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“Great work Vladdie! You caught the Ghost boy!” Jack lumbered towards Vlad with a grin, a glaring Madeline by his side.
“It seems he did.” Madeline muttered, laser focus now on the ghost boy trembling behind Vlad.
Phantom watched as the Fenton's approached in dread, the boy was exhausted, laying in a still growing puddle of his own ectoplasm. Vlad risked a glance back but Phantom hadn’t deigned to spare him one, it made sense, why would Vlad help the younger halfa with this? They’d never been friends.
One might even go as far as to call them mortal enemies tied together by similar fates.
And this way Vlad would be able to collect all the DNA he needed to perfect his clones, truly, all is as it should be.
Phantom was stuck in his ghost form for the foreseeable future, by the time he’d managed to untangle whatever was wrong with him now Madeline would most likely already be done with him.
She was terrifyingly efficient.
Strangely the thought of his precious Madeline didn't invoke the same infatuation he’d come to associate such thoughts with, in fact Madeline’s arrival had barely made his Obsession shift.
You really want to know how I died Vlad?
The adult Fenton's were talking but Vlad couldn’t for the afterlife of him make out what they were saying, all of his focus was on the young ghost boy behind him desperately trying to fight his chains, Vlad's chains, to escape this nightmare.
It was the portal.
Madeline stepped forward, eyes meeting Vlad's and for the first time he noticed just how cold they were, as though Vlad was nothing more than some bothersome stranger and not one of their oldest friends.
There was this switch, emergency stop maybe? The Daniel in his memory shifted uncomfortably , Inside of it and I went in to show Sam and Tucker and, and it activated on top of me.
But, that wasn’t true was it? Dear Daniel must have died some other way, his beloved Madeline would not have allowed any unqualified fool into her laboratory let alone her own child , no no, not after what happened to him.
I'm there all the time doing chores, cleaning the portal’s one of them.
She wouldn’t, Vlad hesitated to even believe that Jack would, the man was a bumbling fool but even he must have realised allowing a 14 year old to access highly volatile dangerous equipment was just asking for disaster, much less alone .
He’d been in college, in a secure facility testing with trained scientists who did know lab safety, the Fenton portal was in their basement! They must have had some type of defence!
But Vlad knew they didn’t, given how easy it was for him to come and go as both Plasmius and Vlad, he knew it was true.
Madeline was about to move past him now, no words spoken between them as Jack set up the containment device.
She’d never visited, not once, not even a card and though Vlad had always blamed Jack for it he wondered for a moment if that was truly the case.
In his chest his core shuddered, his obsession twisting and clawing at his insides as he watched Daniel crawl away from his mother.
“Aw, come on Phantom, you have to know you’ve lost.” Madeline crooned, voice mocking as she allowed Phantom to crawl a few feet away.
She was mocking him, his sweet, innocent Madeline was mocking a child , her child, though she did not know it.
Madeline walked till she was a step behind Phantom, his legs laid behind him as dead weight, Vlad was almost certain he’d broken one of them in their fight.
It was the pained cry Phantom let out that had Vlad moving, grabbing Madeline by the arm and dragging her away from the boy.
“Vlad! What are you doing?!” Madeline cried out, yanking her arm from Vlad's grip with a hiss, her other hand coming up to rub at where she’d been grabbed.
“Uh, V-man? You ok?” Jack glanced between his wife and best friend, ex-best friend as far as Vlad was concerned, in confusion. “I think you hurt Maddie, but everyone makes mistakes! You alright Mads?”
“Just peachy.” Madeline was glaring at him now, Vlad wondered if she thought this was some convoluted plot to get her to marry him again.
When had he begun to think of his plans as convoluted?
His obsession whined in his core.
“I will take care of Phantom.”
That gave both Fenton’s pause, they shared a confused look and for a moment Vlad wanted nothing better than to rip they’re eyeballs from their skulls.
“I took the same courses you two did, I’m more than capable of dealing with a single ghost.” Vlad spat the words out, annoyed at their implied belief of his incompetence.
Had Madeline always thought of him like that? She’d been the first to look away just now.
“Oh we know that Vlad.” The look she was giving him now was worse, a mix of pity and patronizing, as she placed her hand on his arm. “But Phantom is no ordinary ghost and Jack and I have been working in the field while you’ve been…..”
“Building a business empire that’s turned me into one of the richest men alive?” Vlad crossed his arms, ignoring the growing annoyance at Madeline’s touch.
Something in him cracked, just the tiniest bit more.
“That’s the spirit!” Jack cried out, that idiotic smile still on his face. “Now come on V-man, me and Mads have all sorts of stuff back home to help us properly deal with that damn no good ghost!”
Do you know what it’s like living with them? Everyday I have to hear different ways they’ll destroy me if they ever get their hands on me, hell Jazz has to hear what they’d do to me!
“Let me guess, tear him apart molecule by molecule?”
Jack blinked, scratching his head before he smiled. “Well yeah, but that’s Mad’s way, I prefer dissecting.”
“And you agree with this, Madeline?”
“Of course.” Madeline crossed her arms, glaring up at Vlad in confusion. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you Vlad but we need to deal with Phantom before he escapes-”
“What about, if you knew the ghost?”
“You can’t know a ghost Vladdie!” Jack chuckled.
“Jack’s right, I mean-” when Madeline smiled, Vlad felt his stomach-turn. “-it’s not like they’re people.”
In his chest, in his core , Vlad felt his obsession shatter. The image he’d created of his kind, beautiful, perfect Madeline shattered piece by piece with every word she spoke.
She was no different than Jack, nothing more than a traitor who’d forgotten about him the moment she’d turned her back, despite what they’d done to him, what they turned him into.
Vlad stared at the ground as his whole world quite literally broke around him, mind reeling as his core tried to repair what was left of his obsession, to redirect it.
“….do you remember what happened in college, Maddie?”
“Oh what your acne?” Maddie scoffed. “I don’t think this is the right time to be discussing a skin problem Vlad.”
“It wasn’t.” Vlad took a breath, now feeling the eyes glaring holes into the back of his head. “It wasn’t acne, Maddie, not a natural one at least.”
“Don’t tell me it was a ghost!” Jack for some reason began to tear up as he stared at Vlad, only being held back from hugging him by Maddie’s hand on her husband's arm. “Oh Vladdie, you should have told us! We would have taken care of that spook for you like that-”
“YOU TWO DID THAT TO ME!”
The silence that follows his shout was deafening, Vlad was heaving as both Maddie and Jack stared at him in confusion.
Vlad doesn’t know what he expected once they’d processed his words, an apology? Maybe, confusion? Definitely, but laughter? Jack and Maddie Fenton laughing at him? He’d never in his wildest dreams have believed that.
And yet here they were all the same, holding on to each other from the force of their laugh’s. Madeline was the first to calm down, wiping away a tear from her eye she smiled.
“Vlad, acne isn’t transferable and even if it was neither Jack nor I have it.” She shook her head like Vald was being silly . “You’ll have to blame genetics for that.”
“I was hospitalized.” Vlad muttered.
“After the accident.” Maddie agreed.
“The acne came after that, that's why I was hospitalized.” Vlad stared at the two blankly as neither one seemed to understand what he meant. “I was hospitalized because of the Acne I got from your portal.”
Jack frowned, stepping forward to stand face to face with Vlad. “Now V-man, I get you upset but you can’t blame that on the portal, I mean look at us! We’ve been around that thing for the last 20 years and nothing’s happened to any of us!”
Vlad almost laughed, almost glanced back at the child he knew for a fact could easily prove that statement false.
But he didn’t, Danny, Phantom , was already watching them, the boy hadn’t looked away since his parents had arrived.
How had they not pieced that together? Had they never wondered about the bruises the boy hid? He didn’t do it well either, Vlad would know, had they never questioned how the boy had managed to get the portal on?
I just, flipped the switch.
Had either of them ever stopped for a moment to wonder what happened to him after he graduated? Before Vladco when he was a broke college student with hospital debts he couldn’t pay? When he had nothing but a crappy apartment and government agents knocking on his door?
No, they’d gotten married and continued their research, creating technology and patents that allowed them to live a comfortable life while Vlad ran from hospital debts and student loans.
He’d been terrified, locked up in a hospital room with agents coming in every day to ‘check on him.’ Vlad wasn’t stupid, he knew they just wanted the machine that had done this, but Vlad was loyal, he’d lied and avoided the subject, there were no records of what the club was actually doing.
The government would have come knocking a long time ago if they thought some dumb kids were trying to make interdimensional portals.
“You never visited.” Vlad wasn’t sure what expression was on his face but Maddie had taken a step back and that oaf was moving closer to her, it almost looked defensive. “ Neither of you, ever fucking visited.”
“We had a lot on our plates Vlad!” Maddie defended. “Without you Jack and I both had to take on your parts of our assignments, we didn’t have time to-”
You. Killed. Me .” Vlad spat the words out with venom, glaring down at Maddie and Jack. “And you didn’t even bother to fucking visit. ”
Maddie stared at him before turning to stare passed him at the ghost child cowering behind his back, “What did you do to him?” Maddie’s gaze hardened when the ghost didn’t answer her, voice raising as she snapped. “Are you the one doing this? Reverse it! Stop trying to trick us with you twisted lies-”
‘Smack!’
Maddie stumbled back into her husband's chest, hand pressed against her cheek as she stared in shock at where Vlad stood, hand still outstretched from where he’d slapped her.
“ Nothing ,” He hissed, pulling his trembling hand back to his chest, “is wrong with me. He has done nothing to me, you two did this , you,” He swallowed, “you two did this to me. ”
“No Vladdie, that’s just what the ghost wants you to think!” Jack nodded, that same infuriating smile pulled across his face, by the Ancient's above Vlad wanted nothing more than to punch him. “Don’t worry V-man! We’ll deal with that spook and you’ll be good as new!”
Jack carefully pushed Maddie to the side, after checking her over and getting a very exasperated ‘I’m fine Jack!’ from his wife, before trudging his way over to Vlad and his charge.
Daniel would throw a fit if Vlad ever called him that out loud, then again Daniel was most likely going to throw a fit regardless, given what Vlad was about to do.
Vlad grabbed Jack’s hand before he could touch him causing the larger man to frown, mouth open to no down piss Vlad off more but thankfully Vlad had made up his mind the moment he’d struck Maddie.
“I.” Vlad hissed, his grip around Jack’s hand tightening to the point of bruising. “Am. Dead. ”
“No, you’re not Vlad.” Maddie grumbled, rearranging her goggles in annoyance. “You have a body and a heartbeat-”
Maddie’s mouth snapped shut as a ring of dark light surrounded Vlad starting from his stomach and branching across his body, his skin turned icy green, eye’s blood red as he snarled at the ghost hunters, something vindictive swirling in his chest as Jack stepped back at the sight of his fangs.
“Are you insane?!”
Vlad paused, momentarily forgetting about the younger Halfa cowering behind him. Tracing the terrified couples faces Vlad couldn’t help his own smile at the sight, his core singing at the thought of forcing them to feel even a fraction of the pain they’d inflicted on him.
“I think for the first time in just over 20 years little badger, my mind is completely clear.” Vlad didn’t spare the boy a glance, too busy enjoying the way Maddie flinched at the harsh tone of the language of the dead.
“Vlad,” The boy whispered, voice trembling, “what are you going to do?”
That had Vlad pausing, what was his plan? His goal here? To deliver them the same suffering they’d caused him? No, none of those were right.
Vlad swept a hand out, flames obeying his command sprung up from the ground, licking at Jack’s feet and causing the oaf to jump back, falling on his ass as the flames receded creating a clear barrier between the Ghost’s and Ghost hunters.
“Jack!” Maddie cried out, falling to her knees by his side. She cupped his cheeks and checked Jack over in a panic.
“I’m fine Mads!” Jack winced. “Just a little sore but I'll live!”
Vlad turned away from the couple, eyes instead focusing on his own injured charge who was fighting his own prison with renewed vigor now that Vlad had set his sights on him.
Something in his chest grew fond at the boy's energy, with a huff Vlad made his way over till he was standing over the boy. The young Halfa paused his struggle, shoving himself onto his arms as he snarled in Vlad’s face.
“What are you going to do?” Danny whispered, making a valiant effort to conceal his fear as he attempted to face Vlad down.
Vlad snorted. “I thought that was obviously, little badger.” His smile grew at Danny’s growl. “I’m helping.”
“You don’t help.”
“Maybe, but it’s me or them, Daniel.” Vlad gestured behind him, to where Daniels parent’s had finally managed to re-orientate themselves, soon enough they’d move past Vlad’s little show and return to their old ways. “And we both know you’re in no condition to fight.”
Danny stared blankly passed him, eyes focused on his parents as he took heaving breaths. “I-I don’t trust you.” His eyes met Vlad. “Doing this won’t make me-”
“I know.” Vlad whispers, pain clouding his eyes. “I’m not asking you to trust me, just trust that I don’t want to be-” He swallowed around the lump in his throat. “Be-”
“Alone.” Danny finished for him, eyes wide as he took Vlad in for what might as well be the first time. “You don’t want to be alone, you're afraid .”
“I’d appreciate it if you kept quiet while I get us out of this mess.” Vlad snapped, sparing Jack and Madeline a glance and wincing as they pulled out the Fenton Fire extinguisher, god Vlad hoped that Danny hadn’t gotten their naming sense. “Well it’s time to go.”
“Wha-hey!” Danny cried out in surprise as Vlad threw him over his shoulder and floated off the ground just as the sound of the Fenton Fire Extinguisher reached them
“Vlad! Wait!” Maddie cried out, her eyes filling with something that starkly resembled guilt. “We can help you! Give us Phantom and we can make the ghost tell us how to fix this!”
“Y-yeah!” Jack agreed, waving his arm around excitedly, Fenton Ghost Gauntlets clinking as he slammed his hands together. “That spook will be begging to tell us when we’re done with him-”
“No.”
Both Fenton's froze at the coldness in Vlad’s voice as the ghost tilted his head to glare over his shoulder at them.
“What?” Maddie whispered. “Vlad were trying to stop you from becoming a-”
“A?” Vlad cut her off, voice mocking. “A what, dear Maddie. Tell me personally what you two turned me into.”
Neither one spoke, refusing to even look at him. Figures, they never were good at fessing up to their own mistakes.
“If you’ll excuse me.” Vlad muttered sarcastically. “I have to deal with Phantom.”
Before either could get a word in, Vlad was gone, teleported back home, to his haunt which Daniel was quick to pick up on giving his disgruntled hiss.
“Now Daniel, don't be like that.” Vlad tutted as he made his way down to his lab, setting the boy down on an examination table Vlad moved over to pick out supplies to help untangle Daniel from his own mess.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I’m cutting these wire’s to get you out of this trap Daniel.” Vlad chuckled, emphasizing his point by snapping one of the ecto-phobic wires. “You’re smart enough to know that little badger-”
“I meant back then.” Danny swallowed. “With my paren-”
“I know what you meant Daniel.” Vlad sighed as his pliers snapped, walking back over to his toolbox to replace it. “And I’m done.”
“You’re done?”
“Yes, you no longer have to worry about me coming after your mother or father , I’m done.” Vlad grumbled, snapping a tangle of wires with a grumble.
“I don’t believe you.” Daniel grumbled, curling up now that his legs were a little more free.
“You don’t have to believe me, but it’s true.” Vlad allowed himself to smile as he cut the final wire. “There, now how about we go upstairs and talk-”
Vlad blinked and Daniel was gone, portal closing behind him as Vlad was left in his lab, underneath his castle all alone.
Like he always was.
A clank rang through the lab as the pliers fell to the ground, Vlad took a shaking breath as he slowly walked over to the portal, each thud of his own feet felt grating on his ears as he stopped before it, hand shaking as he pressed it against the cold metal.
This was an empty castle, filled to the brim with inventions and irrelevant items Vlad purchased in some desperate, idiotic attempt to stop the agonizing pain that ripped threw him every time he walked through empty hall after empty hall.
He had everything: money, power, status and influence. Vlad had everything anyone could wish for and still no matter what he was forced to return to these damn harrowed hall’s alone, even once he’d found another of his kind Vlad was still alone!
“Meow.”
Vlad flinched, drawing his hand back as he glanced down to see a pure white cat sat by Vlad’s feet, head tilted curiously as she pawed at his pant leg.
“Oh Maddie.” Vlad muttered with a shake of his head, he leaned down to scoop the cat into his arms. “We’ll need to change that name of yours soon, won’t we beautiful.”
Vlad turned to stare at the table where the trap lay broken, ectoplasm glistening on its wire’s. “But first,” he muttered, a smile spreading across his lips, “what do you say we make this castle a little less lonely?”