Chapter 18: Deception

Vlad had finally done it. He had trapped his arch nemesis and family in one of the greatest traps known to man and ghost, the dreaded net. Now with one problem out of the way Vlad wanted to try something that he hadn't been able to do for ages. He was going to practice his evil laugh. "Muh ha! Ha! Ha!"

Skulker and the other ghosts gathered around Vlad's mansion didn't look nearly as pleased. "That laugh was amateur at best." Technus said.

"Oh yeah, well I'd like to see you come up with a better one!" Vlad replied angrily.

"Not yet." Skulker said; speaking before Technus could perform an evil laugh. He picked up the net with Jack and the one with Maddie. "We've captured your enemy so I'd like you to keep your end of the promise first."

"Which was?" Vlad mocked.

"You said you'd give us back our ghost powers!" Ember said.

"No," Vlad said, taking Danny and Jazz from the Box ghost's hands. "I said I might. I don't think you guys have earned it yet."

"Wait, but we've captured the ghost boy for you! What else do you need?" Skulker protested.

Vlad shrugged. "I'm sure I can find something." He carelessly tossed Danny and Jazz over to Skulker, making the nets look a lot lighter than they actually were. Skulker caught them, but struggled to carry four people at the same time. "Take these to the basement."

Ember and Technus took the nets from Skulker's hands and together the three of them along with the Box Ghost, headed downstairs while Vlad stayed outside and practiced his evil laugh some more.

The (former) ghosts threw the Fentons on the cold basement floor. "Owch, not so hard!" Jazz protested.

"You know you can't get away with this forever!" Maddie said. "You'll be caught eventually!"

Skulker sighed. "I'm not really happy about this either. I always imagined that I'd be able to keep the ghost boy for myself when I finally catch him. Perhaps I'd mount his head on the wall or use his body as a rug."

"...That's pretty disgusting." Danny said.

"We just want our ghost powers back, but Vlad won't cooperate." Ember said.

"The Box Ghost doesn't think Vlad is taking our contract seriously!" The Box Ghost said.

"Of course he isn't. When does Vlad ever keep any promises?" Danny asked. "Vlad cheats, he lies, he's manipulative, you have no reason to serve him!"

"We know that!" Technus said. "But what other choice do we have? There is no way we'll get our powers back otherwise!"

"I wouldn't be so sure." Maddie said. "You're forgetting that me and Jack are scientists too. If you guys can let us out we might stand a chance at ganging up on Vlad. Then we'll work on finding a cure for what happened to everyone's ghost powers."

"But mom, these are my enemies!" Danny protested.

"They may be enemies, but right now they're just as much victims as we are." Jack said.

"I think it might be a good solution too." Jazz said. "If we don't stop Vlad then nothing will change."

Danny sighed. "Let's do this then."

~ phantom130 5 (April 2014)