This chapter lines back up with chapter 30 of Invincible.

I sat on the front lawn of Vlad's mansion, my head between my knees and the thermos planted in the dirt in front of me. I dug out my phone and texted Jazz.

Me: Everything went fine. I'm okay. Going to talk to Sam and then go see Walker. Will be home soon.

Jazz: Tucker's running out of excuses for Mom. I think she thinks you two are sleeping together.

Me: No way. She knows I can't share with you.

Jazz didn't reply but she didn't have to for me to know that she was rolling her eyes at me. I knew I had to get home and that it wasn't fair for me to do this to my parents but I had made Sam a promise. I found her new contact and texting her.

Me: Stole your number from Jazz. Have handled Vlad and Elliot.

Sam: will you come over to talk about it?

I'd do anything she wanted me to.

Me: yeah. Tell me when.

Sam: is now bad? I need to know.

And I needed to see her, to get rid of the paranoia that shackles had grown back around her ankles in the time that we'd been apart.

Me: sure. Want me to come to the door?

Sam: No, it's late. I'll meet you out on the balcony.

As if that scene weren't familiar. I tucked the thermos carefully into my belt and jumped to my feet, pushing myself up off the ground and taking to the sky. It wasn't an entirely peaceful flight, knowing that Vlad and Elliot were strapped to my hip, but it was a better flight than I'd had to the mansion. I had done it. They were gone. It was over in the blink of an eye, or so it felt, but it still wasn't going to be over for a long time. How the fuck was that fair?

I could see Sam's house down below and I could pick out her figure, moving back and forth along her balcony. As if it were a year ago, my heart just lifted as I took it in. It was like I thought she'd be happy to see me too, unlike the reality. It was like the last of a business transaction between the two of us. The only thing left to bind us together. I dropped down toward her balcony, transforming into Fenton before I even hit the ground. I looked at her, shivering in her big sweater.

"It's cold out here," I said, though I didn't feel it.

"A little."

Well, small talk clearly wasn't going to happen. I took the thermos and put it on the edge of her railing. I saw Sam's hand twitch before she pulled back in on herself.

"What is it?"

"It's a Fenton Thermos. It was originally designed to trap ghosts in until they could be emptied back into the Ghost Zone. It will also keep halfas and random clones with some ghost DNA trapped within it."

Sam's eyes went huge. In a shocked whisper, she exclaimed, "Vlad and Elliot are in there?"

"Yeah. It wasn't easy. Vlad, especially, fought." Emotionally, it wasn't easy. It probably wasn't what Sam was picturing when I said it but I almost couldn't detail how I threw up once I put Elliot away and how I had looked at our cell again and cried. "But it was where they both belonged, so, for now, that's where they'll stay?"

"For now?" Sam asked. "What happens to them later, then?"

I shrugged. "I haven't figured that one out, yet."

Jazz was lobbying for them to stay where they were, out of sight out of mind. I still wasn't sure if I was comfortable with the thought of either of them continuing to exist, but then that just brought me right back to the thought that I was now actively planning out murders and that scared me about myself. I also thought that if I gave Tucker a bat and an ecto-gun and put them all in the same room, it wouldn't be Vlad or Elliot that emerged. In the end, I thought I was leaning toward agreeing with Jazz. There was something satisfying to imagining them trapped in the thermos, sitting on top of one another, with nothing to do but think about what kind of failures they were. There was some poetry to that.

"Any ideas?"

"A few," I said, wondering if it would scare her if I confessed just how much I wanted to see Vlad dead. "My favourite is just leaving them in there to see how long humans can last!"

I knew that they couldn't hear me in there but I picked up the thermos and shook it. They could feel that.

"I hope they rot in hell," I added.

"Don't become a murderer because of them," Sam said, her voice catching me off-guard.

I didn't want to scare her and I just shook the thermos again. "They'll probably go to Walker's prison, to be honest."

I had already met with the fearsome jailor. He was so angry that Vlad had broken so many of his sacred rules that I was sure that I could trust him to keep Vlad and Elliot in place.

"Walker's?" Sam asked and I was reminded of how little she actually knew about the world they'd tossed her into.

"It's a place in the Ghost Zone. Walker and I never really got along, and he and Vlad were once buddied up, but, uh, that all fell apart because of Vlad's grand plan." Simple and sweet.

"The grand plan? Did you figure out what that was?"

Clearly, I was shit at explaining.

"Yeah." It was the other point in bullying Elliot. "I got it out of him. He was utilizing ghosts, killing people to make them if he had to. What he was doing was draining their energy. He was hoarding ghostly energy, basically."

"Why?"

"Pariah Dark. He was King of the Ghost Zone, once upon a time. He was sealed away. He stirred once, awhile back, but he was once again sealed away. Pariah Dark had two objects of power: a ring and a crown. But Vlad found out from Fright Knight – Pariah's servant – that there was a third object, one that was more powerful than the other two put together. It was stored in Pariah's ghostly body, where his heart would be. What Vlad was trying to do was put together enough energy so that he could overtake Pariah when he went after the object. The kicker? The third object, whatever the hell it is … I think Vlad said it was some kind of amulet … anyway, it would only regain its powers if it was retrieved during a Wolf Moon."

"That sounds like an old fairy tale," Sam quipped.

I sighed and rolled my eyes."Most of them do. Anyway, that's why Vlad was so angry at me for helping ghosts cross over. The oldest ghosts had the most energy; that's why he was burning through so many of the new ghosts. He put me in prison so I couldn't take away his energy source – he destroyed a few ghosts that have been around for a long time. And my leg? He put a device in me to drain my energy."

"Maheen told me about your leg," Sam confessed and then her eyes darted to my face. "Did you see her when you went back for Vlad?"

I didn't want to tell Sam about what the mansion looked like. How the smears of blood meant violent ends. How insane Vlad had looked, the fact that his plan was falling apart driving him mad. I shook my head but she didn't believe me.

"Did you see her when you went back for Vlad?" Sam asked again, her voice firmer.

I gave in. "The only people left there were Vlad and Elliot. There were blotches of ectoplasm everywhere. All of his ghostly servants, they were probably destroyed. I think he was trying to drain enough energy in a last ditch effort to get both me and Pariah because, funny thing, Wolf Moon is tomorrow night."

"So, she's gone. Fully gone."

I nodded. "I'm sorry. I wish I could have rescued them all. They didn't deserve to be trapped with him and she, for all her help, deserved to be rescued."

For all she had done for us, Maheen deserved a better ending.

"Vlad was twisted."

"Yeah, he was," even though it was kind of an understatement.

"Can we clarify something?"

"Anything." It was probably needed.

"You went back and fought Vlad and Elliot and you found out about Vlad's master plan, which was to get energy from ghosts, so that he would have enough energy to get an amulet which would make him King of the Ghost Zone."

Boiled down like that, it sounded even worse. "In essence. It's not enough to justify how much we suffered. How much he made us suffer. I'm sorry, Sam."

"So, it was what? World domination?" she scoffed and I agreed. It wasn't enough.

"Vlad needs control. He's creepy and angry and he likes to be in control. I'm telling you all that he confessed to me, but … I know it's not enough. It's not enough for me and I know it's definitely not enough for you." I ran my hand through my hair, feeling stressed out and not knowing what to say. "But he won't hurt you anymore; know that."

Sam nodded absently and I just watched her face. I owed her a better apology for anything that she had heard so far but I didn't know how to say it. I never had the words she needed.

"It's late. I think I should sleep"

Her voice startled me and as she turned her back on me to go back to her room, I realized that I might never speak to her again.

"I –" I blurted and she paused. "Sam, there's something I should say before I go."

"Yeah?" she said, her eyes bright.

"I just … I want you to hear how sorry I am, again. Not just for getting you kidnapped by Vlad, but for everything before it. I know I said it before, but you were aware that I didn't understand what I put you through, and I was only saying sorry for selfish reasons. I can recognize that now. And, I want to say it, no selfish strings attached. I want you to know that I can see the pain I put you through and that, if I could go back, I would save you from me. I'm not saying this because I think a grand speech will win you back because, really, that's not what I want. What I want is for you to be happy, healthy, safe, and all the beautiful things in the world because that's what you deserve. You deserve every good thing in life and I stole some of those things from you. So, I'm sorry and I wish you the best in everything."

I hoped it was enough.

"T-t-thank y-y-ou."

But that was all Sam said. She disappeared back into her room and the door clicked shut with a heavy finality. I looked at her balcony doors but I didn't linger. I didn't want her to be bothered by the fact that I was still standing there. I collected the thermos and dove off the side of the back, transforming and catching myself as I fell. I swept back toward my house and snuck in, down to the portal. It was easy enough to dive in. I remembered when the Ghost Zone confused me but now I could navigate it as well as I could Amity and I met Walker outside of his prison.

"Don't let them out of there," I warned.

Walker narrowed his eyes at me. "I know the rules."

"Thanks, Walker."

"This doesn't mean we're friends."

"No, of course not," I said.

I left Walker and with an overwhelming feeling of relief, I phased through my floors. Mom and Dad were huddled up together in the living room and so I went straight up to the hall in front of Jazz's room. I became tangible and knocked on the door. I didn't want to just barge in.

"Come in!" Tuck shouted.

I opened the door. They were snuggled down in Jazz's bed and I couldn't help myself. I threw myself in between them. Jazz groaned as I landed heavily on her arm and Tucker shoved me around.

"Tucker's going to make us nachos," Jazz announced.

"The fuck I am," Tucker scoffed.

"You can't just promise me nachos and take them away! What kind of friend are you?"

"The lazy kind," Tucker said. "You go get me nachos."

"My leg hurts," I whined.

"My legs hurt," Jazz added.

"I hate both of you."

"Yeah, yeah," Jazz and I said in sync.

I glanced at her. "Tuck, do you love her or me more?"

Tucker's eyes widened. "You know what, nachos. Let's go make nachos."

He bounced off the bed and Jazz laughed. I let my head rest back against the pillows.

Life was allowed to be normal again.

So, on tumblr I'm: we are all of legend now (with dashes between every word). If you want to find my replies to anon reviews, add backslash tagged backslash anon dash replies. If you want to see anything I post about Superman or the Reflections Universe, go to my tumblr URL and add backslash tagged backslash reflections dash universe. Punctuation is spelled out due to Fanfiction's restrictions. If you're having any trouble accessing the tumblr content please send me a pm and I can format it for you in a different way.

~TLL~