And all these ghosts he took back to some sort of laboratory and began experiments."
"But why? Why was he doing all this?" Ben asked, looking rather confused.
"He was trying to engineer a half-ghost, half-human like himself. With all the power he had obtained from the accident, he thought that if he could create more, he could have a half-ghost army and take over the world."
Mrs. Fenton stared for a while, rather shocked. "So...do we know if he succeeded?" she finally asked, a bit nervous to hear the answer.
I was stumped. Of course, the answer was yes. But I was afraid that if I told her that, she'd eventually find the clues that led back to Danny and try to run all these tests on him and quite possibly destroy him for his dangerous status. At the same time, telling her no could really hinder us.
"We aren't exactly sure, but we think he's really close if he hasn't figured it out already," I spoke slowly, cautiously trying to play my cards right.
"How exactly do you know he's close?" It wasn't a defiance or an argument against me, she just wanted facts, and I couldn't really blame her.
"Well...remember the ghost child I had as a friend growing up?" I asked, and she nodded slowly, not quite following. "When I encountered him at Waverly Hills, he had aged. Something he hadn't done in a century. He knew Plasmius had run tests on him, and so far he's the only ghost we know that escaped or that didn't get destroyed."
"If he's aging, is it possible that he is one of these hybrid creatures?" Mrs. Fenton asked, and I grimaced internally. I really didn't want to have to get to this part.
"I guess it's possible, but he doesn't know it. He can't remember life before Plasmius and the laboratory." They both nodded knowingly, still trying to process everything.
Ben was the one to actually speak first this time. "But wouldn't not knowing his past and potentially having heightened powers make him highly dangerous to us and our dimension?" And there was the question I hadn't wanted to hear.
"I-I don't know. But I can assure you, even if he does have some sort of heightened powers, he's not dangerous, and he's not hell-bent on destroying us. He wants to destroy Plasmius for everything the ghost put him through."
It was going to be hard to get the Fentons, of all people, to believe this. After all, they thought all ghosts in our plane were dangerous and wanted nothing more than to harm humans in some way.
"He's not-here right now, is he? Our sensors didn't go off," Mrs. Fenton finally spoke, still unsure if she should believe me. Honestly, I couldn't really blame her.
I shook my head in response. "I didn't think that would be a good first impression." I could tell she understood because she nodded again.
"So, I guess this is a bit naïve of a question, but why exactly are you telling us all of this?" Ben this time, and I gave a slight laugh at his word choice.
"We're looking at a war between ghosts or ghost-like creatures and humans. You're the only people I know of who specialize in weapons and knowledge of how to fight ghosts. So I guess...we're here because we need your help."
Danny had remained quiet this entire time, and I could tell it was hard for him to sit through the conversation. I was talking about his life story, and he couldn't remember it. Not to mention the fact that these two strangers were being brought into the picture, and we both knew it would take a lot to get them to trust any sort of ghost.
"Do you really think we need to prepare for war?" Mrs. Fenton asked, and even though she kept her composure I could still read the worry in her eyes. I simply nodded.
Ben interjected, clearly concerned. "But how can we fight them if you're the only person who can see them?"
His question made me think. After all, he was right, as much as I didn't want to admit it. I was the only one who could see ghosts in our plane. Sure, if he had an army of hybrids, they could in theory project a more solid signature than a regular apparition, but I was pretty sure they'd be invisible for the sake of having the upper hand. Plus, we couldn't wait around for an army to walk into our streets.
"Isn't that your job to figure out? You guys are ghost hunters, specialists in technology. I'm sure if I could get Tucker in Amity, you guys could create suits that allowed all humans to see ghosts, at least enough to fight."
"Yes, I can't believe I didn't think of that before! Andrew and I are working on a prototype for a battle suit right now actually. We were preparing for Plasmius's next visit. I'm sure, especially if you could get your technology friend, we could make something like that. And I bet a lot of the citizens here would like to put an end to Plasmius. He causes a lot of trouble here."
Everything was falling into place. We had a family of ghost experts on our side, not to mention I could coerce Tucker into anything. I wasn't sure how much the citizens of Amity Park would cooperate, but it was a start, at least.
"How much time do you think we have?"
"I don't know. But I don't think we should wait. I think we should go into the Ghost Zone and put out the revolution before it begins." Mrs. Fenton looked rather shocked at my forward statement, and I couldn't really blame her.
"But how? We haven't the slightest clue where this Plasmius is located." I glanced at Danny then, who gave me a small nod, understanding my silent question.
"We don't, but James does. He can lead us there."
Mrs. Fenton was a bit squeamish at this statement. Even Ben looked unsure. Finally, she spoke. "Alright...but first I want to meet this ghost. I need to see for myself if he can be trusted."
At first I nodded, knowing it was understandable. But when she said "Let's go, Ben get the Fenton Goggles" with full intentions of me leading her back to this ghost that was actually sitting right next to me, I panicked. Just a little bit.