Happy New Year, everyone! Another Vlad POV. Be sure to read 'Step 1' in this series. This takes place a few months after Vlad moves back to Wisconsin after Endgame.

The Path of a Guardian Half-Ghost

Step 2: Symptoms

Vlad POV

I have never considered myself an optimistic man. But I would not say I am pessimistic either. I'm a realist who always plans for the worst yet hopes for the best outcome. And yet, there are days like today when all that goes out the window and I can only wonder why fate hates me so.

And if not fate then I am sure some blasted Ancients somewhere have gotten together and are watching me from within a crystal ball… and laughing at my expense.

Maybe Clockwork has a hand in it. Him and Serenity.

Curses. I hate spirits.

But really, what else am I supposed to think? Who can I blame for the cruel irony before me now?

I suppose I should be thankful. Second chance and all. My life for the most part has changed for the better. I have people in my life who care about me; and I, for them. I have the opportunity to chart a new course for my life… And I have Daniel… My purpose. Someone to hope for.

If only these doubts didn't plague me so. If only these new… problems did not arise to make me question it all…

I sigh shakily and close my eyes as my core protests within me. I ignore the alarm that goes off in my simulation room warning me of the rising temperature within the sealed room.

I built this room not just for training… but for situations like these.

I call them flares.

My heated core likes to at times… misbehave. It rarely happens though. In fact, it has not happened to me in years. This, of course, does not include my core destabilizing during those events with that Evil Phantom just months ago. No, that was different.

Flares are fluctuations within my core usually after I have done something that affects my ghost nature. For instance, I once tried to take energy enhancers in an attempt to force my core to go up to a higher power level…. Never again. Those flares lasted for a month. It had been an absolute nightmare.

A few other times I had flares when my core energy was naturally evolving into a higher level. Those instances have become even rarer now that my core has had over twenty years to mature.

I could usually pinpoint what I did to result in my core flaring… This time around, I could not.

As much as I try to think why this was happening to me in this past week, I could not think or produce a reason.

All I know is I have been feeling odd.

Fortunately, I do not seem to be lacking control with my actual powers or ghost half, except for the flares…

Well… I suppose I did have a small lapse in control recently… last week when Stephanie found me in the forest…

It is very frustrating to not have a clue of what could be going on despite my attempts to get to the bottom of it. Of course, I have already checked my energy readings and other spectral vitals.

But all seems normal… except these flares!

I grit my teeth when I feel another rise like indigestion and the alarm in my simulation room goes off again. With a sigh, I press up against the icy wall behind me and slide down. I then all but slam the back of my head against the wall and close my eyes.

I try to focus on my heated core in hopes of somehow feeling what is wrong with me…

But then, a memory flashes in my mind of myself—a younger version of myself—sitting in a tub of steaming water and weeping as everything around me including the water continued to grow hotter.

No, that will never happen again. My core has matured since then. I have… experience.

I sigh deeply and instead focus on the cold wall behind me. I ignore the wetness on my back as I melt the thick ice wall while my core grows hotter. It's not terribly uncomfortable. It has not gotten to a degree where it actual causes pain, and I am in ghost form; so that also protects my human form.

I just wish I knew why it was happening. If I know why, then I can find a solution.

When did this exactly start…?

Well, I had been feeling odd for a few days… But the core flares started… that night. The night I was outside, and Stephanie came looking for me on horseback.

I went out there because the ghost energies at the house were overwhelming my spectral senses… They had been…. putting me on high alert. But then, the spectral energies around me even outside had triggered me.

I ended up firing an ecto-blast at a tree.

Then, the core flares started.

I am pulled out of my thoughts as another flare, stronger this time, surges, and my eyes open in a glare.

This is ridiculous.

"Drop temperature down to minus one-thirty!" I snap at the room.

It was the lowest temperature the room could go, and I can visibly hear the hisses and cracks as ice crystals form in the air, yet around me the air steams and it begins to hiss as it spreads around the room.

I close my eyes again and focus on my core. Unlike Daniel, I do not expel excess energy… I compact it.

Taking a breath, I begin to pull the heated power inside me to my center. I find it easier to imagine my core as an atom. It works in balance as long as its components—electrons, protons, nucleus—were stable and correctly aligned. So, a core flare was simply a misalignment. An additional 'electron' has been introduced, or too many protons inside the nucleus…

So, I start at the outside, and force it to balance by applying pressure. My core either has to align or… implode.

So far… I have never imploded.

But it is a necessary risk, and before things can get better, I know from experience, they need to get worse. Whenever you exert force on anything, heat is produced. So, as I condense my already hot energy in my core, the temperature in my body steadily rises. The room begins to melt, and droplets begin to rain down on me. The room simply is not quick enough to cool faster than I can heat it up. But it sustains just enough for the room to contain my energy; so, I do not end up setting my house on fire.

Luckily, it does not take my core very long to readjust, and with a flash of energy, it stabilizes within me.

The flares immediately seize, and red hue around my body is the only remnants of what just happened.

I suppose the external energy around my ghost body is a form of energy being expelled. But I like to think of it more as my core's response to achieving stability once more by giving away that 'electron' that had it so unstable in the first place.

However, that makes me wonder another thing. If my bond with Daniel actually allows us to reach an ideal balance, enough to create the most stable energy known to ghost-kind—gold energy—does that mean if either of our cores would ever become unstable, the other could stabilize it…?

Perhaps our bond works as a covalent bond, where two atoms—in our case, cores—share electrons—energy—to achieve stability.

I smile at that. Well, that also means our cores can work to create ionic bonds. Daniel has the ability to receive energy. And I have the ability to 'donate' it. That explains why my core balances when I pull in energy into it; and Daniel's balances when he pushes it out because he has absorbed or accumulated too much.

Ahhh, science is so fascinating.

Feeling better, I stand up and smile as the heat in my body easily evaporates the water that had melted on me from the icy room.

"Turn off all programs."

I need to head to the Ghost Zone while my core is better. I know it is not going to last until I figure out what is disrupting its stability. And since my core seems to be reacting to other ghosts lately, the Ghost Zone is the ideal place to try to figure out what exactly my core is reacting to. Is it a specific type of ghost? A specific energy or core?

… I have to get to the bottom of it.

Luckily, with Danielle at school, I am free to head out. Stephanie and Annabelle would not be coming by today since it is a school night; so it is best to go now.

In no time, I am down in my lab and soon after flying through the Ghost Zone.

I have no destination in mind but to just try to find as many ghosts as possible.

I head towards a more open area holding many ghost lairs.

As I go, I find myself getting a bit distracted. I do not know why, but I keep feeling a sort of… energy disruption around me. I do not know what it is. I have never felt it before.

It is a bit strange to feel much of anything in the Ghost Zone, if I am honest. There is so much spectral energy that it is all but impossible to tell the difference between a ghost's energy and the ambient energy constantly being released by Novas. So, of course, pin-pointing specific ghost signatures is practically impossible.

To this day, I am amazed at my ability to have been able to track Daniel's signature that time Walker almost killed him.

The thought swells an unpleasant feeling in my chest, and I quickly push away the memory.

I suddenly realize I have slowed down to a stop as I stare at… nothing.

I blinked.

What is that?

There is definitely some kind of disruption in the flow of energy around me.

What is bothering me greatly is that it keeps coming and going. It is like flickers at the edge of my senses. If I blink, it is gone.

Hesitantly, I pick up speed again; but then not even five minutes later, I catch the feel of another 'flicker'; and I immediately jolt to stop and turn towards it.

A blob ghost had just zipped by.

And it is exactly the disruption I am feeling.

Instinctively, I take off after it. The creature, barely formed, seems to sense my approach. And while blob ghosts barely have any cognitive function, it has enough understanding to know I am a threat.

With a hiss, it takes off.

I give chase.

"Oh, no, you don't!" I growl as I propel faster after it. Blasted thing! I just want to know why it is annoying my senses!

I will give it this: it is fast!

But I do not need to be faster… I just need to…

There.

I teleport as it turns towards an approaching island. I appear close enough to reach forward and create an energy dome around it, effectively trapping it.

"Ha! Got ya!"

The creature yelps and begins to trash to get away.

This is oddly satisfying. Hmm, maybe Skulker was onto something with his whole… 'hunting' obsession.

I approach the creature before pulling the sphere closer to my eye-level. Oh, it is definitely what is setting off my senses. And yet, even as I hold it, I can feel other disruptions all around me.

It is not just this ghost triggering me…

Is it all ghosts? Like it had been happening at my castle? But, no, it is not the same. While in the past week I was hyper-aware of my ghostly staff's presence, it did not feel like this. It did not… trigger me, like that ghost had at the forest… like this ghost is now.

Is it really just… basic life-forms triggering me? How is that possible? And why in the world would my ghost half feel threatened by weak or barely formed ghosts?

I narrow my eyes at the blob ghost as I try to identify what is different about it.

"What is so special about you?" I demanded to know.

The creature just hisses and whines, clearly terrified of me.

Curses. It keeps grating on my nerves. The way this useless blob just… exists.

I cannot help it. I begin to force my energy inward, pressing the spherical prison to condense and grow smaller around the creature.

It is really panicking now.

But I want it gone. How dare it… bother me!

It is simple. I want it gone. And I can easily make it happen.

I did not notice my red eyes begin to turn gold; but I did notice when my red sphere turned a dark gold.

I blink. What in the world am I doing?

Even in the past when I would feel in a bad mood or simply malicious, I did not go after basic life-forms just because I could. It is ridiculous to even do so!

And yet, I really do not want to let this blob ghost go.

Perhaps… I should take it back with me. Solely for scientific research. There must be something about this ghost that is triggering me. There must be some explanation!

"Oh, calm down. I am not going to destroy you," I tell it, annoyed with its panicked cries.

I ignore the fact that I sort of want to destroy it—just tried to.

I briefly look away from it and press a button on my ghost belt. I think I have some kind of ghost trap with me…

"Is this what you are doing now-a-days… playing cat-and-mouse with newly formed specters?"

I jolt; but I am at least proud of myself for not gaping or gasping at that moment.

Right in front of me is Walker and a handful of his guards.

Oh, cinnamon buns!

But my shock is evident because I accidently release my mental hold over my spherical energy-shield; and, of course, the little blob ghost does not hesitate to flee.

I watch it go with displeasure before turning my gaze on Walker again.

Now, I am just annoyed.

"Warden Walker… Always a pleasure," I reply sarcastically. "Can I help you?"

"Of course, you can. You can turn yourself in so I can execute you for your crimes."

I roll my eyes. "Forgive me. But I will have to refuse your request."

"That is fine by me," Walker answers with a cunning grin. "I have every intent of using any force necessary."

I cross my arms as I stare squarely back in challenge. "Whatever you are considering, I would… reconsider. Or, have you forgotten what I did to Bullet?"

Walker narrows his eyes. "Believe me, I have not forgotten. But you can rest easy, Plasmius. I do not intend to bring you in today. Not when it would be too easy."

Walker snaps his fingers, and thousands of guards are suddenly around me.

I just narrow my eyes back and uncross my hands. In this instant, I realize that my little pursuit of that blob ghost has landed me just yards from Walker's prison. And while I am hardly afraid of him, I also know better than to tempt my fate by getting too close to his territory after I destroyed his top guard.

I might be more powerful, but Walker has the numbers to bring me to an inch of my life under the right circumstances.

And my being right in his territory with no immediate escape is quite the ideal circumstance for him to make good on his threat.

And yet… He was not.

Walker raises his hand to silently command his guards to not make another move. He then moves closer to me, and says with a little smug smile, "There have been some interesting rumors going around about you, Plasmius. Some are saying you fed your friends to the wolves. Skulker and the Fright Knight seem to have just… disappeared."

My annoyance instantly turns into anger.

I sneer, "Perhaps instead of listening to rumors, you should worry more about that prison of yours and its inability to keep its prisoners confined for long."

But he is hardly fazed. He knows he is getting under my skin.

"You know what I think?" Walker answers smugly. "I think you destroyed them yourself. Now that… What is that other rumor? Oh yeah, now that you are allied with that Phantom punk. But it's really no rumor, is it? Not when I have confirmed that be true with my own eyes."

"I owe you no explanation," I reply coldly.

"I do not care for one. What I care about is the fact that you have tied your own noose around your neck, ghost freak," Walker says back darkly. "Do you know how many ghosts have now put you on their target list? You must be the stupidest man alive to have made thousands of other ghosts your enemy simply by allying to Phantom."

I scoff. "Oh, please… You truly do not know me. What I am capable of. But since you like rumors so, why not ask around? Go ahead, try to see how many ghosts are willing to dare challenge me. I am not stupid, Walker. I am dangerous. And you will learn that… even if I have to destroy you like I did Bullet."

Walker just chuckled. "You may be right… Your reputation proceeds you. But so does mine. You might be surprised how many ghosts would take a chance with you if I were to, say, offer a bounty for your head. I think just offering to reduce their sentences by even a few thousand years will have plenty of ghosts at my service."

I am hardly impressed. I have not been around this long without hearing these kinds of threats on my life.

Walker sees my lack of reaction, but it seems he is not done. "Oh, I know that might not scare you. I am sure you could fend off most of your enemies with your power level… "

He grins evilly as he adds, "Too bad Phantom cannot say the same. Oh, he has grown stronger, I know… But how do you think he would fair if I send a few of my more dangerous inmates his way?"

Oh. He had just signed his second-death sentence.

"Be careful, Walker. This is your last warning," I growl at him as my hands fist on my side and begin to glow red. If I fight him and his guards now, I might escape within an inch of my life; but I will at least make sure he goes to meet Bullet first.

Walker's smile only widens. "No… consider this my warning to you, Vlad Plasmius. You will regret crossing me. I know who you are. Who Phantom is. Both here and in your human terrain. And believe me when I say, I will destroy everything you hold dear; and only then, will I grant you the mercy of my executioner's block… So, until then… I think your little ghost mouse went… that way."

I watch Walker turn from me. And it takes everything in me not to blast him in the back. With all the guards with their weapons aimed at me, I will be dead before I can even try.

Still, I want nothing more. But I hold onto my rational mind, even as I watch the ghost guards disappear soon after Walker does.

I stood there for a moment, still angry but now… afraid.

I know Walker is right. It had been a bad idea to make Walker my enemy. I had been avoiding it for decades before Daniel came into the picture. Walker is dangerous. More correctly put, his influence and power are dangerous.

And now, I am short two allies, and have made several more enemies with my alliance with Daniel. News travels too fast in the Ghost Zone, so, of course, ghosts already know of Phantom and Plasmius no longer being enemies.

Skulker had warned me a long time ago, too. He told me what would happen the day I associated with Danny.

I sigh before I finally turn away and begin to make my way back to my portal. Suddenly, figuring out what is going on with my core or what had happened with that blob ghost are the last things I care about.

I am too focused on this latest conundrum. Walker's threat to my own wellbeing is hardly a worry. It is what it meant for everyone around me and for Daniel that now had me on edge.

I need to work on my ghost security. There are some enhancements I have put on the backburner since I returned to Wisconsin. I need to also find a way to protect Daniel while he is a state away…

Perhaps another bracelet. If he will accept it, that is. He might have bad memories about my giving him a similar device I once used to control him…

What he really needs is… allies. And I did, too.

Yes, allies. And I think I know the perfect one for him.

With the thought, I decide to take a different turn. It will be a long trip, but it will be worth it.

I need to act now. I should have acted sooner.

It is a shame it took Walker's threat to remind me of the truth:

Daniel and I might be more powerful together, but that also meant our enemies were greater.

I can find a way to destroy Walker. And, oh, I will definitely put his demise on my to-do list, but Walker is one of the many threats.

Threats I need to minimize at the least.

I suppose there might be other ways… better ways of protecting Daniel… And a part of me felt… guilty at the thought of resorting to… ways I know my little protégé would not approve…

But this is the only way I knew how to do things. My way has always been effective. Definitive. Sorry, Daniel, but I cannot afford to put our enemies in a thermos.

At least I can take satisfaction with knowing that by the time I was done, no one would even dare to think of crossing Daniel or I…

Even if I had to destroy half the Ghost Zone and its inhabitants to get the message across.

Unknowingly, my eyes flashed gold again…

Ah, Plasmius will be Plasmius.

Do not worry, I have not forgotten DoaS. Will be updating that one soon. Ta!